Fault lights on some Geckos, motors do not engage - wiring quality

[Gato Richy]

I'm just testing my config and I cant identify the problem, but maybe is a lose step.

When jogging there is no problems, but when a g code for testing is loaded, sudden any stepper shows red light at the gecko and stops working. I reset and red light goes off and can star the code again, just to find red light at any moment. The problem is one stepper at a time, I dont get 2 or 3 (3 steppers are working) red light.

My config is 14,34 steps per mm, 9000 speed and 500 acel.

Thanks

[MariusL]

During the battle with the noise problem I also picked up that that PC has a lot to do with stepping problems. I am using avery old P3 pc. Initially I tried tho get the higest speeds out of the machine but with no luck. I detuned the Windows installation as per the instructions received from the Mach team at Artsoft. This made a huge diffirence. I also tested the machine for maximum speed. There is a limit that the pc can handle. If I go faster than say 4500mm/sec, I will get stepping problems. It is not the drives but rather the pc that cannot keep up with the strobing. The reality is that the pc works very hard at driving the motors. Every pulse for every motor in every direction is driven on the printer port by software. Unlike dedicated driver hardware, the pc has to perform al the work. If the software is interupted by any other process, the pulsing of the motors are affected. This why you sometimes find that the machine has a shudder while traversing any axis. My suggestion - detune windows and get the strongest pc that you can afford.

[Gerald D]

Marius, I would avoid the most up to date dual-processor / dual-core processors:

Specs of the PC needed to drive the MechMate's Mach control box (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35)

Richy, do you have nice thick wires from the batteries to the Gecko's?

[Gato Richy]

1,5 mm is good?

[Gerald D]

If they are only 200mm long then it is good. But I know you have batteries and I am sure that they are further away than 200mm . . . .

Plus, you need a very good connection to the battery terminal.

[Gato Richy]

Everything is working fine except for tha A slave motor, doesnt seem to engage when power on. X and Y motor engage and I can't move them by hand. A motor is free, is it normal? I'm having trouble with the Y bridge because it mounts the track.

Thanks

[Richards]

Terminal #7 on the Geckodrive G203v stepper driver controls the disable signal. Normally nothing is attached to terminal #7. If 2.5V to 5VDC is connected to #7, the drive will be disabled; the RED LED will stay lit, and the motor will have no power going to its coils (easily turned by hand).

If the GREEN LED is lit and you can still turn the motor by hand, check your wiring carefully. Is it possible that you did not remove enough insulation and that the terminal has clamped down on the insulation rather than on bare wire?

[Gato Richy]

Terminal #7 on the Geckodrive G203v stepper driver controls the disable signal. Normally nothing is attached to terminal #7. If 2.5V to 5VDC is connected to #7, the drive will be disabled; the RED LED will stay lit, and the motor will have no power going to its coils (easily turned by hand).

If the GREEN LED is lit and you can still turn the motor by hand, check your wiring carefully. Is it possible that you did not remove enough insulation and that the terminal has clamped down on the insulation rather than on bare wire?

Thanks Richards, that was it.

Now I find that X motor seems to work faster than A motor, so the Y bridge tends to untrack. Should I work with Motor Tuning menu at Mach3?

Thanks

[Gerald D]

Yes, the motor tuning for A must be exactly the same as for X. (if they are identical motors)

[domino11]

Why not use the X out on the pmdx to drive both x steppers, and leave the A out for another axis later?

Some posts on this aspect were moved to: Slaving a motor - put its drive in parallel to another drive on the same BOB output (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1232)

[Gato Richy]

Finally, I'm testing with Gcodes. First, a circule. I used the wizard for it.

But....the motion is real slow, I wonder how to speed up the gcode for testing. I used gcode long time ago, but I'm out of practice. I used F (for feed) and nothing seems to speed up, so I wonder if there is funtion in Mach3 to give more speed, I mean no jogging speed, because jogging is faster.

I don't know if because the low speed, the Y motor gives me a red led, only happens with Y motor.

Thanks

[Gato Richy]

I can deal with slow speed, but not with sudden red led. It is not reliable cutting like this, since I need to reset steppers.

Thanks

[Gerald D]

. . . the Y motor gives me a red led, only happens with Y motor. . .

What happens if you swop the Geckos around?

[Richards]

Here is the section of the Geckodrive G203v user's manual that describes the LEDs and the conditions that cause the RED LED to light:

G203V INDICATORS:
POWER LED: The GREEN POWER indicator is lit whenever the G203V has power supply voltage applied.

FULL POWER LED: The YELLOW FULL POWER indicator is lit when the motor is turning fast enough to generate maximum possible mechanical power. Power is torque times RPM and power output reaches its maximum value when this indicator is lit. Use this indicator to verify your motor is optimally geared to the load.

ERROR LED: The RED ERROR indicator is lit when:
1) During power-on reset for 1 second when power is first applied to the G203V.
2) While the DISABLE input is active.
3) When there is a short-circuit on any motor output. Momentarily activate the DISABLE input to reset.
4) During over-temperature shutdown. The LED automatically resets when the drive temperature drops.

[Gato Richy]

What happens if you swop the Geckos around?

Gerald, right on. I swop geckos and problem solved. I've been testing it for hours and just green leds.

Thanks again

Richy