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Falling at the first hurdle!
« on: December 09, 2007, 02:35:55 PM »
Sorry all very basic questions - I'm just starting at this project!
Firstly will any Mach version work under win 98 (NOT SE) it is not a huge problem if not, but, the easiest laptop to use has 98 on it, but, every version of Mach that I have tried has not liked 98!

The second question relates to stepper motor wiring- my motors are marked FL57STH76-2808B they are 8 wire. The controller is a stepmaster NC 4 Axis model SOP2B  it only has 4 wires per motor. My deduction is that I common connect & isolate A* and C     B* AND D  effectively giving two windings instead of four - can any one tell me if I am correct to save me creating smoke!!

The whole lot (motors & controllers came together so I assume that they are conpatable) .....just one other niggling worry: the input to the controller is 24vdc 2A the motors seem to need between 2 & 4 volt and 2.8 to 4 amp depending on the way they are wired .....is this another disaster waiting to get me????


Thanks for you patience


Jim

Offline Chip

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Re: Falling at the first hurdle!
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2007, 04:38:55 PM »
Hi, Jim

No, Win 2000,  XP or Vista on1ly.

With 8 wire stepper motors, You can connect them in "series" 1/2 Amp rating of motor or "parallel" full amp rating of motor.

Series would be  A, "A_C_",  C and B "B_D_"  D

Parallel would be "A C_" "A_C" and "B D_" , "B_ D"

No, Your stepper Board should have a "current" adjust on it, It should limit the volt's/Amp's to your steppers.

Adjust it to the your 2 to 4 volts, Measure the volt's across one of the stepper windings, The stepper's should be Hot to the touch ( be able to hold them in your hand for a little-bit before the "Ouch/Whoo" set's in.

Hope this Helps, Chip
Re: Falling at the first hurdle!
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2007, 04:50:13 PM »
Brilliant thanks! Will reload the pc and have a try!

Offline SimonD

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Re: Falling at the first hurdle!
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2007, 10:36:30 AM »
Hi,

I have the same motors and am using the 3 axis SOP and a single axis SOP from StepMasterNC. I am also using a 24V power supply (150W)

The motor datasheet can be downloaded from the MotionControlProducts.com website.

I have mine wired in series...
Connect Blue - Red/White
Connect Green - Black/White
A = Blue/White
A# = Red
B = Green/White
B# = Black

Note the order on the SOP board is different.

You need to set the VREF on each axis to 1.25x required current. e.g. 1.25x2A = 2.5V

I look forward to hearing your results as I am still struggling with mine... The Z axis motor is underpowered and I have just replaced it with am FL60STH86 which was supposed to be nearly double the torque but I am now having problems with the speed of it! I can't get it to run anywhere near the same speed without stalling.

Re: Falling at the first hurdle!
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2007, 04:08:56 PM »
Hi,



You need to set the VREF on each axis to 1.25x required current. e.g. 1.25x2A = 2.5V



Is that done somewhere in the controller hardware (seems to be sealed) or some controller related software or is it deep in Mach where I haven't yet found it .....please?

Offline SimonD

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Re: Falling at the first hurdle!
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2007, 04:20:50 PM »
Ah, you've got the boxed version...
I have the plain PCB versions and there are 2 potentiometers on the baord for each axis, one to set the PFD and one to set the VRef for each axis. 

Having looked at the maual for yours online, it states...
Quote
FEATURES:
 Two phase bipolar (chopper) pulse width modulating technology
 1/8 micro stepping output
 Suitable for 4, 6, or 8 wire motors
 Permanent stepper motor current output 2.0 amps / phase or greater
(SOP-2, SOP-2B)
 Permanent stepper motor current output 1.2 amps / phase or greater
(SOP-2LT)
 4 independent axis’ of control
 Motor connection via 4 position mini - din receptacle (SOP - 2, SOP -
2LT)
 Motor connection via external terminal blocks (SOP-2B)
 Maximum 30VDC @ 2.5 amps/phase motor output

From that it looks like you don't have to do anything!
Re: Falling at the first hurdle!
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2007, 07:09:30 PM »
The second question relates to stepper motor wiring- my motors are marked FL57STH76-2808B they are 8 wire. The controller is a stepmaster NC 4 Axis model SOP2B  it only has 4 wires per motor. My deduction is that I common connect & isolate A* and C     B* AND D  effectively giving two windings instead of four - can any one tell me if I am correct to save me creating smoke!!

Hi Jim
I used the same family of stepper motor.
Here is linked the data sheet from mine.
You can find you motor on at this lnk
http://www.motioncontrolproducts.com/nema23.html
Frank

Offline SimonD

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Re: Falling at the first hurdle!
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2007, 04:34:21 PM »
On the advise of MotionControlProducts, I have just rewired my Z axis (FL60 motor) using parallel instead of series and I can now move the axis ~3 times fister than when it was wired in series before it stalls.

Apparently the FL60 do not do well on 24v as the torque drops off very quickly with speed.

So while you are in the early stages I would try to wire the FL57's in parallel and see how they perform. I have not tried rewiring my FL57's yet.
I would be interested in hearing if it improves the FL57's too.

Simon