I guess so.... I am trying to understand exactly what your boards give me. I mean I am under the impression it is a complete control setup that does all the computing and just takes commands from the computer so the computer parallel port is not overwhelmed. I looked at the website quite a bit and still do not understand what board does what. Thanks for all the help. peace

Pete

Pete,

The division of labor on the Dynomotion boards is rather different from what you're probably used to. The KFlop generates all the timing, and the other boards provide the power stages to drive the motors. So, if you're using external motor drivers, like Geckos, the KFlop simply outputs STEP/DIR signals, and the Geckos convert that into the high-current motor phase signals. Or, you can use a single KStep in place of four Geckos. Or, you can use a SnapAmp to drive steppers, brushed or brushless servos. With SnapAmp, I believe the KFlop outputs an analog position signal, and the SnapAmp basically contains the H-bridge drivers for the motors. All control, including the servo loop, still resides in the KFlop.

So, for your machine, which undoubtedly uses servos of some kind, you'd need a KFlop and one or more SnapAmps. Though I wonder if, for a machine the size of your new one, you'd need more motor power than the SnapAmp can support. In that case, you'd use just the KFlop, and external motor drivers suitable to the motors you will use. The KFlop can support +/-10V drives and encoders, in addition to digital (Step/Dir), so you should be able to interface to the existing motors and encoders, and save a lot of money and hassle. You would need suitable amplifiers to drive the motors, and perhaps some interfacing circuitry for the encoders, depending on what they are.

The whole system is incredibly powerful and flexible, if somewhat complex. But, once properly configured, it is absolutely dead-reliable, which is *really* nice.

What part of the existing system is giving you grief?

Regards,
Ray L.

--- In DynoMotion@yahoogroups.com, "petefromtn" <petefromtn@...> wrote:
>
> I guess so.... I am trying to understand exactly what your boards give me. I mean I am under the impression it is a complete control setup that does all the computing and just takes commands from the computer so the computer parallel port is not overwhelmed. I looked at the website quite a bit and still do not understand what board does what. Thanks for all the help. peace
>
> Pete
>

Hey ray!!
Thanks for responding. Actually my machine uses AC servos with resolvers on all axes and the spindle motor. I am in a tough spot here, the control actually boots up and works and the problem is I am having a rash of servo driver failures. Then it was the power supply. Last thing was the Y axis amp. So I am basically over it completely and I am either gonna gut this pig and sell everything including the motors and start over with Teco motors and drivers from Machmotion and something like this Kflop or just sell the whole damn machine and forget about it. I am kinda disgusted because every time something fails on the machine it is like a $1000.00 plus repair job and I can buy complete motor and driver packages to fit it for less than that. The other problem is that even tho the control is still supported I am hearing from my tech guy that some parts are not going to be much longer and finding replacements is very expensive. I really would also rather have the flexibility to add a simple fourth axis or probing to the machine without having to spend $8-10 thousand dollars on it. In my mind if I cannot do this then the machine will continue to be a source of frustration and huge expense down the road. Even if I could scrape up the money to repair this Y axis servo I am basically terrified something else may blow every time I turn the damn thing on. The machine is AWESOME and I love it and really want to start using it but the control is just too much of a liability. It is really unfortunate too because I quite like the control it is very simple and straightforward. There are other reasons too tho. It is not the greatest at full blown 3d milling as the control is not terribly fast and cannot run constant contouring at anything more than around 40 IPM. The machine actually will CUT at almost 460 IPM but the control and its lookahead is limited. With even a MACH3 setup it would be more capable in that department. SO that is the reason I want to gut it and start over.

So you are saying that as I suspected the Kflop will do the thinking and there will need to be additional boards to directly control the servo amps and then the computer just sends commands? You know I am not a programmer that is for sure but I think I can do this with the teco setups and some help from all of you smart guys on here. It is REALLY nice to hear the control is dead reliable and that is basically what I want. I was quite happy with Mach3 as a control but it was not without it's quirks. I dunno if I should run EMC2 or Kflops software or what.... I guess I am basically looking for recommendations. It would also be nice to hear from the fellow on here who has already retrofitted an Arrow 500. It is a sweet little mill. Peace

Pete

Pete,

That sucks. Doing a full conversion will be a BIG project. You really might be better off selling the machine as-is, and finding one without all the problems. Didn't you get that one pretty cheap? If so, I would think you'd be able to get most of your money back on it.

Regards,
Ray L.

