[toadjammer]

I just started a retro fit on my mill, an R2E3.
Upon taking the rear cover off of the servo I saw what appears to be an encoder. If this truly is an encoder does anyone know what the count and power supply demands would be for the encoder?

Also can I use these servos with Gecko 320x drives without changing out the encoders?

Thanks
Toad

[toadjammer]

Here is a picture of the non drive end. Also the servos are SEM MT 30R4-33 if that helps.

[John Bennett]

I also have an R2E3 that is still working fine but at some point may upgrade. I have the manuals and can scan sections as required. I take it your going the Mach3 route. As my machine is funtional, if any readings are required, just ask.

email [email protected] and/or [email protected]

[sbalder]

We did an R2e3 retrofit with G320s and then attempted to do another one with G320x's. The 320s worked beautifully and the 320xs were a complete dumpster fire. Gecko has since released a technical bulletin explaining how to make this type of encoder work with the 320x, but for my money I'll stick with the 320's. Saying that the "The G320X is 100% backwards compatible with the G320 and G340." when it is clearly not wasted dozens of hours of my time and tarnished for me many years of good experiences with Geckodrive products.

Anyway...We powered the G320s with the original power supply after modifying the existing transformer so that it put out a final no-load voltage of 78vdc. We connected the encoders straight to the G320s (+5v, Gnd, A and B). The encoders are 500 count and the screws are .2" per revolution so that gives a steps per inch in Mach of 10000. Since the encoder wires come into the back cabinet at the lower right we mounted the 320s on a small sheet of fiberglass on standoffs and removed the outer covers. This put them right under the existing fan to keep everything nice and cool.

Good luck with your project!

[toadjammer]

sbalder,
Did your machine have servos with the Heidenhain ERO 120 250 encoders?

Do you have a build post of when you retrofitted your machine?

Thanks
Toad

[sbalder]

Both r2e3s had BEI h25 encoders on them. Many (at least the ones I have seen) Heidenhain encoders have sinusoidal outputs that are not the same as quadrature encoder outputs. We don typically do a build thread, but there is a pic of the completed machine at www.sbprecision.com/Machines.html

[Neal.R2E3]

So what all do you have for your retro so far? Have you already bought the controls? I used ajaxcnc. The Motion controller came pre programmed and the plc was labeled and ready for you to land wires. All I did was toss out the old Boss 8 controller and contraves drives and installed the new hadware in the cabinet the old drives were in. I built a rotary phase converter to supply three phase to the machine and I run the new controller off of a clean 110v power plug. Altogether i took me about 20 hrs. to get the old machine tore down and back to making chips. Tunning the motors was the trickiest part so if you decide to go the route i went email me at [email protected] and I can help you get it going. I can send pics or videos if you need.

[ichudov]

I had very similar looking encoders on my Bridgeport Series II Interact 2. Mine were Heidenhain encoders making sinusoudal output.

I took them off and threw them into trash. I used US digital 1024 count encoders instead.

i

[Dr Doofensmirtz]

The US Digital encoders are very popular.


Heinz D

[dirtdiggler]

sbalder,
Did your machine have servos with the Heidenhain ERO 120 250 encoders?

Do you have a build post of when you retrofitted your machine?

Thanks
Toad

Those are BEI's. I have similar ones on my R2E4. They are likely 300-500 CPR quadrature optical encoders. Old BEI's are great until the encoder lamp burns out and you have your table fly off to the end of it's travel at full speed without warning. BEI made these encoders with regular filament lamps inside then eventually switched to LED's. When I started my retrofit two years ago on my R2E4 these encoders gave me the biggest issues. I had to order new lamps from mouser and replace them when they burnt out. 2 of them burnt out within a few months of each other and nearly busted the machine. Right now they work but I plan on replacing them for safety. US Digital work well and I also heard very good things about these: Digi-Key - 102-1307-ND (Manufacturer - AMT102-V KIT)

[ichudov]

I had similar encoders on my SEM motors on my Interact 2.

I threw them out to trash and replaced them with US Digital E5 encoders.

I had to make an adaptor plate.

i

[toadjammer]

I did replace mine with US digital in the end.

Maybe I'll post a thread about the fitment if it would help anyone.
Toad