Hooking up extra drive and stepper motor

[sv083@yahoo.com]

Hi Guys

I need some help . I just got this Oriental Motro Co. Linear motion driver and motor.

Vexta

Drive Model ASD24A-ADN : 100-115Vac, 50/60Hz, 5.0A

Motor model ASM66AA : DC 2.69V 1.7A

My question is this compatible with the new PRT alpha ?
How do I hook this up and how do I tell the software that I want to use it as an indexer?.

[Brady Watson]

You will 1st have to mount the motor driver in the control box, being sure to apply the heatsink compound provided with the driver before securing it. You will also have to link the driver to the control board via a 'rainbow' cable, like the other drives have. Be careful when you do this as it is in a tight spot and it is easy to misalign the pins.

Then you will have to go into the SB3 control software and using the VD command, enable 4 axes.

On a side note, the motor that you mention (if I looked it up right) is pretty lame for an indexer. It doesn't have a gearbox and only puts out 170 Oz/in of torque. The standard Alpha motors put out 560 Oz/in. Also, this motor is a smaller frame than the standard Alpha motor (NEMA23 instead of Alpha NEMA34 size).

It's possible to get this motor to work, but without some kind of gear reduction, you will most likely be disappointed in it's performance.

-Brady

[sv083@yahoo.com]

Thanks . I just got of the phone with shopbot and thats what they said too. Where did you find the info on the motor that I got ?. Do you know of any other motors that are stronger that I can hook up to that drive ?.

Thanks .
Stephan

[Brady Watson]

You can check the specs of the motor on Oriental Motor's site (http://www.orientalmotor.com) You will find it listed under the 2.36" motor frame under stepper motors. You will most likely only be able to use other Oriental Motor AlphaStep motors of similar size and power with that drive. Since it uses encoders built into the motor itself, the Alpha stuff is a unique animal.

If I was in that situation, I would pop it back out on Ebay and just sell it. The ulimate setup for your indexer would be a 10:1 Alpha gearbox motor and driver to run it. You can get both from ShopBot. That setup will twist your arm off with a max torque of 5600 Oz/in...which is about 30 Ft/Lbs.

Alpha motors and drivers are unique compared to most other types of steppers.

-Brady

[marshawk]

25:1 planetary gearbox. You won't go back!

[Stephan (Unregistered Guest)]

Ok . That sounds good , But where will I find that gear box that fits the motor that I have ?.

[richards]

Why not visit the Oriental Motor web site (www.orientalmotor.com (http://www.orientalmotor.com)) and contact them directly. I've always found their technical support to be excellent. They would know whether you can attach a gear box to your existing motor, or whether the motors intended for use with a gear box have special shafts (that was the case years ago when I wanted to add gear boxes to some existing motors that I had on hand).

[Brady Watson]

Mike,
You may be able to add a gearbox to the existing motor...however the driver is completely different than the standard 1:1 motor driver. It's easier to sell it and buy the right combo.

-Brady

[sv083@yahoo.com]

Well that's what it is starting to look like . Anybody know where I can find the right combo cheep . I am not in the mood to spend $1200.00 for this or worse $ 2500.00 for the indexer when I have the parts here to make it.
anybody got any spare setups like that ?.

[richards]

The Oriental Motors's Alpha stepper is unique in that nobody else manufactures it or a clone (as far as I know). Your best bet, if the factory price is objectionable, is to watch EBay.