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Author Topic: Only X-axis motor is working  (Read 33589 times)

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Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #90 on: March 29, 2018, 10:12:20 AM »
PEACE

Offline rcaffin

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Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #91 on: March 29, 2018, 04:38:52 PM »
Stepper motors?
What is the maximum voltage allowed on the DRIVER (not the motor),
what is the power supply voltage you have,
and what is the current setting on the driver,
what current is the motor rated for?

Cheers
Roger
Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #92 on: March 29, 2018, 05:17:35 PM »
Stepper motors?
What is the maximum voltage allowed on the DRIVER (not the motor),
what is the power supply voltage you have,
and what is the current setting on the driver,
what current is the motor rated for?

Cheers
Roger

From memory.
The drivers are rated to 48v, my power supply is 24v
Current setting on the driver is 1amp.
Stepper motors are rated 1.2 Amp and 4.7v

I will correct this info if it is erroneous

Offline rcaffin

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Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #93 on: March 29, 2018, 06:39:13 PM »
OK. 24 V is not enough. You should try to get a LINEAR supply rated at 40  - 42 VDC. I recommend you do NOT use a switch-mode PS as these give the drivers a very hard time and may cause the sort of malfunctions you are currently seeing.

Linear PS: a transformer, a diode bridge, and one or two big capacitors. Many drivers do in fact specify that you should use this sort of PS and NOT a switched one.

If you are not familiar with the maths for PSs, then a transformer rated at 30 VAC and ~6 A would be wonderful. A 100 VAC diode bridge also rated at 6+ A is fine. Caps - one or two 10,000 uF caps rated at 63 VDC would be fine. Putting a fuse in the primary (input) might be smart.

Cheers
Roger

Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #94 on: March 29, 2018, 09:17:39 PM »
I don't know why 24V power supply isn't OK. Here's my logic.

First, I misspoke. The steppers are 5.1v/ph, 1A/ph
The actual number is 23LM-C304

And the reason I think the 24v power supply will work fine is because these motors were originally mated to this power supply. In fact, this power supply fed 6 of the steppers, not just four. It's not some cheap Chinese power supply. It was in service for over 10 years with no issues.

The rest of what you said is something I will keep in mind. I don't know half of what you were saying but I get the jist and could figure out the other half if needed. I'd prefer, if necessary, to buy an actual power supply that doesn't need any tinkering.

Not sure what a LINEAR vs switch-mode power supply is.

Still learning though.
Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #95 on: March 29, 2018, 10:31:06 PM »
Hi,
yes your steppers will work with 24V but they will be able to go a lot faster without losing steps with a higher voltage.

A linear supply uses a transformer to reduce 230V to 30V. Transformers of this power level are quite big, heavy and quality wound ones are expensive.
Switchmode supplies use electronics to generate AC at many kHz and can use a much smaller and cheaper transformer. At high power levels they are
cheaper than linear supplies but they are  not as reliable or forgiving. By all means use you switch mode supply but if you see smoke coming from it and/or
your stepper drivers you will know that it was a poor choice.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'

Offline rcaffin

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Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #96 on: March 29, 2018, 10:55:14 PM »
There are some good tutorials on the Gecko.com web site. You may find them helpful in understanding what we are saying.

Cheers
Roger
Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #97 on: March 29, 2018, 11:10:19 PM »
Cool. Thanks for the advice.

I'm still trying to understand the ministepping feature.

For what it's worth, I lose steps at low speeds.

Offline rcaffin

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Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #98 on: March 29, 2018, 11:23:04 PM »
For what it's worth, I lose steps at low speeds.
Weird!
That could be interference between the switch-mode PS and the drivers.

Cheers
Roger
Re: Only X-axis motor is working
« Reply #99 on: March 30, 2018, 12:15:12 AM »
I think a lot of the problem might be that I hooked up my 8 wire steppers wrong.

I, mistakenly, thought I just needed 2 of the 4 coils wired and isolated the other 4 wires. It turns out I need to hook them all up either unipolar or bipolar connections.
The trick will be to find out which wires go to which coil.

These are 23LM-C304 motors. I still haven't found a color coded wiring diagram for them.

I'm not ignoring the advice of the PS issues. I just think I should have better results (even if not perfect) than I am.