[louieatienza]

bolt holes and shaft length look good

only thing is, the stepper is 8-wire. it says it is so it can be configured bipolar, or unipolar, and gives the wire color connection chart.

~Travis

Can also be wired bipolar series or bipolar parallel...

[travis_farmer]

yes, that is correct. i will likely use bipolar serial, as bipolar parallel requires a driver with a lot more current capacity than the inexpensive ones i have picked out.

~Travis

[ger21]

What drives are you looking at?

[louieatienza]

yes, that is correct. i will likely use bipolar serial, as bipolar parallel requires a driver with a lot more current capacity than the inexpensive ones i have picked out.

~Travis

Check out Leadshine DM542E, sold at American Motion Tech. Super drive for the money, only $40 each, 48V.

[travis_farmer]

I was looking at these:
TB6600 stepper motor driver 2phase 12-48VDC 5A for NEMA17 23 motor CNC router | eBay

i will have a look at the Leadshine DM542E right now.

~Travis

[travis_farmer]

I finally got the big CNC router slid into the old camper, through a large hole in the wall. I still have some demo work to do on the camper, and i have to build and install a set of door to cover the big hole. tomorrow i will look into building at least a semi-good-looking door frame, and maybe build the doors.
I also have to do some work on the roof to make it stop leaking in the rain (i have it tarped for now, as well as the hole in the wall).
I removed the spindle, and the servo motors, just so they wouldn't get damaged, but i will be replacing them anyway. i am still on the fence with the 5HP spindle., weather to keep it or sell it. it spins very free so i have to assume it is still good. it is pretty heavy though. not sure how shipping would work.

Just an update for those following along.

~Travis

[ger21]

Take the spindle to an electric motor shop, and see if they can test it for you.
It's probably worth at least what you paid for the machine, if it runs OK.

[louieatienza]

I was looking at these:
TB6600 stepper motor driver 2phase 12-48VDC 5A for NEMA17 23 motor CNC router | eBay

i will have a look at the Leadshine DM542E right now.

~Travis

They have a US vendor.. ..

[travis_farmer]

Take the spindle to an electric motor shop, and see if they can test it for you.
It's probably worth at least what you paid for the machine, if it runs OK.

i don't know of any motor shop in my area. i will have to research that a bit.

They have a US vendor.. ..

i just found them at American Motion Tech, and have them bookmarked in my browser.

right now i am slowing down a bit on the CNC to get a door into the camper, and some more demolition, so i can get around the CNC. i moved the CNC in early as the trailer it was sitting on was not mine. i wasn't really ready for it, so now i have to work around it, but at least it is in now.

~Travis

[travis_farmer]

the new steppers are now installed, wired bi-polar parallel. i even wired up a temporary test rig to control it, and i am very pleased to say, it moves!
i didn't have much doubt, but it is just nice to see it move. it is a little slow, but it is only running on a 18V 20A supply i had kicking around.
i was just using the cheap control pendant that came with my breakout board, so the starting was a little odd sounding (no stepper acceleration, just jump to speed i think).
I didn't do a video, as i have nothing to take a video with, and pictures just don't do movement justice.

it is so great to finally see the beast come alive!

~Travis

[Jim Dawson]

the new steppers are now installed, wired bi-polar parallel. i even wired up a temporary test rig to control it, and i am very pleased to say, it moves!
i didn't have much doubt, but it is just nice to see it move. it is a little slow, but it is only running on a 18V 20A supply i had kicking around.
i was just using the cheap control pendant that came with my breakout board, so the starting was a little odd sounding (no stepper acceleration, just jump to speed i think).
I didn't do a video, as i have nothing to take a video with, and pictures just don't do movement justice.

it is so great to finally see the beast come alive!

~Travis

:cheers:

[louieatienza]

the new steppers are now installed, wired bi-polar parallel. i even wired up a temporary test rig to control it, and i am very pleased to say, it moves!
i didn't have much doubt, but it is just nice to see it move. it is a little slow, but it is only running on a 18V 20A supply i had kicking around.
i was just using the cheap control pendant that came with my breakout board, so the starting was a little odd sounding (no stepper acceleration, just jump to speed i think).
I didn't do a video, as i have nothing to take a video with, and pictures just don't do movement justice.

it is so great to finally see the beast come alive!

