5 phase driver ? ( was Re:Gecko help

Thanks for the explanation.

seems like a cat chasing it's tail.

I guess for most of our purposes, the low end power is the most
important criteria. high speeds mostly for rapids and not cutting.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., Jon Elson <elson@p...> wrote:
> turbulatordude wrote:
>
> > I am not sure what a 5 phase driver is.
> >
> > seems the stepper has a 5 phase lable?
> > but is it not just a 5 wire stepper ?
>
> Most stepper motors are 2-phase. the well-known, 4- 6- and 8-wire
motors
> are all 2-phase. The 4-wire has 2 wires per phase, and can only be
used with
> bipolar drives. The 6-wire has center-tapped windings, which can
be used with
> unipolar or bipolar drives. With bipolar, you can only use one
half of the winding
> to reduce inductance. The 8-wire motors can be used with either
bipolar or
> unipolar drives, and can be connected in series or parallel with
the bipolar.
>
> But, there are also 5-phase stepper motors, usually with 5 wires,
but sometimes
> with 10. They are made by Berger-Lahr and under their license by
Oriental
> Motor, using the trade name of Vexta. (O.M. also makes 2-phase
motors
> under the Vexta label.) The advantage is that the current in each
winding only
> has to reverse every 5 steps (I think) instead of every other
step. This allows
> the motors to run a LOT faster. 20,000 steps/second = 3000 RPM is
pretty
> normal for these motors.
>
> Jon