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Messages - Jeff_Birt

891
SmoothStepper USB / SmoothStepper and Dyna 2400
« on: April 17, 2009, 05:15:57 PM »
Dyna 2400 and SmoothStepper

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I posted this on CNCZone and teh Warp9 forum too but I just get so darn excited when the SS breaths new life into an old machine!  ;D

After scanning the Dyna 2400 manuals recently to make them available to others on CNCZone I got to thinking about the 2400 I have at work and the SmoothStepper I have from a project last year.

I converted this Dyna 2400 to Mach a few years ago. Basically the whole machine is stock but the controller and distribution board were stripped off. I made my own opto-isolated break out board that all the stock wiring plugs in to. With this set up and Mach in 'Sherline' mode to stretch out the step pulses I could very reliably get 10 IPM. Fifteen IPM was possible but the phase jitter of the parallel port, evident by tiny little popping sounds from each axis, worried me.

I got out the SmoothStepper board, upgraded Mach to the latest lock-down and cloned the existing mill profile and changed the motion control device to the SS. After diagnosing a loose fuse causing the machine not to power up I tested the jogging and it looked like everything worked fine. I ran the velocity on X&Y up to 30IPM (Z to 20IPM) and everything runs great, really SMOOTH no more little popping sounds. At 40IPM it was sounding rough as it was really pushing the stock steppers and drivers.

So, about 15 minutes of time and the traverse speed was tripled. I'll do some cutting with it next week but suspect that it should be able to easily cut at 20IPM now.

892
Yep, you just need to purchase a license to load a file that big. The demo allows you to run enough code to see how well it will work for your application, which I have always kind of liked. You can get purchase a license from the 'Support' tab on this site or from a Mach dealer. IHMO it is a great value.

893
I guess I had my head up my butt concerning where MW was manufactured. I sent Keling an email to again ask about their power supplies. I may have to buy one to compare to see if it is a genuine MW or a knock-off.

894
Have you guys considered upgrading to an SVN system? If not I'll install a CVS system on a separate box. I don't want to mix SVN and CVS on my main dev machines.

I'll grab the source in a few days and see how things go on my system. I need to get the Galil user program posted to so others can do a similar thing if needed.

895
I have not looked at the newest code but it sounds like you guys are doing great things. When I first implemented the extended I/O in the Galil plug-in I used a user program on the econo cards to poll the extended inputs and write them to the unused aux encoder registers. This allowed the extended inputs to be read regularly without the excessive delay of trying to poll them one at a time. Has this been carried throughly? I am getting ready to update my project that uses the Galil in the near future.

896
MeanWell builds their supplies in Thailand and somewhere else I can't think of (but not China.) Nothing against Chinese made products in general but if I can't track down the OEM or find good documentation from the seller I tend to shy away (no matter where it is made.) BTW, the S-350 series from MeanWell is a very good choice for small systems. It uses a hiccup/constant current style overload protection which is ideal for this application. It is what I sell/use on smaller machines. My main point was the same as yours, you just have to be careful when trying to tie power supplies together.

Thanks for the kind words on the website.  :)


897
Quote
KL320-36 is a trademark for Keling. It is the same model as the 350 series from Meanwell.

Does it say MeanWell on it or is it just similar to a MeanWell? I ask as I tired to get a datasheet on their power supplies months ago and was told none were available. I am somewhat dubious that they are MeanWell as if they were they should state such as MW supplies are well known for being top quality.

As to PS types. Yes an unregulated supply and a switch type supply are two different critters; kind of like a gasoline and diesel engine are different. An unregulated supply is type of linear power supply and is basically a big transformer and bridge rectifier with a few filter capacitors. It's actual output voltage depends entirely on load, the bigger the load the lower the voltage. They are simple but not real efficient. You can also have regulated linear supplies which will keep the voltage more constant but they are still inefficient.

Switch type power supplies basically work by rectifying the AC (making it DC) and then chopping up the DC (into pulsating DC) in a controlled manner. A transformer is used to convert the pulsating DC into another voltage where it is again rectified and filtered some. It is more complicated but more efficient, smaller and does not produce as much waste heat.

898
The link to the power supplies he provided are indeed switch mode (even though he did say 'unregulated'). The same warning goes for linear power supplies as well. The common terminal can be bonded to the earth ground. The other problem you can run into is having parts (like filter caps) in the poser supply that are only rated for the voltage of one supply. Spikes and surges could cause a single supply to see a greater voltage across it than it was designed for.

899
Be VERY VERY careful. Unless the power supply is designed for series operation you will have problems. Many switch type power supplies tie the DC common to earth ground through a small resistor. Chaining two in series would be a bad idea. If a power supply can be put in series it will be stated so on the data sheet.

900
General Mach Discussion / Re: Routing Acrylic!!! Please Help!
« on: April 15, 2009, 12:21:59 PM »
It also makes a big difference what type of acrylic you are using. Cast acrylic is best for machining, extruded has a much lower melting point. There is also tooling specifically designed for routing/milling plastics as well.