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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Hi all


    So I bought a broken Gerber 408 and am installing a new controller and servo drives, but keeping the original servo motors.

    I'm starting this thread both to get assistance and also so that others may benefit from my findings, in case someone wants to do likewise.

    My machine has Parvex RX320er1026 servo motors and these are fitted with Renco encoders (P/N 324599-03 D/C 9945). They are 8 wire encoders, and though I was not able to find info about them onlin, someone on a facebook group was kind enough to supply me with a wiring colour chart, below

    Its a bit fuzzy but good enough to read




    So from that I was able to deduce that the Gerber wiring harness, for the encoders, goes like this -



    And this is the type of connector the machine uses. All of the ports on the connectors are numbered (as in the diagram above) which is very useful.




    That's as far as I've got so far. I'm using Machdrives BRB servo drives, and a Masso controller.
    Next on my list is to read the manuals for both products and figure out how to wire them.


    regards,
    ned .

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    34

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Hi Ned,
    Wiring your encoders up to out BRB servo drive is as follows. All connections are to the blue terminal block.
    Encoder GND to BRB "0V"
    Encoder +5V to BRB "+5V"
    Encoder A+ to BRB "EA"
    Encoder B+ to BRB "EB"
    Leave the A-, B-, Index+ and Index- unconnected.
    Hope this helps
    Kind Regards
    David

  3. #3
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    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    David that's unreal, thanks so much!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    34

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    No problem. Let me know if you need help connecting the BRB to the Masso controller as I can help with that as well.
    David

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    cheers, nice of you. I have been chatting with masso support as well and I think I can manage now. Will update this thread with pics of the wiring as it comes together.

    Wanted to add this pic to this thread, this is the underside of the table. I think the welds are all mig welds in aluminium, which is interesting to me. It's a nice table, I'd like to see the jig that it was made on.


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    machdrives servo drive - gerber encoder harness



    getting somewhere with the control box


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    34

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Looking good. When you have the encoder wired up and apply the 5V you can use the Tuna DRO screen to verify correct operation by moving the axis by hand and checking the displayed distance matches the actual distanced moved. (Of course this is done without motor power being applied to the drive).

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    sound thanks

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    @machdrives, can you assist please? I'm trying to figure out how to connect STEP / DIR and EN / ERR to the masso's 4 ports, see below.

    I think its S+ and D+ on the drive to STEP and DIR on the masso, and thats it.




    Similar to the viper servo drive.




    https://masso.com.au/blog/docs/masso-cnc-controller-documentation/motors-and-drives-connections/viper/




  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    34

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Hi, Yes that's correct. Both the Viper and Machdrives BRB have 5V TTL Step/Dir inputs so wiring is the same.
    Masso S+ and D+ to STEP and DIR on BRB,
    Also don't forget the control ground between the Masso and the BRB so Masso (PSU-) to BRB 0V, (see Masso Viper diagram). Run a separate ground wire from the (PSU-) to each drive, don't daisy chain. Connect ground from the 5V psu to to the Masso (PSU-) only. The (PSU-) terminal on the Masso is your single point star ground for your control signals (control ground).
    Regards
    David

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Awesome, thanks!

    I had stared at different configurations and read the manual all day, and in the end my guess was just that, a good guess.

    Im going to establish where all the wires go before assembling anything. I have the Machdrives diagram completed.



    One thing thats nagging at me, is the +5V signal going to +5V on the drive.

    You are saying to connect 0V on the machdrive, to PSU- on the masso.... I did not realise I could wire a positive wire without an accompanying minus wire.

    - so in this case, its seems counter-intuitive to me, that I only use the positive wire from my 5 volt supply, and not the negative wire

