[twombo]

Can anybody offer me some advice on building a straight 24 volt DC motion control system?

I think the key issue is a stepper or servo that will operate on 24 VDC. Ideally something in the 4-600 inch lbs class.

The Geckos seem to be no problem.

Breakout board/limit switches may be an issue as they seem to be mostly 12 volt. But I can easily pick off 12 volts or even 6 volts to power loads as well.

Why, you may ask?? I live off the grid and have big honkin 24 volt battery bank (750 ah at 24 vdc). Much easier to generate a small amount of AC for the spindle than for the whole rig.

I also have a little single cylinder kubota powered genny set that can develop 2000 watts of power at 12 or 24 volt DC. This little dude burns about a pint of fuel per hour at full cry and half veggie oil tamesthe smell of diesel a lot.

Most of my shop tools are DC as well. Amazing what a bunch of old volvo generators can do!!

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[bluejay_ca]

Just wire it just like the rest of us except you don't use a power supply, tie into your 24vdc. You'll likely want to plug your computer in 120vac as well.

You can run your router on DC, may have to series up a few batteries to get voltage high enough.

Don't expect as much performance from your motors at 24vdc but it will be fine for most applications.

[ger21]

These might be useful
http://www.cncbuildingblocks.com/

[twombo]

Thanks guys!

Don't know why this was being so complicated for me! A voltage between 3 and 20 times the steppers rated voltage is acceptable according to the stepper white paper at Geckodrive.com and I am looking at 3 volt steppers. So I am in the ballpark with a 24 volt system.

The Cncbuildingblocks.com Accustep interface looks like it will handle my interfacing needs, using only a simple 5 volt dc input plus it supports the charge pump input. Thanks Ger21!!

I use a forklift battery to run my home and shop and with the 2 KW charge ongoing and the usual battery charging efficiency, I can run almost an unlimited period of time for long cutting routines.

Now, to find a Mach III compatible laptop to use as a controller and I then will have reduced my AC needs to just the spindle....unless I can come up with a coal fired spindle or something!!!

Mike