[janz99]

Hey guys, I am in the planning phase of my CNC conversion for a G0704 and I am looking at electronics right now. I bought Hoss's plans awhile back and Ive been looking at a few of the options he has layed out. I have been bugging Hoss, but I figured a post may help and then I can stop bugging him so much lol.

Here is two of the options Hoss has put together that I am considering:



Its only an additional $158 to upgrade to the digital drivers and and the C11 board which would give me spindle control through mach. Id love to hear what everyone is running and how they like it? How is reliability? I don't need insane rapid speeds, and Im not putting this together for production. I do however hope to get reasonably good surface finishes on alum.

Let me know what you guys think. Is it worth it to spend the extra coin and get the digital drivers, or should I save the money and put it towards something else.

Thanks
Ryan

[Wiggles84]

Have you looked at the Leadshine MX3660 or MX4660?

The MX3660 is about $50 more than the basic package and about $100 less then the heavy duty package.

I have an MX3660, there have been a few issues but I think it came for else where in my setup.

Tormach is using the MX3660 in their 440 as well, So they most be decent?


Andrew

[pippin88]

Leadshine digital drivers are great. Available cheap on aliexpress. I've been very happy with my DM856 (model number from memory). Much quieter and cooler running steppers than the G540 I upgraded from.

Some even have sensorless stall detection.

[janz99]

I did look into the Mx3660, and I have been following your build Wiggles. I had seen a few failures on here and it kind of shy'd me away from it. I had originally planned to use it as its nice to have all three axis packaged into one controller like that. It also looks to be a digital controller, versus the analog drivers I have posted in the basic package.

If I went with something like the mx3660 or 4660, I'm assuming ill still need to purchase the expansion board to do spindle control with Mach? Are either of you guys using one of the usb control boards? None of my computers have an rs232 connection. I have had the same issue when tuning ecu's in cars that require an rs232 and dealing with flakey usb-serial adapters.

[Fastest1]

Janz, You will find most of us probably did something incorrectly that gave us a problem or 2 with the MX3660 (or any other board for that matter).

I know in my case I unplugged a stepper before the LED had even depleted. It popped a fuse, I was stubborn enough to repair it myself. OTOH Leadshine has been very helpful with any questions I have had. I am sure they would have stood behind it. Nothing to be nervous about with them.

I dont use an additional board to control my spindle speed.

[Wiggles84]

Even with the issues I had with my MX3660, I would buy another one with out thinking twice. Maybe the MX4660 for the 4th driver and more inputs\outputs.

I am controlling my spindle with the mx3660. Mach3 doesn't know what speed it is spinning at because I have my inputs tied up with XYZ limit\home switches and my tool setter.


Not sure if you found my thread about the issues I had with the MX3660, but once I went over the head of the store I bought it from, leadshine came thru and got me replacement drivers for a good price.

I'm using a ESS between my MX3660 and the computer, but that was because my computer was doing some weird pulses.


Hope that helps,
Andrew

[janz99]

Sorry what does ESS stand for? What limit/home switches did you end up going with Wiggles? I was looking at these limit switches but they look really cheesy to me? I've also heard of guys using proximity switches as limit switches? I'm not exactly sure how you would go about that, but seemed like a pretty cool idea.

I like the idea of the MX4660 as it would be really nice to build a trunion down the road and use the 4th axis.

[Wiggles84]

ESS= Ethernet Smooth Stepper

these are the switches I ended up using

started with prox sensors, but was told I hooked them up wrong and they never seemed to work right. then got some cheap ones like you linked but didn't want make an enclosure for them so I got the ones from automation direct.

plus the prox sensors could be triggered by metal chips if not covered


Andrew

[xdnok]

Hoss's recommendation is a good one, I wish I would have stayed with it the first time around....... My first system had the same stepper motors as Hoss heavy duty but with Gecko G540 controller and I kept getting mis steps on the Z axis, I was not a happy camper. On the second try I ended up with the Clear Path servo system and power supplies, I know its twice as much but there are some good upsides and an ethernet smooth stepper controller with BOB and now I'm very happy with my G0704. I also went with some pretty lightweight limit switches at first and then the coolant and chips started to give occasional problems so I went to a more substantial limit switch from Automation Direct AEM2G16Z11-3 and those problems went away.

