Let the fun begin !!! ???

[IanS1]

As all 5 motors won't be drawing maximum current at the same time, allowing for around 70% of the total quoted current draw should be plenty.

[PAULRO]

625 VA it is then ! every day is a day for learning.

[PAULRO]

so i need 4 drivers EM806 a break out board and a smooth stepper. can anyone recommend a smooth stepper and a breakout board that's compatible with the drivers and where's the best place to purchase ?

[EddyCurrent]

so i need 4 drivers EM806 a break out board and a smooth stepper. can anyone recommend a smooth stepper and a breakout board that's compatible with the drivers and where's the best place to purchase ?

Smooth Stepper is the name of a particular motion controller, it's not a generic name. http://www.amadeal.co.uk/acatalog/Pa...cessories.html
There are alternatives to the smooth stepper, have a read here; http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/7718-Usb-smooth-stepper some have the breakout board built in I think.

[PAULRO]

I have the PLCM-E3 motion control & PLC4X-G2 breakout board ordered but they will not be with me until march because of Chinese new year. i am using the time to try and get to grips with the electrics / electronics and hopefully start into the MACH 3 (getting to know you period !!) i know some builders on here do not use bleed resistors to drain the caps from the power supply . i was going to leave the drives drain the caps as suggested on various posts but on second thought said i would at least try and get to understand how it done and maybe use a bleed resistor across the n/c contact of the e/ stop relay to keep to good practice and safety as pointed out. i came across this https://www.digikey.com/document-red...calculator.xls i have a result of 1000 ohms over 35 seconds with initial power at 4.9 watts. OR 1710 ohms for 60 seconds with initial power of 2.8 watts. i don't know if these resistors are viable because i've absolutely no prior experience to work from. maybe they will do or perhaps previous builders use a different spec. i have also updated my electrical dwg to reflect my proposed capacitor bleed arrangement. any feedback on this will once again be greatly appreciated.

[EddyCurrent]

I like this better;



The way you had it created a short circuit across the 70v DC, only relying on speed of operation of the relay to remove it.

[PAULRO]

Cheers Eddy, i'll update that . the older i get the more cautious i'm becoming just as well i put it up for a critique.

[Neale]

I'm not sure if I would bother with the relay switching if you are using a reasonably large value of R. Use something like 4K7, 3W, wired directly to the capacitors, and save a relay contact and associated wiring? Probably about the same current draw as three quiescent drivers, so maybe not worth the effort, but it would drain down the caps even if everything else were disconnected during testing. I must stick a meter across my power supply some time and see what happens - I don't have any bleed resistor in place.

[JAZZCNC]

I must stick a meter across my power supply some time and see what happens - I don't have any bleed resistor in place.

Probably not a lot.! Depends how you wired the control box.?
If the Drives are kept in the circuit and not removed say thru a relay then they will drain the Caps resonably quickly to within 5V last time I checked.

Not a fan of leaving resistor in all the time as it's creating heat and we want to remove it not make it.!

[EddyCurrent]

Not a fan of leaving resistor in all the time as it's creating heat and we want to remove it not make it.!

I agree with this, I tried it and it's amazing how much heat 3 watts can produce, especially in a control panel size box.