Geckodrive G251X / G201X or Leadshine AM822?

[Agathon]

Still fretting over which drivers to buy. Good advice on here to go with Leadshine AM882 direct from China but I've had a look at eBay and Aliexpress and I have to say that I don't feel at all confident about buying from China. Most don't seem to be offering proper warranties and I don't want to waste good money on stuff I'm not confident about.

So, I'm thinking about a complete change of thinking and buying Geckodrives from Charter Controls. I was thinking initially about the G251X (3.5A) as this seems like a really economical option, but I would also consider pushing the boat out to the G201X (7.5A).

My motors are Astrosyn L709-2 4.8V, 2.8A, 4.8Nm (holding torque).

Anyone have any strong opinions of why I should buy Leadshine over Geckodrive or vice versa?

[m_c]

Those gecko's use a similar technology to older leadshine DM drives (or the many copies of). Good drives, but you'll pay far more for Gecko than a comparable Leadshine in the UK.

For a similar price in the UK, Leadshine EM drives (EM's superseded the AM) have far better performance than the Gecko's, and more features.
Based on buying 2 or more, a G201X is £97.84, a EM806 is £87.78 (Both 80VDC, but 7A v 8.2A)
G251X is £60.57, and a EM503 is £69.30. (Both 50VDC, but 3.5A v 4.2A)
(all those prices are excluding VAT, as charter only show exc. VAT)

As much as I dislike suggesting them after their dodgy Zapp domain redirecting escapade, cnc4you are probably the best option for a UK source of drives similar to Leadshine DM's, as Zapp only sell the smaller DM drives. They do have bigger Kinco drives, but they're a similar price to AM's.

[John S]

Gecko's are old technology now, nothing new in the last 8 years which is a lifetime in electronics.

[Agathon]

Those gecko's use a similar technology to older leadshine DM drives (or the many copies of). Good drives, but you'll pay far more for Gecko than a comparable Leadshine in the UK.

For a similar price in the UK, Leadshine EM drives (EM's superseded the AM) have far better performance than the Gecko's, and more features.
Based on buying 2 or more, a G201X is £97.84, a EM806 is £87.78 (Both 80VDC, but 7A v 8.2A)
G251X is £60.57, and a EM503 is £69.30. (Both 50VDC, but 3.5A v 4.2A)
(all those prices are excluding VAT, as charter only show exc. VAT)

As much as I dislike suggesting them after their dodgy Zapp domain redirecting escapade, cnc4you are probably the best option for a UK source of drives similar to Leadshine DM's, as Zapp only sell the smaller DM drives. They do have bigger Kinco drives, but they're a similar price to AM's.

Thanks for the reply. After talking to Gecko tech support the G251X looks like it will do what I want. Charter Controls give a 15% discount to users of this forum so including vat and delivery the G251Xs work out at £73 each.

However, I take your point about old technology. If the CNC4YOU CWD556 drives are Leadshine clones then I guess they might be worth considering - including postage they come out at £59 each.

Then again, after doing a little more research on RATTM Motor, I find that their DM556D drives are also Leadshine clones and appear to come from the same factory as the CNC4YOU drives. At £104 for 3 including shipping from Germany these make even more sense. (I bought my psu from them and it was held in UK stock and was very good vfm.)

It seems that it's all a bit of a lottery really. I don't think anyone can be sure of the quality of anything coming out of China without buying direct from the manufacturer or their agents. Leadshine state that there are many fake versions of their products on the market and won't support anything bought outside of their official dealership network.

The one thing that can be said for the Geckodrives is that the quality control appears to be good and, as stated in other places on this forum, their aftersales support is exceptionally good.

I think I'll sleep on it.

[Greeny]

I just bought some AM882's on Ali Express from Hection's store
They came in 5 days and including postage, import duty & credit card foreign exchange, they came out at £67 each.
They are £105 in uk (inc Vat) so saved more than £100 on all 3.
Your mileage may vary, but it was a lot easier than i expected and i would definately use this method again if i needed more,

Cheers
21529

[Agathon]

I just bought some AM882's on Ali Express from Hection's store
They came in 5 days and including postage, import duty & credit card foreign exchange, they came out at £67 each.
They are £105 in uk (inc Vat) so saved more than £100 on all 3.
Your mileage may vary, but it was a lot easier than i expected and i would definately use this method again if i needed more,

Cheers
21529

Thanks for the reply. Do you have a link to the seller? What did you end up paying in VAT and customs clearance?

David

[Greeny]

I got them sent via DHL which was very quick & paying import duty & vat was easy as DHL emailed a link to to a payment screen.
Unfortunately, that posting option doesn't seem to be available now, and they also seem to have gone up a bit from US$73.99 to US$78.71, so it might pay to shop around.
They took a couple of days to dispatch & Delivery took about 5 days, so it was about a week in all

Anyway here's a link & breakdown of what i paid.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Leadshine-2-phase-High-precision-stepper-drive-AM882-fit-NEMA-23-34size-motor-work-36/783794956.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.OXkOQc

(I was mistaken I bought 4 not 3).
4@ AM882 (US$73.99 each)= US$296.00 incl postage = £237.63 on my credit card (incl currency transaction fee)
Import Duty & vat was £23 paid direct to DHL
So
237.63
+ 23.00
---------
260.63 For 4 = £65.16 Each
---------

It all went very smoothly for me, but i've only done it once so bear that in mind.

Cheers

[Agathon]

I think the best deal I get on Leadshine AM882s is via Rongsheng-biz on eBay and they'll come out at about £71.00 each shipped with UPS and including the VAT and clearance charge. Still somewhat reticent about going down this route.

Alternatively, I think I can get three unused - but no warranty - Geckodrive G201Xs for £70 each. Or, at just over £100 for three, these DM556 clones look like a good deal - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252922607251

Must make a decision!