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    34

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Sorry for confusing you, I didn't explain it very well. Your encoder connection in the previous diagram was correct. The four encoder wires should go DIRECTLY to the 0V, +5V, EA and EB terminals on the drive. As the encoder is "floating" the common reference point between the encoder and the drive is the drive 0V terminal.
    The common reference point between your controller and the drives is the controller PSU- terminal, this is your control ground.
    If you only had one axis, or you had a separate isolated +5V PSU for each axis, then you could wire each 5V PSU + and - directly to each drives +5V and 0V terminals and all would be well. The problem occurs when you wire the outputs of one +5V PSU to multiple drives. Now each drive has two control ground points, one at the controller PSU- terminal and one at the +5V PSU output capacitor negative terminal. You have just created a ground loop. If you are using a wall adapter for the +5V PSU then the two grounds could easily be several feet apart. This is bad news for noise and reliability.
    The solutions are...
    1) Use a separate ISOLATED 5V PSU for each axis and wire directly to the drive +5V and 0V terminal of each drive. This is the best option as the control power and control data do not share the same return path.
    2) Use a single 5V PSU, and mount it so the -ve PSU terminal is very close (1-2 inches) to the controller PSU- terminal. Now the PSU and controller share the same ground point location. You run a single thicker ground wire from this point to each drive 0V terminal.
    3) You use a wall adapter or PSU located further away and establish a new "AC" (noise) ground for the PSU at the same location as the controller PSU- terminal. To do this mount a terminal block next to the controller PSU- terminal and wire the 5V PSU positive and negative wires into two spare terminals with the negative terminal closest to the controller. Now install a 470uF electrolytic cap in parallel with a 0.1uF ceramic capacitor across the PSU terminals. Install a short (1-2 inches max) jumper wire between the controller PSU- and power supply negative terminal.Now the PSU and controller share the same "AC" (noise) ground point location. You run a single thicker ground wire from this point to each drives 0V terminal.
    Hope this helps
    David

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    1

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Great diagrams

  14. #14
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    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Tfigs thanks ) Hope people find them as useful as I do. I know no other way to proceed. Have started disassembling the gerber, going to spend a few days scrubbing it.


  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    7

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    I am not sure whether or not you still need to retrofit your machine, but I have retrofit several Gerber Sabre 408's to open source LinuxCNC, and recently finished developing a drop-in replacement motherboard so that you don't have to replace the servo drives, motors, or anything else. You can read more about it on this post:

    https://www.cnczone.com/forums/commercial-cnc-wood-routers/270484-software.html#post2580584

    Here are a couple videos showing the retrofit machines in action:

    Gerber Sabre 408 retrofit with LinuxCNC 3D routing foam
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qa61kHMq7U


    Gerber Sabre 408 retrofit with LinuxCNC (selling)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NQLij4-vgs


    Let me know if you are interested!

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Gerber_Sabre_LinuxCNC_Retrofit_Board_v1.jpg  

  16. #16
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    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    David, I went for option 3, create a shared ground with a terminal block by the masso -ve.

    However, I forgot to mention, that I'm powering the masso, the servo drives and the encoders all from the same source, which is a device on the gerber power supply, its spits out 5V and 15V.

    Images, lots of them, sorry

    This diagram can be blown up, is the finished wiring configuration.

    https://i.imgur.com/hWwf8Kv.jpg



    This is the Gerber power supply



    This device below puts out +5v and +15v.

    I was going to use the 5V for the encoders & machdrives, and the 15V for the masso



    here is the terminal block with capacitors across the +5v and -5v signals, with a heavier wire running from the masso -ve to the -5v terminal.




  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    34

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Hi,
    Your control electronics need to be electrically isolated from your power electronics otherwise you will have noise and safety issues. The +5V for the drives control section and the +15V for the Masso controller need to come from a separate isolated power supply.
    From what I can tell from the photos it appears you are using a non-isolated DC-DC converter off your motor power supply. Is this coming off its own isolated transformer winding as it isn't clear from the photos?
    Regards
    David

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Cheers David. So I made the vid below, it doesn't look isolated. I'm considering measuring the voltage running into that DC-DC converter, and then buying a suitable wall-wart to power it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6AXo1Eoywg

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    41

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    I have the wiring almost completed, however, I connected the encoder to the drive, but I dont see any activity. Readig the drive manual, it seems the EA and EB lights should flicker when the motor is turned.





    I attached the cable shield to the drive , instead of the 0v wire from the encoder, I think, best guess, so I will change it and see can I get some activity.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    34

    Re: Re-wiring a Gerber Sabre 408

    Hi,
    Yes the EA and EB lights will flash when you rotate the encoder shaft. Check you have the +5V and 0V supplying power to the encoder and the A and B encoder output wires connected back to the drive. The shield should be connected to earth only.
    Did you fix your non-isolated +5/+15V problem?
    Regards
    David

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