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  1. #1381
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    41
    Quote Originally Posted by CoAMarcus View Post
    ...ask for a new motherboard.
    Marcus
    That's great news!

    BTW - I built my one and only 4-axis Gecko controller in 2002. Gets about 6 hours use per day. It has worked without a single problem all this time.

    The real cost in building a controller is the time expended in all the hand wiring. Not a problem for a hobbyist, but $$ for a business owner. For that reason, I jumped on the G540 for my current project, another Taig Mill.

    Ed

  2. #1382
    Ed,

    Here's how I see it: Each G201 drive has 12 connector positions. 4 drives makes for 48 wires. Each must be stripped and terminated at both ends making for 96 wire connections. Allowing 15 minutes per connection (planning, measuring, drawing wiring diagrams, head-scratching, wire dressing, cable harnessing, butt-scratching, mounting drives, breakout boards, coffee breaks, rework, checking 14 different product manuals) adds up to at least 24 hours of labor. A week of evenings. If even one out of the 96 connections goes to the wrong place, the result can be very expensive and pleasantly fragrant curls of smoke. You get it half wrong and you spend weeks tracking down why you are getting a few thousands position error on your machine.

    The G540 eliminates all this. Nothing beats motor drives integrated with power distribution, control signal compatibility, input / output connectors and protection circuitry (the kind that saves $$ if you make a motor wiring mistake) all in one simple package.

    We design motor drives; it's what we do so we know the proper care and feeding of drives. We designed everything they need into the G540 to get trouble free and reliable operation.

    Mariss

  3. #1383
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    41
    ... wiring adds up to at least 24 hours of labor.

    Yep - and then there is making the front panel connector cut-outs, triple checking for wiring errors, making sure no little strands of cut wire are bridging connectors, on and on. It was fun the first time. Now I just want to plug 'n play.

    Ed

  4. #1384
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    1738
    OMG! I am so excited too order my 540! Plug and play! Exactly!


    -Jason

  5. #1385
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    3655
    HMMM!

    If 4 axis plug & play is good for 3.5A and 50 volts--Is it possible that we could someday have the same thing in a 7A 80V package? That would be a winner also!

    CR.

  6. #1386
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    243
    Where is the pulse generator?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mariss Freimanis View Post
    G540 next revision (REV 2). I took some of the advice to heart and added a few additional goodies:

    1) DISABLE will be renamed ENABLE. The ENABLE input must be shorted to GND to enable the G540. If ENABLE is left open then the G540 shuts down.

    2) A watchdog timer (charge pump) is added. No 25kHz on the DB25 pin 16, no run.

    3) The +5VDC input from the PC is eliminated. An isolated internal DC to DC converter coughs up the +5VDC at 10mA need for parallel port input pullup resistors.

    4) Two general purpose outputs are eliminated, serviced by DB25 pins 14 and 16 in the current G540 REV1. Pin 16 is now the dedicated "charge pump" output and the use of pin 16 is discussed next (5).

    5) An optoisolated VFD interface is added. The interface uses 3 terminal positions; VFD +V, VFD -V and VFD OUT. This circuit is completely isolated from the rest of the G540 to a minimum 300V breakdown voltage.

    My understanding is most VFDs provide a remote potentiometer connection of 10VDC at 10mA. VFD +V goes to the '+' side of the pot connection, VFD -V goes to the '-' side and VFD OUT goes to the pot wiper or input connection. The output voltage range is from 0V to whatever '+' is (this must not be more than +12VDC). The VDF signal must be a PWM output on the DB25 pin 14. The -3db bandwidth is 5Hz.

    6) A FAULT output back to the PC has been added. This output reads as a '1' when the G540 has faulted out (shut down) due to a short-circuit on a motor lead or when the ENABLE input to GND is disconnected (E-Stop). It is on the DB25 pin 15.

    7) Internal ultra fast blow fuse protection. This is to help with the power supply polarity reversal thingy.:-)

    8) We will be including 4 mating male DB9 connectors (solder cup type) and 4 sets of DB9 connector backshells with each G540 to ease the user's motor cable fabrication work.

    Comments please.

    Mariss

  7. #1387
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    122
    Hi Mariss or Marcus,

    I may have missed it, but has a date been set for the 2 week G251 at $39.00?

    Thanks

    Al

  8. #1388
    Hmmm.....perhaps someone can fill me in using plain english....

    I was looking at the G203V's. Previously I've been using a HobbyCNC Board. So is the G540 somewhere in between these two, and which end of the scale is it closer to?

    It still uses a parallel port instead of ethernet/usb....is this a major disadvantage?

    Edit: PS. I didn't read all 1287 posts before writing this!

  9. #1389
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    35538
    Probably closer to the HobbyCNC for the size motors it can run, at 3.5amps and 50volts. But the mid band resonance compensation and other features should make it smoother and more powerful and it'll act like a full size gecko.

    Pretty much all drives on the market targeted at the hobby market use the parallel port, because that's where the step and direction signals come from. So there's no disadvantage.
    Gerry

    UCCNC 2017 Screenset
    http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2017.html

    Mach3 2010 Screenset
    http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html

    JointCAM - CNC Dovetails & Box Joints
    http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)

  10. #1390
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    655
    Quote Originally Posted by thkoutsidthebox View Post
    Hmmm.....perhaps someone can fill me in using plain english....

    I was looking at the G203V's. Previously I've been using a HobbyCNC Board. So is the G540 somewhere in between these two, and which end of the scale is it closer to?