[Fastest1]

Hoss's recommendation is a good one, I wish I would have stayed with it the first time around....... My first system had the same stepper motors as Hoss heavy duty but with Gecko G540 controller and I kept getting mis steps on the Z axis, I was not a happy camper. On the second try I ended up with the Clear Path servo system and power supplies, I know its twice as much but there are some good upsides and an ethernet smooth stepper controller with BOB and now I'm very happy with my G0704. I also went with some pretty lightweight limit switches at first and then the coolant and chips started to give occasional problems so I went to a more substantial limit switch from Automation Direct AEM2G16Z11-3 and those problems went away.

Though Hoss' has great info. I believe that missed steps can be the culprit of the PC. I have experienced way too many variances that arent easy to recognize or resolve. I believe that Windows is to blame but I really am not sure.

I am now looking into LinuxCnc due to its reputation for being rock solid real time based bla bla bla. It has its own set of challenges too.

[Wiggles84]

Ryan,

Your PM message box is full, this forum only lets you have 20 total messages............(nuts)


Andrew

[janz99]

LOL, fixed!

Well that's a tiny inbox.... guess ill need to stay on top of that.

[xdnok]

Though Hoss' has great info. I believe that missed steps can be the culprit of the PC. I have experienced way too many variances that arent easy to recognize or resolve. I believe that Windows is to blame but I really am not sure.

I am now looking into LinuxCnc due to its reputation for being rock solid real time based bla bla bla. It has its own set of challenges too.

I know Windows has it's issues and would never discount it but, in this case I think the G540 was not able to supply enough amperage to the z axis stepper motor as the failure was always on a change direction such as pulling out of a deep drill operation. I likely could have just changed to separate high amperage capable drivers and life would have been better. I know it's extreme overkill for sure but I was curious about the clear path servo system and along with the ESS and I am very pleased with the speed, power and smoothness of servo operation.

[CL_MotoTech]

I haven't had any issues with missed steps usings Windows 7, Mach3, G504, and ESS. Though my Z-axis acceleration is a tad slower than I would like it to achieve this. I am using a 25lb. air spring to support my Z axis and with 906oz stepper it has no issues in either direction. I imagine my acclerations will be sped up significantly when I supply my stepper a full 6 amps rather than the 3 that the G504 is limited too. I went with G504 simply for ease (and speed) of assembly. I plan to upgrade to seperate drivers and BOB soon.

[janz99]

I haven't had any issues with missed steps usings Windows 7, Mach3, G504, and ESS. Though my Z-axis acceleration is a tad slower than I would like it to achieve this. I am using a 25lb. air spring to support my Z axis and with 906oz stepper it has no issues in either direction. I imagine my acclerations will be sped up significantly when I supply my stepper a full 6 amps rather than the 3 that the G504 is limited too. I went with G504 simply for ease (and speed) of assembly. I plan to upgrade to seperate drivers and BOB soon.

I've seen this mentioned before, what exactly is "bob"?

[gfacer2]

I've seen this mentioned before, what exactly is "bob"?

Break out board...

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

[janz99]

Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you had ever had trouble dealing with Automation Technology? I've never dealt with them and so far what I have dealt with them for, they seem to be great. The trouble is with my MasterCard company, and them refusing purchases with this company. I am in the middle of trying to figure out why they would refuse the transaction, so I figured I would ask here and see if anyone else had any issues dealing with them? I haven't received all the details yet, and hopefully I will know more later this morning.

If for some reason MasterCard will not allow purchases through this vendor, is there any other vendors you guys would recommend to deal with? It would be nice to find someone in Canada but I don't have an issue with bringing parts in from the US either.

[Wiggles84]

I purchased a few different things from them over the last 3 years and haven't had any issues (ESS, linear PSU, Mach3 licence ). Each time I used PayPal. And they generally respond to emails rather quickly, 30~90 mins IIRC. They also were able to ship same day most of the time.

Maybe Mastercard is questioning as fraud??? Given you are in Canada and they are in the US? That's my guess.


Andrew

[janz99]

I've contacted MC and they haven't been that helpful. I cam going to contact the security department this afternoon and find out what the exact reasoning is. I order a ton of car related parts from the US on a regular basis, so I have a hard time believing it is due to the US/Canada issue, but who knows. Hopefully I will have an answer soon, id really like to get the components ordered up asap.

I've been looking around at a few pre-built machines, and it seems a lot of them tend to use separate drivers for each axis rather then one large controller like the mx3660/4660. Other then ease of replacement, what advantage is there running separate drivers over one large control box?

[janz99]

What gauge of wiring is everyone using for their stepper motors? I was looking at the steppers I ordered and the 906oz is rated at almost 6 amps. From looking online that would mean i should be looking at 12/4 shielded wiring?