Re: gecko burned again

Keith,

I'm at kind of a loss here. We have OEMs that run NEMA-42 motors at
7A and 72VDC by the hundreds without a problem. The REV11 drive is
pretty much mature in the sense there are no undiscovered problems to
deal with. We just busted our best month ever by shipping 2,680
drives in October; were it a basic problem with the REV11 drive, that
wouldn't have happened.

Why yours is blowing up while others running similar loads are not
bothers me. The kind of things that blow drives up; over-voltage,
load short circuits, inadequate heat-sinkinking are the obvious ones
of course. You seem to have a gremlin that may be hiding somewhere
within those restrictions. Please give me a call Monday so we can go
over that territory. If you can provide me with a circuit diagram of
your setup or better yet, a digital photo of the guts of your box may
help me spot something obscure.

To anyone else reading this: Don't buy anything from us until Nov 15.

Then, for 30 days, starting Nov 15 until Dec 15, we are going to have
a "customer appreciation month" where G201s / G320s will go for $99.
G210s / G340s will be $129. OEM pricing (100 or more) will be $79 for
G201s / G320s and $109 for G210s / G340s. Basically a $15 reduction
for quantities below 100, $20 for quantities above 100. It all ends
on Dec 16 unless order volume justifies keeping that price reduction.

Why are we doing this? Three reasons.

1) We took delivery on two brand new pick-and-place machines that
will come on-line next week. They will relieve the production
bottlenecks at the 2,500 / month level we have right now with our
only high-speed machine. These new machines have been installed,
leveled and are being hooked up.

2) This coincides with the introduction of the new Vampire G204V
drive slated to appear before the end of this year. It's been a long
haul; it is so radically different (CPLD based) that the entire
production line has had to be revamped for it. It's kind of like
changing an airport designed for 707s to accept 747s. The devil is in
the details.

3) It is a thank you to everyone who bought our product and took a
chance on an unknown drive by an even less well known, new
manufacturer. What changes have occurred from the original "REV1"
G201 (some of you still use them) and what we make now. it has been a
crazy 5 years; I personally have learned so much.

All these recent efforts will yield big changes now that the CPLD
thing is under our belts. The coming year will result in a quick
introduction many new products:

1) First, the unkillable G204V step motor drive. Short circuits, no
heat-sink, reversed supply polarity, misswired motors, destructive
energy dumps, nothing will stop it. Add a novel switching topology
that doesn't need current reduction to keep the motor cool. Throw in
a drive that doesn't have to obey the 20 times supply voltage rule.

2) The G2002 (or G2005?). A 6-axis pulse engine that when equppped
with encoder mounted steppers will result in unstallable steppers.
True close-coupled, closed-loop step motor sytems. Use our drives,
use someone elses; it won't matter. Overload them, they will simply
slow down and back-up on their power curves. They will always run at
the peak of what the motor has to offer speed and acceleration. This
will be a big one.

3) CPLD version of the G320 / G340 series. Less parts, better
performance, cheaper.

4) A sinusoidally commutated 3-phase brushless servo motor drive.

Number (1) is in the bag. It is the leader for the new programmable-
logic drives from Geckodrive. Number (2) is an FPGA version that is
an embelishimment of the proven 74CH version of the current G2002.
Added will be real-time encoder feedback on all axis and the firmware
to generate the promised unstallable steppers. This is the big one.
Number (3) is an afterthought. Finally number (4) is a natural
extension to fill the product line. It is the least thought-out one.

That is the road-map. That is in order as what I see for the coming
year. It will be an exciting year.

Mariss










--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Clark" <mail@t...>
wrote:

>
> I now have 3 separate 10 amp slow blow fuses, one leading to the
> power input on each drive. The motors are rated at 7 amps. Is

that

> the correct fuse to be using?
>
> Thanks,
> Keith
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "john labutski"

<kd6wd@c...>

> wrote:
> > Jon
> > You have an excellent point. Keith could probably test this with

a

> new
> > Gecko. He should just add the correct amp fuses to the motor
> drive lines.
> > When one fuse pops he will probably find you are correct.
> >
> > Your comments also bring up another great point to consider .
> Fuses and
> > fuse holders are cheap compared to driver boards as well as
> computers. I've
> > been a ham radio operator for a long time and over the years

fuses

> have
> > saved me thousands of dollars worth of equipment when a power
> supply or a
> > transformer went south on me. Old "Buss" and me are great buddies.
> >
> > John
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jon Elson" <elson@p...>
> > To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
> > Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2004 1:26 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] gecko burned again
> >
> >
> > >
> > > Keith Clark wrote:
> > >
> > > >Well, the y axis gecko drive burned again this morning. This
> time
> > > >there are no loose wires. I was doing very little with the
> machine
> > > >and had just turned it on when during a y axis G0 move, the
> drive
> > > >burned up. I assume this is an indication that the Gecko

cannot

> > > >handle the motor I am using. This is an old topic and I have
> asked
> > > >for help with this problem before. The mill is a Bridgeport
> Series
> > > >1 CNC originally controlled by Boss 6 but now using Anaheim
> Nema 42
> > > >high torque stepper motors and Mach2 software with a Campbell
> > > >breakout board.
> > > >
> > > >At this point is seems reasonable to try another brand drive?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > I think you need to retire that MOTOR. There is nothing wrong
> with
> > > the Gecko drive, when used with good motors. But, one of its
> weaknesses
> > > is that shorts to ground, or just plain internal shorts in the
> motor
> > > windings
> > > will pop transistors in the Gecko drive. I think you'll find
> the Rutex,
> > > Xylotex,
> > > etc. drives all have this same weakness. After blowing TWO
> Geckos on
> > > the SAME motor, doesn't that tell you something? Why didn't

the

> X or Z
> > > drivers blow? Why always the Y axis?
> > >
> > > Explanation: Your Y motor has an intermittent short. How much
> you are
> > > doing with it doesn't make much difference. I assume the

motors

> heat
> > > up, even when idling. The heat probably causes the short to
> develop
> > > every once in a while, when the winding expands from the heat.
> > >
> > > Jon
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Addresses:
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