Questions about Power Needs

[Rik]

I recently smoked one of my gecko 201's and I'm sure I had it wired wrong. I initially had three 201's each wired together to a lug on a rectifier and grounded to a mini power supply, it did not provide voltage for the Gecko's. I'm sure that there is where I have gone wrong but don't know why. That rectifier is wired up to a massive transformer with a capacitor wired to the rectifier. I am not electronically savvy but, I know there must be an easier way to power three Gecko's, without the massive transformer and rectifier and capacitor in attendance. Am I correct in my assumption and, what would be that alternative power supplies specifications look like. Please comment and help me get my machine moving once and for all

[martin54]

Kind of difficult to answer that question without knowing more detail about your set up, the system should really be balanced so power supply will depend on rating of the other components you are using, anywhere from 24V to 80V generally for stepper motors, different for a lot of servo's as AC voltage is commonly used.
Amps will depend mainly on the size of the motors & how many you are running, is it a 3, 4 or more axis machine & do the x & y axis have one or 2 motors fitted.

Could just be that the machine is really old built at a time when components were much larger than modern equivalents, my machine was a bit like that, the original machine was 30 odd years old, the control box was pretty big but it was full. When I replaced the electronics I could have kept the old power supplies as they worked OK but I wanted to up the voltage with fitting modern motors. The control box is still in use but is 3/4 just empty space now lol

[cnc4me]

Ditto on what martin4 said.
However, I am familiar with Gecko drives and they have an excellent website on how to determine power supply requirements, including diagrams on proper ways to connect your Gecko drives. Here is the link for power supply requirements: http://www.geckodrive.com/app-notes.html
If you are not completely comfortable with your understanding of these power supplies, I would highly recommend tracking down someone who is. These power supplies have lethal amperage and you could really hurt yourself.
I hope this helps.

[martin54]

cnc4me, I'm not familiar with Gecko drives, put leadshine digital drivers in my machine but I am familiar with their reputation & from what I have read you can't fault them. Lot of very good info on the link you posted so thanks for that, will read through in more detail when I get time.

I would agree with what cnc4me has said, if your not comfortable with electrics/electronics then find someone who is to help you, not only can if be dangerous but it can be very expensive as well with the cost of some of the parts used.