Gecko G540 questions

1

Wiring up my new Xcarve and have a few questions concerning the connection to a Gecko G540. Forgive a newbie if they have been answered

I will be running Xcarve with Gecko G540 w/ Mach3

    • What is the best way to wire the second Y-axis motor? Do I run it to the A-axis on G540 and config thru software later (mach3) or flip the wires and “piggyback” it off the existing Y-axis? If I piggyback do I need to account for the extra motor when adding the current resistors for the G540?
2

I have my second Y-Axis motor on its own driver and configure it in mach3 as a slave to the Y-Axis. No need to flip wires it is all configurable in mach3.

If you use the same driver on the G540, you will need to flip wires on one of the motors.

3

Wire it of the A axis and configure this as slave to Y in Mach3.

4

Excellent info- Exactly what I was looking for!

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5

but then you need to make sure your psu is powerful enough.
Sadly, mine is ok with 3 motors, but 4 is triggering the failsafe…

6

I went with a 48v 12.5 amp powersupply and it runs 5 motors with no issues.

7

5 motors on a gecko?

Anyway I have a 8.3A PSU with each motor needing 2.7A.

Should have done the math before I bought. :innocent:

8

I have 4 motors on the G540 and a 5th motor (rotary axis) on a G251. All running off of the power supply.

9

Just about ready to start setting up my G-540 here. I have plenty of supply with a 48 volt 13.8 amp one. My question is about the wiring which I haven’t looked at yet as I still haven’t quite finished the build. It should be finished in a week to ten days as I didn’t order a bunch of Inventables stuff like the waste board, the controller, and such. As much as I could cut of the package I did. This is a little bit of an upgrade to my current machine of 12" x 14" to be sure. From your post I assume I will have to wire the second Y motor differently. Could you elaborate on that any?

Thanks, Lindsey

10

You can wire them the same, just make sure within Mach3 you tell it to reverse one…since the motors are facing each other they spin in opposite directions.

11

Thanks, and yes I will do that. I’ll also re read the Mach3 manual in it or the important parts as it has been a bit since I read it last. I am a very detail oriented person to the point I went back to school and got a CNC operators certificate last year. I’ve had a machine for almost four years now. By trade I am a master electronics technician with a minor in computers. Should be able to get it up and running. Your post caught my eye so I thought I would ask since I haven’t actually done the wiring yet to the G-540. Waiting on the current limiting resistors and still a few details to work out with some of the things I didn’t order from Inventables like the drag chain. I may also get back with you on the fourth axis at a future point.

Thanks, Lindsey

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