~Travis

Nice... a better PSU will give you better performance; I'd get one near the top range of the drive's capability to maximize performance...

[travis_farmer]

when the demolition of the camper internals is done, i plan to utilize the available 12V 60A DC converter for a lot of the DC power needs. i will step up the voltage with some boost converters ( 150W Boost DC-DC 8-32V to 9-46V Converter Step-up 12-36V 12-24V 8A Max ). one per axis. I also plan to build some power filters for after the boost converters to ensure some nice clean power. i will run the voltage around 36 to 40 volts.

i noticed the movements were nice and smooth, though i still have to clean and lube the slides and screws. but that brings me to my question, what lube is recommend? i was planning on using 3-in-one oil, as it claims to clean, and lube.

~Travis

[ger21]

I don't know what kind of components that thing uses. For ballscrews and linear bearings, grease is typically used. Something equivalent to Mobilux EP1.
WD40 is good for cleaning.

[travis_farmer]

I will see if i can get some detailed pictures at some point of the slides and screws.

my goals for today is more demolition of the camper, though i would also like to at least clean the slides and screws as well.

still on my ToDo list is to make some sort of fixture for the hall-effect sensors for limits and homes, as well as for the associated magnets. the sensors for gantry forward and back will be fairly easy to mount. though the current non-working limits for the side to side and vertical movement are inside the gantry box, and the vertical box. i can easily mount them outside of the boxes, but it looks much cleaner in appearance to have them inside. i have to be able to get in and clean and lube the slides and screws anyway.

I found Mobilux EP1 on amazon, but i will check a few local suppliers first.

~Travis

[travis_farmer]

Attachment 364640

the camper is mostly demo'd, and it is still a rather tight fit around my CNC.

sadly, today while cleaning up, somehow a staple found it's way onto the breakout board on my test rig (seen on top of the router table). when i powered up the rig later to test the limit switches that came with it (X and Y work, Z is constantly open), i found that the CNC would no longer move. i had not yet connected the limits, and it worked like this previously.

i had purchased a couple cheaper breakout boards, so all is not lost. the problem is that the backup breakout boards are common VCC, where the one on my test rig was common ground. no real big deal, just that i have to re-wire my drivers.

note to self, cover the CNC controller when doing demo on the camper.

~Travis

[louieatienza]

Attachment 364640

the camper is mostly demo'd, and it is still a rather tight fit around my CNC.

sadly, today while cleaning up, somehow a staple found it's way onto the breakout board on my test rig (seen on top of the router table). when i powered up the rig later to test the limit switches that came with it (X and Y work, Z is constantly open), i found that the CNC would no longer move. i had not yet connected the limits, and it worked like this previously.

i had purchased a couple cheaper breakout boards, so all is not lost. the problem is that the backup breakout boards are common VCC, where the one on my test rig was common ground. no real big deal, just that i have to re-wire my drivers.

note to self, cover the CNC controller when doing demo on the camper.

~Travis

I had aluminum swarf get into one of my older drive boxes and killed it, so I know the feeling.... Looks like you're making good progress otherwise.

[travis_farmer]

Well, i changed out the breakout board, finally. though movement in one direction via LinuxCNC is smooth as silk, but it is jittery in the other. i suspect it is either the timing being sent to the drivers, or the wrong microstepping setting on my drivers (i went with the cheap ones, HY-DIV268N-5A, from china) it was previously smooth with the stepper drivers, using the other breakout board, so i am leaning toward either the drive timing, or my cheap drivers crapped out in the meantime.
another symptom is the steppers buzz when the drivers are disabled (machine off in LinuxCNC).

would it be so simple as noise? it all worked fine, before the staple landed on the previous breakout board.

~Travis

[travis_farmer]

UPDATE:

if i jog through all Axis with the LinuxCNC jog controls, or my XHC-HB04 pendant, it works smooth in one direction, and noisy in the other. after returning to a different axis, it is very noisy, and the axis just make noise, with no movement. i wonder if it is a software issue, with LinuxCNC, or even with my computer hardware. i will post on the LinuxCNC forum and see if they have an idea.

~Travis

[travis_farmer]

looks kinda like my cheap Chinese drivers are not supplying enough current for the steppers to move smoothly, so they keep stalling at the slightest hint of resistance. all to save a few bucks... (chair)
I will be buying the Leadshine drivers recommend previously...

~Travis