[noobCNC]

Im deciding between a xylotex or a gecko build. How do they compare? Are there any problems with xylotex in general or are they have good quality/quality control?

[ger21]

The Xylotex was a decent drive before the G540 became available. I have one, and it works OK.

But, for $65 more, the G540 offers more features, much higher performance, and is more durable.
There's really no comparison, the G540 wins hands down.

[louieatienza]

Depends on your budget. I also had a xylotex, and I got the 3 axis preassembled kit for around $400 and change, and that included all the wires pre-made and the steppers. It would cost you over $400 to build a G540 box with PSU and switches, then you would need to get steppers and cables.

That said, the max voltage on xylotex is 35V, but the max safe voltage is around 30V. Also there's the resonance issue, which I've seen here mainly with the 425in-oz steppers and finer-pitched screws. This could be combated with mechanical dampers. The G540 has electronic damping. It also can run up to 50V.

[bobsch]

Depends on your budget. I also had a xylotex, and I got the 3 axis preassembled kit for around $400 and change, and that included all the wires pre-made and the steppers. It would cost you over $400 to build a G540 box with PSU and switches, then you would need to get steppers and cables.

Keling had complete kits—motors, G540 and PS for $455.

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[k_yarina]

The Xylotex board is an old design, has no static protection, a short warranty (90 days vs 1 year for the G540) and no out of warranty repair.

I purchased an unassembled router that came with an unused Xylotex board that had been sitting in a box for several years. I knew it was way out of warranty when I bought it. It ran for maybe 5 hours before two of the three axes failed, and I was told by Xylotex it was because I'd used a shop vac to clear chips while the machine was running. It was driving 2A NEMA17 motors with a 24V PS, and was in early fall with fairly high relative humidity.

It was replaced with a G540 which has run flawlessly for about a year and a half, including frequent use of a shop vac. This includes an incident where a motor drive wire broke during use (my fault, caused by rerouting some wiring), most likely an instant death event for the Xylotex.

FWIW, others have had good luck and swear by Xylotex. Maybe the magic smoke leaked in storage here, who knows? However, I'll buy Gecko for my next project.

[louieatienza]

Originally Posted by louieatienza
Depends on your budget. I also had a xylotex, and I got the 3 axis preassembled kit for around $400 and change, and that included all the wires pre-made and the steppers. It would cost you over $400 to build a G540 box with PSU and switches, then you would need to get steppers and cables.

Keling had complete kits—motors, G540 and PS for $455.

True, but not the enclosure, power switch, connectors, wires, assembled and tested. This is not to say the xylotex is in the same league as a Gecko, it is not, by far. It's like comparing apples and tacos. But, both are excellent drives at their price points.

[ger21]

I purchased an unassembled router that came with an unused Xylotex board that had been sitting in a box for several years. I knew it was way out of warranty when I bought it. It ran for maybe 5 hours before two of the three axes failed, and I was told by Xylotex it was because I'd used a shop vac to clear chips while the machine was running. It was driving 2A NEMA17 motors with a 24V PS, and was in early fall with fairly high relative humidity.

FWIW, mine is about 7 or 8 years old and still runs fine. Whether it's 90° or 40°, humid or dry.
I've also got a bunch of other stuff connected to it. Home switches, Super-PID, auto zero probe. No problems at all.

[desktoprouters]

FWIW, mine is about 7 or 8 years old and still runs fine. Whether it's 90° or 40°, humid or dry.
I've also got a bunch of other stuff connected to it. Home switches, Super-PID, auto zero probe. No problems at all.

I'll second that. I just listed my (about) 5 year old xylotex and 3 stepper motors on ebay. I have ordered about a dozen controllers from xylotex and never had issues as long as I followed their guidance on setup and usage.

I op checked the controller and motors before listing on ebay and to make a video for the auction page.

I put molex connectors on the motor leads and the wires from the box for quick connect convenience when originally built. During my check I noticed one of the wires had broken off a pin, probably due to 4 moves in the last 5 years (military). I could hear it buzzing/popping inside the connector, but it didn't fry the board as mentioned above as "certain death."

I replaced the pin, powered up, ran mach3 and it was fine.

Xylotex is a solid controller for the $$$

With that said, never used a gecko.

Just thought I would add my two.

For those asking, then why are you selling it? I'm getting back into CNC and going with a commercial setup that's coming with a controller.