G540 + EMC2 = missing steps

Thanks for the tips Cncbasher!

I reran Stepconfg and turned off the A axis of the G540 and also found one loose linear rod on the Z axis and snugged it a bit.

I ran the same chunk of program, 22800 lines, over again twice changing the velocity and acceleration.

The first time I did not notice a big difference in the run time of the program but the Z 'rundown' error reduced from .070 to .040". I should have wrote down the setting but did not. I want to say I was at X &Y velocity 2 IPS & acceleration 10 IPS^S, Z velocity 1 IPS acceleration 5 IPS^S or half of X and Y.

The second time I dialed down the acceleration even more. I could really hear and see a difference in how things ran. The machine would start, speed up, run, slow, stop. When I had a combination XY or XYZ move I would not reach my programmed speeds of 60 (roughing) or 75 (finishing) IPM, indicated was from 20 to 45 IPM.Once I got to some straight/flat stretches the machine would open up to the programmed 75 IPM. Overall Z Error was reduced dramatically, to somewhere between .004 to .010" (hard for me to measure depth with a caliper on something that small plus I was routing on a pressed fiber style material) which is more than good enough for my projects and close to the 'spec' of the machine. Settings the second time were X and Y velocity 2 IPS & acceleration 2 IPS^S, Z was set at 1 IPS velocity and 1 IPS^S acceleration. All the other settings are the stock ones from the preloaded G540 config. The only downside was the program ran quite a bit slower than before, so longer runs on the router and vacuum to heat up the work space.

It looks like my next step would be be to creep the settings up to gain a little speed without adding too much error.

This is a huge breakthrough, I thought I was doomed to have to reprogram or redesign pieces to get them to rout decently.
Thanks again!

Oops wrote: It looks like my next step would be be to creep the settings up to gain a little speed without adding too much error.

I would be of the opinion that _no_ error is acceptable. You simply shouldn't lose steps.
Is it possible that your power supply is a bit weak?

if the axis is still slipping then , you still have not tuned the steppers correctly , so recheck your
stepper timings for the geko drives .

i'll admit i have not used the geko drives , as they are not so common here in the UK , but they are good , so see if you can find some settings that other have used , i dont know what the maximum voltage the geko drives can take , but increasing the voltage will give you speed , but it may be with all the drives running you cannot supply the current , so check your wiring , the thicker the wires the more current they can handle , and subsequently will hole the voltage better .

look at the spec of the geko and work out the max current and voltage , remember they use more current when holding position so for example and a quick way of knowing is if each winding = 2.5a thats 5.0a per motor x 4 motors = 20A
you say your using 12A so your only 50% there . ok it's a crude way and a quick way of working out what you need , so you may end up with 2 power supplys for 4 motors . without getting into ohms law and other peculiaritys

hope it helps .

Thanks for the thoughts!
The G540 driver is rated for 50v 3.5A per motor and lists a dissipation of 1.3A (68w)
Stepper Motors were listed as NEMA 23: Max Torque 282 oz-in, 3A
PS is 12.5A 48v
If the 3A is motor overall I should make it 10.3 A for 3 motors+dissipation. 4 motors is over the line.