[jeffreyschacher]

Hi there all. I am retrofiting a Milltronics Partner 4 Milling Machine With a PMDx 126 Motherboard. a PMDX 107 Speed Controller,3 Viper 200 Servo Drives.and running mach 3. Have it all gutted out and installed all the new Hardware and have it all rewired up. Try to tune the servos using the new Viper Tune in Windows(98),Works really well i might add !. Problem i have is 5 or 7 blinking red leds, which is encoder problems. the encoders are DRC model 152-021-500-18was 09/91 s/n 412448d . hard to find any info on them any where on the internet. but did find they are 500 cpr encoders. I used the old Centurion Wiring Schematic to use the pin-outs for the wiring to the Viper 200. I can only get 0.364 volt at the +5 pin on the card. I can get the servos to move a little bit,then i get the led errors. Any Suggestions? Any idea what settings in viper tune to use to get them tuned up? x axis has a 30 and a 14 tooth pulley set up , z axis has a 20 and a 10 tooth pulley setup and haven't gotten to the y axis cover off yet. have issues with the for the mach 3 pmdx 126 plugin. so i ordered a 2nd parallel port card and cable to resolve the issue in mach 3, but that's another subject by its self. all the safety's and homing switches work also, but haven't got the VFD to run yet.
Well thanks for looking and hope somebody can guide me in the right direction
Jeff

[Al_The_Man]

All the DRC encoders I have used or come across has 5v supply so you definitely need this, are they differential encoder? I believe Viper take differential so there should be no problem?
Al.

[jeffreyschacher]

So I am To Assume I Need to supply the +5 volts to the encoder?
The Viper Drive does Not supply it?
Would make sense then. Will try out out Monday, when i get back to work.
Thanks for the reply.

[FannBlade]

Have you posted a build log anywhere? That is the exact same hardware I'm planning for my Hurco conversion only with US Digital encoders.

[Al_The_Man]

So I am To Assume I Need to supply the +5 volts to the encoder?
The Viper Drive does Not supply it?

I understood that Viper will supply the encoder 5v?
If they are differential encoders, A /A, B /B etc then for sure they need 5v.
Al.

[Larken]

Yes, the Viper supplys the power to the encoder. +5 is on pin 1 and gnd is on pin 9. The viper 200 can supply up to 300ma or more and has a second 7805 regulator just to power the encoder.


Are you saying that with the encoder plugged in you are only measuring .364 volts on the pin 1 and 9 ?
And when you unplug the encoder, and measure the voltage (on the viper encoder connector) you are getting 5 volts ? If so your encoder is damaged or you have it connected wrong.

Larry