List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

tommylight
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14 Jul 2020 13:35 #174632 by tommylight

Replied by tommylight on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

From their website:

The G250X, the heart of the G540, features proprietary anti-resonance and motor smoothing techniques. At a native ten microstep resolution the G250X does not require extremely high input frequencies to operate at high speed but offers enough resolution to match the accuracy of most stepper motors (+/- 5% of one full step). Full step morphing at higher speeds transitions the drive to send a true square wave when the benefits of microstepping are no longer present. An adjustable low speed smoothness trimpot compensates for motor nonlinearity at the low end while midband resonance compensation ensures reliable torque output through the midband dropout region.

Now it says it has microstepping!

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phillc54
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15 Jul 2020 01:00 #174672 by phillc54

Replied by phillc54 on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

Put a big pulley on the motor, set Linuxcnc to put 1 step per mm, set it to 60mm/m velocity, the pulley will move every 10mm on the dro

I made a large disc in cad with marks around the circumference and ran it with the above settings I didn't see that behaviour, I could definitely see the microstepping. It did appear to miss the odd microstep but that is to be expected.

My G540 is a REV5 and all the G250X drivers are REV2

The following user(s) said Thank You: gerritv, tommylight

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tommylight
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15 Jul 2020 08:08 #174691 by tommylight

Replied by tommylight on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

I was expecting that result after reading their info page, seems they have changed that as i did complain about it in the cnczone forums while Marius was very active there, he is the owner of GeckoDrive.

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phillc54
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15 Jul 2020 08:13 #174692 by phillc54

Replied by phillc54 on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

I had a bit of a search on their website and couldn't find anything on a G250X REV1, the date on the REV2 docs is Nov 17, 2017

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Tango
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17 Jul 2020 06:23 #174900 by Tango

Replied by Tango on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

Okay, getting confused here. Yes, once I learn something, I start hacking and doing a lot with it, but, at this point, I don't have a CNC machine or anything I need to run it - including the Linux system that'll be controlling it.

I get that people don't like the Gecko. What I'm NOT clear about is just what I should get instead. At this point, I'm still not clear on whether people are recommending drivers only or something else.

Can someone break that down for me? What would I use to control the CNC machine and would there be any issues with making these adaptions with the BobsCNC Evolution E4?

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phillc54
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17 Jul 2020 06:34 #174902 by phillc54

Replied by phillc54 on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

Well I like the Gecko G540, it works for me and I have never had an issue with it.

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tommylight
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17 Jul 2020 07:14 #174903 by tommylight

Replied by tommylight on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

Tango wrote:
What I'm NOT clear about is just what I should get instead. At this point, I'm still not clear on whether people are recommending drivers only or something else.

If you want recommendation, the Lam Technologies drives are by far the best stepper drives money can buy, but the are pricey. The cheapest one is the DS1044 at mechapro.de at 100 Euro a piece. It is a real 4A drive and it does put out full 4A. It also needs a programmer at 28 Euro.
We can not break that down for you, we do not have that same machine, so we would need some pictures of the insides of the controller.

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rodw
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17 Jul 2020 07:20 #174905 by rodw

Replied by rodw on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

I have had good results with Longs Motor DM542A drivers. They are well matched with a 48 volt power supply. Leadshine is another brand thayt has a similar product. You will need a parallel port breakout board or a Mesa board. Longs do a breakout board but its not particularly high quality and I believe use quite slow opto couplers. but it might get you going if it comes in a kit of drives.....

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JohnnyCNC
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18 Jul 2020 00:16 #174988 by JohnnyCNC

Replied by JohnnyCNC on topic List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

I like my Gecko's too. I have the G203V drives that I got about two years ago. I have had no problems with them and did not blow any up when a solder joint on a plug broke and the motor connection became intermittent. I'm running then a 3.5 amps and neither the drives or motors get warm. These things on down tight tiny compared to the Chinese drives I had in the first cabinet I built. I don't have any experience with any other quality drives.

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