Hi, BORDER PATROL

Dose the att pic show the wire color code you have, I think your steppers are wired parallel, Bipolar.

Chip

Thanks for the help guys, it is much appreciated.

Here is what I have decided to do, and need your opinions on this course of action, as well as recommendations for the proper equipment.

1. Change from Vista to XP , either home edition or PRO, whichever is recommended.

2. Purchase a new 4 axis controller that will work with MACH3 and my stepper motors.

I would appreciate any and all advice, and entertain buying a controller from someone here on the forum that has one compatible with my motors.


Best regards

BP

Hi, BORDER PATROL

Dose the att pic show the wire color code you have, I think your steppers are wired parallel, Bipolar.

Chip
[/quote]

Hi Chip,
 the color coded wires look to be as follows:

yellow, white/red stripe

white/yellow stripe, red

white/orange

white/orange stripe/black

then brown/green/white

Thanks for the help guys, it is much appreciated.

Here is what I have decided to do, and need your opinions on this course of action, as well as recommendations for the proper equipment.

1. Change from Vista to XP , either home edition or PRO, whichever is recommended.

My personal preference would be XP, home or Pro shouldn't matter, I use Pro but thats just because its what I have.

2. Purchase a new 4 axis controller that will work with MACH3 and my stepper motors.

I would appreciate any and all advice, and entertain buying a controller from someone here on the forum that has one compatible with my motors.


Best regards

BP

If you are wanting a 4 axis in one then the  Gecko G540 should work fine with your steppers and has 4 axis built in.The good thing about the G540 is it is actually individual drives so if one goes bad you just need to replace that, most of the other, if not all, multi axis drives are all built on the same board so if one goes bad you need to replace the whole thing.
 I have  used Geckos G201, G202 and Leadshines 8 Amp drives and all work well but are individual drives so a lot more wiring is needed.

Hood

May I humbly suggest a new drive box I'm building that employs a Gecko G540: http://soigeneris.com/CNCPartsPage4.aspx. One other things I noticed is that your steppers are the older round style. You might want to consider getting some newer 'square' steppers as well. The newer square bodied steppers are more powerful and as an added benefit starting out with a new drive and steppers will remove a lot of the unknowns you are experiencing with your current set up.

Quote from: BORDER PATROL on September 13, 2009, 03:20:33 PM

Thanks for the help guys, it is much appreciated.

Here is what I have decided to do, and need your opinions on this course of action, as well as recommendations for the proper equipment.

1. Change from Vista to XP , either home edition or PRO, whichever is recommended.

My personal preference would be XP, home or Pro shouldn't matter, I use Pro but thats just because its what I have.

Quote from: BORDER PATROL on September 13, 2009, 03:20:33 PM

2. Purchase a new 4 axis controller that will work with MACH3 and my stepper motors.

I would appreciate any and all advice, and entertain buying a controller from someone here on the forum that has one compatible with my motors.


Best regards

BP

If you are wanting a 4 axis in one then the  Gecko G540 should work fine with your steppers and has 4 axis built in.The good thing about the G540 is it is actually individual drives so if one goes bad you just need to replace that, most of the other, if not all, multi axis drives are all built on the same board so if one goes bad you need to replace the whole thing.
 I have  used Geckos G201, G202 and Leadshines 8 Amp drives and all work well but are individual drives so a lot more wiring is needed.

Hood

Thanks for the advice. Can you recommend the proper power supply for the motors I have in the photo?  I ordered a G540, will need a P/S and what other components to construct a working controller? Thanks in advance again. BP

May I humbly suggest a new drive box I'm building that employs a Gecko G540: http://soigeneris.com/CNCPartsPage4.aspx. One other things I noticed is that your steppers are the older round style. You might want to consider getting some newer 'square' steppers as well. The newer square bodied steppers are more powerful and as an added benefit starting out with a new drive and steppers will remove a lot of the unknowns you are experiencing with your current set up.

Jeff, thanks for the offer, but I have already placed an order for the G540. I appreciate your willingness to assist me with my project, and may well need to use your services before this is over.

I'm not sure what the exact specs on your steppers are (inductance) but judging by the current requirements I would suspect that this power supply would be a good fit: http://soigeneris.com/CNCParts.aspx. I have sold a lot of them for use with the G540.

You may well have a suitable power supply already on the router, if you can power it up and know how to use a voltmeter you will be able to measure the voltage, you want to measure the DC voltage. The DC voltage will be the wires from the power supply that go to the drive, if you are unsure take some pics and someone will be able to advise I am sure. If you are not used to working with electricity please be careful, especially if there are large capacitors in the power supply.

As for other components, you wont really need any as I presume your router will have limit switches and E-Stop switch etc already.
Hood

As Jeff has said, the steppers are the old round frame style. May well be they are variable reluctance type requiring high voltage - like most of the older ones. Only way to find out (considering you don't have any specs of the steppers) is actually testing them with the G540 I guess. You'll easily see if they are not suitable - no sufficient speed, no torque.

Daniel