[Novett]

Hi

I`m doing my control panel over with a larger power supply. I have a large control box 10 deep x 24 wide x 30 tall
I have more than enough space. I am looking for recommendations for the layout of the panel. My old panel was
so tight it was a nightmare to make modifications. This is the layout so far. Power supply and din rail terminal blocks
to act as 115 volt power distribution. Fans and one of my boards are 115 ac. The power supply is mounted near the
top because I`ll have the start and stop plus disconnect installed in the top of the enclosure.
I`m wondering if I should move the BOB and the CNC4PC C17 board even further toward the bottom of the aluminum
mounting panel. Any ideas for improvements are greatly appreciated.

Attachment 252910

[Al_The_Man]

As a general rule all heat producing items are mounted at the top and any the may be affected by heat at the bottom or progressively lower.
Estimated Panel size always ends up being at least 10% smaller than the original calculated. :devious:
Al.

[Novett]

Hi All

Special thanks goes out to Al. Your help has allowed me to get this far with the revised control panel.
The plywood and plexiglass at the top are just for prototyping the layout.

Best Wishes

[RCaffin]

> I have more than enough space.
Looks too small to me.
I have just been through a rebuild myself. You need a LOT of space.
For a start, I would remove the big power supply to its own box somewhere else. That would help a lot.
Otherwise - sketch first, rearrange many times, then try.
Then do it again, properly.

Cheers

[Novett]

Hi

Thanks for the input but it’s a bit late. I respectfully disagree with you statement that the control
panel is too small. Upgrading from the old panel that was half the size makes this one look like a
football field. The panel board is 22 x 30. Visualizing the future wiring I`m confident there will be
no problems. I do like the idea of a separate location for the power supply.

[RCaffin]

Hi Novett

Ah, you might be right. That's just me mumbling away in frustration. I need to get another couple of relays into mine ...

Ah - 22x30: cm or inches? If inches, yeah, that's big enough! Hard to tell the scale.

Can I recommend some small ammeters somewhere visible - one on each axis motor and one on the spindle. I put them in and they are proving invaluable. For instance, drilling aluminium I was pulling maybe 1 A on the spindle and little on the Z, but drilling titanium the meters went up considerably. So I backed off just a little and all was well.

Cheers
Roger


Cheers

[Novett]

Hi
I was going to add three amp meters then I saw a thread were Al was mentioning that it was better
to monitor the overall current of the PS then reading each servo individually. So I will have one amp
meter. It will be interesting to find out if the 20 amp PS was too big.

[xjdubber]

If you have not thought of it, use wire duct!! I don't see any in the layout, I build panels all the time and never without wireduct. It makes everything so much neater.

[Novett]

Hi xjdubber

Got some ordered yesterday on ebay.

[Al_The_Man]

For my builds I would only include a current monitor on the spindle, and if using a VFD, most have current monitor output ability.
Al.

[RCaffin]

Yeah, can do with one meter, but I find it useful to monitor each one. If I see the X axis meter jiggling, I know something might be the matter with that unit - oscillation, blockages, etc. But definitely worth having a separate meter on the spindle imho.

Cheers
Roger

[Novett]

Hi all

The control panel is coming along nicely. The recommendation for the wire ducting made a big difference.


Attachment 257306

[RCaffin]

Elegant.
Seems a pity to mess it up with a whole lot of wires ...

Cheers
Roger

[Novett]

Hi All

The never-ending panel upgrade is nearing completion. I managed to find an industrial control enclosure on
ebay for $95.00. Since it was a second hand box the top and bottom were riddled with many holes. So I made
1/16 thick cover plates from aluminum and milled all the holes I needed on my Bridgeport. The plexiglass front originally
had a rectangular cut out. This required a new piece of plexiglass installed for the repair.
In addition, a side plate was made to allow the mounting of connectors. Years ago I ordered differential encoder
cables from US digital. They came with a non-panel mount end. So I needed a way to make these connectors panel
mount. The solution but so far its untested is to tap two 4-40 holes adjacent to the rectangle cutout and use 4-40 bolts
and washers top and bottom to hold the connectors from being pushed in or out when installing or removing the
matching connector. Its probably not the best solution but it’s the only solution I came up with.
Also removed all the hardware and sanded the box then I shot some Eastwood epoxy primer on the enclosure. The
project will not receive any top coats. I`m too lazy to spend more money or time on the project.
Now it’s time for the wiring of the Gecko 320, limit switches etc.
Part of the upgrade was removing some of the old limit switches from the machine. The machine now has all snap
action limits instead of a mix of proximity, photo sensors as part of the limit system. All new wire and new larger
cable carriers were added to the machine.

[Analias]

Novett, do you still have the eBay listing number for your purchase? I would like to get the box specifications, specifically the box NEMA type. That box would work well for my controller upgrade. Thanks.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

[Novett]

Hi
Here is a link:AM24208RTW | 24x20 to 30x24 Fiberglass Control Enclosures | Allied Moulded Products, Inc.

[Novett]

Hi All

I spent the weekend soldering and making the final connections to the control panel. Glad this is done.
Next step on to the wiring of the Geckos in conjunction with a new board from cnc4PC. The C17
board which is designed to monitor the Geckos.

Attachment 262364
Attachment 262366
Attachment 262362

[RCaffin]

You know, I find soldering up all the cables and connectors to be the most tiring part of the whole deal. I ended up writing out the entire wiring harness first, with every cable numbered and colour-coded. Lot's of work up front, but it made completing the system (and fixing a few errors) so much easier. (What is cable 29 doing there???)

Cheers
Roger

[Larken]

Did you daisy chain the DC power to the drives or run separate power wires to each ?

Larry K

[Novett]

Hi
Larry

I haven`t gotten that far. But I will have individual wires for each Gecko. Anyone know if its necessary to place a zener diode under the fuses.
I did in my last control panel. Something about allowing a return path for the DC if the fuse blows.