Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] moving Bridgeport steppers with Gecko drivers - help!

theokspindoctor wrote:

>I am in the painful process of retrofitting a Boss 6 Series 1
>Bridgeport mill using the original stepper motors and new Gecko 201
>drivers with a Galil stepper board and CNC Lite controlling software
>from Cam Soft Inc.
>
>At this point I can move the motors at a slow speed the distance I
>specify in diagnostic mode and am able to write G code programs to
>get proper movement. However I cannot seem to change the feedrate
>and the rapids are very slow.
>
>The motors are wired according to Les Newel's suggestions (thanks
>Les!) in half winding mode using only 2 of the 3 phases on the Gecko
>drivers.
>

What 3 phases? The Gecko 201 is a 2-phase bipolar driver. You must mean
only using 2 of the 3 wires of each phase of the MOTOR. That is correct.

> Am using a 340Kohm resistor although Les recommended no
>resistor. The resistor limits the amperage to about 6 amps, I think.
>
>Does it matter that the motors are 200 steps per revolution and the
>Gecko drives 2000 steps per rev?
>
>

The Gecko is a x10 microstepping driver. With a 200 full-step per rev
motor, then you need 2000 step pulses to get a full revolution.

>It seems that I cannot jog, but can move pitifully with G code
>programming.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>The tech help at Cam Soft has not been able to solve the problem and
>Mariss at GEcko Drives is on vacation until next week.
>
>

Is the problem that nothing you do on the software gets a faster
movement, or
does the motor clatter and lose sync? If it is a case of the software,
has the
setup of the software been told it takes 2000 steps/rev? I don't know
CNC Lite, so I can't go much farther than that.

I will mention that I am running a stepper-driven machine with Gecko 201A
drives and my Universal Stepper Controller at 48,000 (micro)steps per
second,
which works out to 1440 RPM. You pretty much can't do that with a
software-only
solution.

Jon