Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..

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24 Dec 2013 07:24 #41960 by Mech john
Hi,
I would like to upgrade my emco PC turn 55 cnc machine so I can use linuxcnc to control it. I have a good technical background but no cnc experience so I am just going to jump in. I would greatly appreciate being told which driver cards to buy and which servo motors I could use with them. I am thinking change all the electronics with the new drivers. Swap the steppers for servos and maybe change the spindle drive. The machine is working at the moment but uses some crazy dos control system. I would much rather start learning linux cnc. Any suggestions which hardware to use greatly appreciated. I am ready to start on this now. Any links to ebay items (servos etc) accepted..

Many thanks in advance!

Cheers,
John

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24 Dec 2013 07:54 #41966 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
Unless your drives are broken it is usually best to just replace the control system. Do you know if the stepper drives take step and direction inputs?

A Mesa 5i25 PCI card with a 7i76 is what I use for my stepper machines.

JT

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24 Dec 2013 08:04 #41967 by emcPT
Replied by emcPT on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
Like John wrote, you should keep everything that you can. It is already there and dimensioned for that propose.
It is just a matter to know what type of control your motors need and buying the correct hardware for that.

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24 Dec 2013 08:14 #41968 by Mech john
Replied by Mech john on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
Hi guys,
Many thanks for the replies! I would like to change the steppers for servos. I hope to get better results like this and improve upon oem performance slightly and also learn about servo setup and configuration for future projects...

Many thanks,
John

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24 Dec 2013 11:14 #41971 by tenaja
Replied by tenaja on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..

Hi guys,
Many thanks for the replies! I would like to change the steppers for servos. I hope to get better results like this and improve upon oem performance slightly and also learn about servo setup and configuration for future projects...

Many thanks,
John


My Emco which uses long Nema 23 steppers and a 70v power supply outperforms my system with budget servos...and the servos were almost 10x the cost. Put together a strong servo system properly sized for the application, and for about $120-130 per axis and a $200 power supply, and you will be happy with it. Check out automationdirect for motors and drives, and go to cnc4pc for a 70v power supply.

A well spec'd stepper system will blow away a mediocre servo, or any servo that is poorly tuned--and tuning is a time consuming task. If you need feedback, you can always add a $60 encoder, and you will still have much better resolution than a servo, too.

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24 Dec 2013 20:16 #41979 by Mech john
Replied by Mech john on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
How about these servos for the x and y:

m.ebay.com/itm/221339717583?cmd=VIDESC&gxo=true

Thanks!

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24 Dec 2013 21:06 #41980 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
You need to purchase the servo and drive as a set so they are matched to each other. I'd be searching for AC servo drive combo's and in fact I'll be searching soon for some to replace the servos on my CHNC as the drive is giving me problems.

Here is one place that sells servos machmotion.com/ I've not purchased anything from them yet.

JT

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25 Dec 2013 03:10 #41991 by cmorley
Replied by cmorley on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
Might be interesting to read:
bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/59984-...o-interface-mods-%29

If this is the style you have then you can use it as is with just a parallel port machine.

Chris M

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26 Dec 2013 04:43 #42006 by Mech john
Replied by Mech john on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
Thanks Chris. Yes interesting read. I will open my machine and see if the boards are the same. Mine is a later model but may have the same internals. If they are I will give it a go. If I was to swap the existing steppers for say Mitsubishi drives and servos ( MR-J2S-40B drives, Hc-kfs43 motors) which Mesa card and daughter board would I need?

Many thanks, john

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26 Dec 2013 16:57 #42026 by emcPT
Replied by emcPT on topic Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..
I would go for a 5i25 + 7i77

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