    It still uses a parallel port instead of ethernet/usb....is this a major disadvantage?

    Edit: PS. I didn't read all 1287 posts before writing this!

    On the upgraded Gecko site, the support area has a lot of info, section 2 explains the different stepper drives. Here's a link:
    http://www.geckodrive.com/support.aspx?n=304693

    Hope this helps some,
    Jack
    Walking is highly over-rated

  11. #1391
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    323
    wow you gecko drive guys continue to amaze me..such a good warranty , send it back in a year for fixing it free,..then if i order a drive early you will send me a new revision motherboard for the drive....what a great company!!

    and on looking in the trash...ok..if you dont mind... might take a while with me living close to the other coast...but if i get a chance..

    i am a total pack rat... for instance i have two plotters setting out back from work...(boss was gonna throw them out,so i said id take em) now i have a few nema 23 (round style) motors....if i can find a use for em..

    i was just thinking you have put so much work into this drive...it almost seems like a sink or swim type thing...hope it swims...was the main idea for a g540 or for the individual drives? seems having an all in one type drive from gecko was a totally great idea..

    oh and i am saving for a drive purchase...

    great job,guys
    "witty comment"

  12. #1392
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    243
    There is no comparison between any of the Gecko products and the Hobbycnc board. I built one of the hobby.. boards a few years ago and was diappointed in its performance and lack of technical refinements.
    The driver chip he used was extremely noisey, it missed steps and needed improvements. I ended up adding a larger filter cap on each axis, cut the traces from the common power lines and did several other mods to improve it. That done it could not hold a candle to the G201, G203 the G251 and most likely the 540.
    The adavantage of the G203 over the G251 is that the G203 will run motors up to 7A and 80V. If you thought you needed to upgrade to a larger machine then the G203 is the route to go. The G540 which houses the G250 is simply a motherboard for the G250's.

    Dan Mauch
    camtronics-cnc.com

    Quote Originally Posted by thkoutsidthebox View Post
    Hmmm.....perhaps someone can fill me in using plain english....

    I was looking at the G203V's. Previously I've been using a HobbyCNC Board. So is the G540 somewhere in between these two, and which end of the scale is it closer to?

    It still uses a parallel port instead of ethernet/usb....is this a major disadvantage?

    Edit: PS. I didn't read all 1287 posts before writing this!

  13. #1393
    It's a funny business we are in when it concerns the hobby market. That segment is a little less than 10% of what we do. Yes, last Friday we rolled around the idea of making a "super G540" that would use G203s or the like. We discarded the idea for a number of reasons:

    1) PMDX, Camtronics and others already do a terrific job of packaging our drives into systems. How would what we do be better than that?

    2) The G250 is a clean-sheet new design. It is a medium performance size (3.5A, 50V) design. It's demands from a packaged 4-axis system is much less than what's required for 4 full-power drives. Connector ratings, package size and heatsinking is way in excess of what we would want to turn out as an integrated product. We do small, this requires big.

    3) We don't want to step on the toes of the people that have done an excellent job integrating our drives in the past. The people that put them together in boxes for years know a thing or two.

    Mariss

  14. #1394
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    1738
    I calculated that my steppers will need a total of 7.5 Amps. I want too get the Keling 7.3 amp PS. Will I still be ok running this PS? Oh, and this would be maxing out the steppers anyway.


    -Jason

  15. #1395
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    655
    Quote Originally Posted by SpeedsCustom View Post
    I calculated that my steppers will need a total of 7.5 Amps. I want too get the Keling 7.3 amp PS. Will I still be ok running this PS? Oh, and this would be maxing out the steppers anyway.


    -Jason
    Hi Jason,

    You may have missed this post. I believe it was the answer to your question previously asked in post#1370

    Here's a copy of post#1372
    "Missing 200mA should not affect anything too badly. You will be getting a little over 97% of the performance you would otherwise get with 7.5A.

    Marcus"

    Cheers,
    Jack
    Walking is highly over-rated

  16. #1396
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    41
    Quote Originally Posted by SpeedsCustom View Post
    ... I want too get the Keling 7.3 amp PS.
    -Jason
    When considering a power supply for the G540, are there any reasons (beside cost & size) to pick a switcher over a linear supply? Pros & cons of each? My main concerns are motor performance and system reliability of course.

    Ed

  17. #1397
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    467
    Quote Originally Posted by CoAMarcus View Post
    Missing 200mA should not affect anything too badly. You will be getting a little over 97% of the performance you would otherwise get with 7.5A.

    Marcus
    Jason,

    I meant this one for you a while back. Sorry, I should have used the quote function to avoid confusion.

    Marcus

  18. #1398
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    1738
    Ok yea, I didn't see it on the other page. Thanks for informing me and letting me know you answered previously. And thank you for the response.

    Ed- Actaully, it's because of cost. I have too buy the 540 + Power Supply + I need too buy a new program that will cost another 250.00+

    That is a lot of money too drop. Which is why I need too buy the Keling, although I would like too have the best of the best, I can't right now


    -Jason

  19. #1399
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    384
    Quote Originally Posted by edferg View Post
    When considering a power supply for the G540, are there any reasons (beside cost & size) to pick a switcher over a linear supply? Pros & cons of each? My main concerns are motor performance and system reliability of course.

    Ed
    Size, efficiency, weight, heat output.

  20. #1400
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    1738
    I kinda answered a question too Ed which he wasn't asking for, ignore my previous post.


    But yes, Yngn is right, size, heat output and efficiency and well, cost.


    -Jason

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