--- In DynoMotion@yahoogroups.com, "petefromtn" <petefromtn@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hey ray!!
> Thanks for responding. Actually my machine uses AC servos with resolvers on all axes and the spindle motor. I am in a tough spot here, the control actually boots up and works and the problem is I am having a rash of servo driver failures. Then it was the power supply. Last thing was the Y axis amp. So I am basically over it completely and I am either gonna gut this pig and sell everything including the motors and start over with Teco motors and drivers from Machmotion and something like this Kflop or just sell the whole damn machine and forget about it. I am kinda disgusted because every time something fails on the machine it is like a $1000.00 plus repair job and I can buy complete motor and driver packages to fit it for less than that. The other problem is that even tho the control is still supported I am hearing from my tech guy that some parts are not going to be much longer and finding replacements is very expensive. I really would also rather have the flexibility to add a simple fourth axis or probing to the machine without having to spend $8-10 thousand dollars on it. In my mind if I cannot do this then the machine will continue to be a source of frustration and huge expense down the road. Even if I could scrape up the money to repair this Y axis servo I am basically terrified something else may blow every time I turn the damn thing on. The machine is AWESOME and I love it and really want to start using it but the control is just too much of a liability. It is really unfortunate too because I quite like the control it is very simple and straightforward. There are other reasons too tho. It is not the greatest at full blown 3d milling as the control is not terribly fast and cannot run constant contouring at anything more than around 40 IPM. The machine actually will CUT at almost 460 IPM but the control and its lookahead is limited. With even a MACH3 setup it would be more capable in that department. SO that is the reason I want to gut it and start over.
>
> So you are saying that as I suspected the Kflop will do the thinking and there will need to be additional boards to directly control the servo amps and then the computer just sends commands? You know I am not a programmer that is for sure but I think I can do this with the teco setups and some help from all of you smart guys on here. It is REALLY nice to hear the control is dead reliable and that is basically what I want. I was quite happy with Mach3 as a control but it was not without it's quirks. I dunno if I should run EMC2 or Kflops software or what.... I guess I am basically looking for recommendations. It would also be nice to hear from the fellow on here who has already retrofitted an Arrow 500. It is a sweet little mill. Peace
>
> Pete
>

Ray,
thanks for the advice.... honestly while I am definitely leaning towards retrofitting it. I would be lying if I did not say I have considered selling the beast. Honestly tho I seriously doubt I could manage to get anything better without having to borrow money. I have the components for sale around a bit and we shall see how it goes. If it does sell I will probably do the retrofit if it does not sell I may just sell the lot. Peace

Pete

Pete,

Mind if I ask what you paid for it? I would also like to get a "real" VMC at some point, and wouldn't mind a bit of a project, as I still have my primary machine (now working VERY happily with KFlop).

Regards,
Ray L.

--- In DynoMotion@yahoogroups.com, "petefromtn" <petefromtn@...> wrote:
>
> Ray,
> thanks for the advice.... honestly while I am definitely leaning towards retrofitting it. I would be lying if I did not say I have considered selling the beast. Honestly tho I seriously doubt I could manage to get anything better without having to borrow money. I have the components for sale around a bit and we shall see how it goes. If it does sell I will probably do the retrofit if it does not sell I may just sell the lot. Peace
>
> Pete
>

Pete,
You worked hard getting that mill in shape and you know what you have, mechanically wise.
I think I would save my money and retrofit it.  At least you would know what you have.

I think of the KFlop like a Smoothstepper that was well thought out and allows the user to customize it. 
The manufacturer happens to make plug in boards that can driver servos/steppers or can take additional inputs/outputs.  That doesn't mean you have to use them.

I'm going KFlop as well, but I will continue using my PMDX-126 board and G320X's for now since they are new.  If I had to start over I would most likely do the SnapAmp.
My only issue is I'm 5 axis, 3 being servos, and 2 being steppers.  If a drive blows, I have spares that are $100 ish each.  The entire snapAmp would need to be replaced or repaired if a drive blows.

I searched and hadn't really seen any SnapAmp failures announced so they may be bullet proof.  Other than that worry, it sounds like a very nice setup.

Oh, once you see a few program examples, do some copy and paste here and there and play, you will be doing all kinds of neat stuff.  Don't let it scare you !!

Good luck with whatever you do.

RwSkinner

 

Ray,
thanks for the advice.... honestly while I am definitely leaning towards retrofitting it. I would be lying if I did not say I have considered selling the beast. Honestly tho I seriously doubt I could manage to get anything better without having to borrow money. I have the components for sale around a bit and we shall see how it goes. If it does sell I will probably do the retrofit if it does not sell I may just sell the lot. Peace

Pete

Thanks Ray and Skinman....LOL

Yeah I did put a lot of work into the machine. I cleaned and lubed and crawled all over this monster and I really hate to just give up on it now. As I said If I was in a better financial position I would just pay a pro to come over and fix it because the systems on the machine all work but there is definitely a bug in there and I am not sure at all why it keeps blowing the Y axis. Honestly I would really like to retrofit it and get it running so I am gonna wait and see if the control parts sell at all and plan from there. Still gonna investigate the Kflop and read some more about it here. Thanks guys...peace

Pete