Re: Strange lost step problem, grounding related

Doug,

A "snubber" is a component or circuit designed to minimise 'spikes'
caused by fast switching power circuitry. It does this by reducing
the dV/dT (change in volts over change in time). It can be as simple
as a capacitor (acting with a load as an rc network) to a discrete rc
network or even a super fast diode. For some info pertinent to this
thread:

http://www.mtecorp.com/techpaper.html

http://www.chipcenter.com/circuitcellar/november00/c1100rp58.htm

There is a great explanation of snubber usage in stepper motor drives
in the SGS thomson app notes (shown with the L6203) Written by Tom
Hopkins. This link has some info:

http://us.st.com/stonline/psearch/index.htm

Hope this helps.

Ballendo

> Don't have the remotest idea whether this will help....A while back
> I
> had a strange problem which the experts diagnosed as a grounding
> problem. Someone suggested putting a "snubber" across the
> terminals of the control transformer. About $2.95 later the
> problems all went away.
>
> I wasn't familiar with snubbers and neither was the clerk at the
> electronic supply, but we found one under a more technical name.
> Doug