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General Mach Discussion / Re: cabinet design
« on: November 21, 2013, 03:26:31 AM »
I have not used VFD's for a long time, usually use servos for spindles now. However on my first retrofit (Bridgeport) I used a VFD and didnt have an issue when it was in the same cabinet, all wires however were shielded and also the VFD was a reasonable quality one, I have heard some of the cheaper Chinese ones can produce quite a lot of noise.
Regarding my Drives, they are Telemechanique Lexiums for the axes and an Allen Bradley DSD for the spindle. They can accept Step and Direction but I have chosen to use them in Velocity mode with +/- 10v analogue control signal, the controller is a CSMIO/IP-A and it is, to put simply, the best controller I have used with Mach. I also have the Step/Dir version (CSMIO/IP-S) on a small lathe and it too is a quality controller but the IP-A has some advantages, even over it.
Personally that is the route I would take with your machine, assuming the original drives are still ok. You would have to replace the encoders as the IP-A needs ttl encoders. I see CS Lab now sell encoders as well.
Regarding tight cabinets and noise, here is a pic of the Bridgeport cabinet when I converted it over to servos, everything is in that cabinet including the computer and controller.
Hood
Regarding my Drives, they are Telemechanique Lexiums for the axes and an Allen Bradley DSD for the spindle. They can accept Step and Direction but I have chosen to use them in Velocity mode with +/- 10v analogue control signal, the controller is a CSMIO/IP-A and it is, to put simply, the best controller I have used with Mach. I also have the Step/Dir version (CSMIO/IP-S) on a small lathe and it too is a quality controller but the IP-A has some advantages, even over it.
Personally that is the route I would take with your machine, assuming the original drives are still ok. You would have to replace the encoders as the IP-A needs ttl encoders. I see CS Lab now sell encoders as well.
Regarding tight cabinets and noise, here is a pic of the Bridgeport cabinet when I converted it over to servos, everything is in that cabinet including the computer and controller.
Hood