Gecko G540 - Worth It?

[grepper]

Any opinions on the Gecko G540? Pretty expensive compared to 3 drivers and an inexpensive BOB.

I’ve seen nothing but good reviews… reliable, less problems, etc. It looks to be very compact and would have fewer connections than manually wiring discrete components.

It handles 50V, motor current - 3.5A, so I could use a 48V pwr supply. That should be enough for this motor:

• Manufacturer Part Number: 23HS45-3504S
• Motor Type: Bipolar Stepper
• Step Angle: 1.8°
• Holding Torque: 3.0Nm(425oz.in)
• Rated Current/phase: 3.5A
• Phase Resistance: 1.2ohms
• Recommended Voltage: 24-48V
• Inductance: 5.0mH±20%(1KHz)

Is the G540 worth the extra expense?

 

[JimDawson]

I have not used the Gecko drives, but they seem to be well regarded. On the other hand I may be using them now, I think that is what Automation Direct sells under their SmoothStepper brand name. I saw a reference to Gecko on one of the AD drawings.

For what it's worth, I have found that the more expensive drives seem to be smoother in operation than the less expensive drives. It really depends on your budget and the quality you want.
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[grepper]

Thanks again, Jim.

I can’t find SmoothStepper on the Automation Direct site. SmoothStepper is from Warp 9 Tech Design, http://warp9td.com/.

As I understand it, SmoothStepper is a high frequency motion controller that offloads work from the PC to the card, but more importantly in my case, it allows Ethernet connection to the PC rather than parallel port connectivity so you can use a notebook computer over Ethernet (or USB). They also have a USB model that is by their own description less capable that Ethernet SmoothStepper. Here is their description of the SS:

http://warp9td.com/index.php/gettingstarted/what-is-a-smoothstepper

Being an Ethernet device, it has its own IP address. I would guess that you could (bad idea) control your mill or whatever remotely from your living room.

There is a slightly less expensive alternative for using a notebook; http://cncdrive.com/UC100.html that converts paralled>USB. It’s about $75.00 cheaper. But when spending this much money, I’d just as soon ditch USB in favor of Ethernet, plus get the benefit of an external motion controller.

Gecko G540 + Ethernet SS looks great, but is pushing my budget! Probably really nice though... probably worth it in the long run... I hope.

 

[JimDawson]

OOPS! I actually made an error It's ''SureStep'' from Automation Direct.

Being an Ethernet device, it has its own IP address. I would guess that you could (bad idea) control your mill or whatever remotely from your living room.

I could do that right now, but I ain't gonna go there. But I have thought about a remote E-stop, and a video system.
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[Jim_Hbar]

Grepper

It sounds like I'm at about the same point in the research as you, and after playing with the simulators and investigating, I'm most likely going with Eding CNC rather than Mach.
I looked at Mach 3/4, UCCNC and the Eding, and when they are all totaled up, the price is basically a wash.
With the Eding, just remember no isolating BOB is required.

I could elaborate further, but I would recommend giving Eding a look.

 

[frostheave]

Hi Grepper,

I may have misunderstood your post but just to be clear, the UC100 does have external motion control. From the manual:

The UC100 has a look as if it was a “simple USB to LPT port converter module”, but it is
much more than this. The UC100 is the result of a 2 years hard development and testing
cycle and it implements linear and arc interpolation routines with trajectory planner,
communication routines, limits and homing functions handling and it has nearly all the
functions (with some limitations) as what Mach3 supports with the LPT port driver.

I have a UC100 paired with a G540 and I am quite happy with it. Enet would be cool but USB works well for me.

 

[Beone]

Short answer--Yes

 

[grepper]

Thanks Frostheave and Beone. If I can keep my motors to 3.5A I'll probably go with the G540. Less wiring hassle. Frost- Thanks for pointing out that the UC100 is actually a motion controller. I did know that- thought it was just a converter.

Reliability and hassle free is pretty high on my list. I don't want to have to debug why it's missing steps occasionally or some other difficult to diagnose intermittent problems down the road. I've heard that some of the cheap China stuff can be prone to that type of thing.

This stuff is driving me crazy.