Gecko safety switch??

cueman

cueman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
We just got in a 4 Axis CNC Gecko G540 380 oz in Stepper Motor Kit and thought we were getting a self contained unit. Surprises are never ending in the world of CNC. When we installed the steppers and went to use the controller it says it will not work until a safety switch was installed and of course there was not one included. I have no idea where one would go or where to get one. Anyone have this controller that can help me figure out what to do?
 
By default in Mach3 the space bar is the "feed hold." Is it possibly wanting a hardware limit/home switch installed? I run Mach3 without one, so it shouldn't be a requirement. Chris, what software is asking for the "safety switch?"
 
IF there is no switch on the top of the unit (there are in the newer ones), then you have to take the cover off. There is a switch there that you can move. It's the charge pump switch I believe and the green light will not come on unless you disable it or change some settings in Mach3.

I just set up a machine for Trepla and I couldn't get the settings in Mach3 to work, so I just turned the switch to off.

If that's your problem (green light not coming on at all), this might fix it.

Also, if you had to wire your power supply to it yourself, you also need a jumper wire for the E-Stop. If that's the problem, I can tell you which pins.
 
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Tony Zinzola said:
IF there is no switch on the top of the unit (there are in the newer ones), then you have to take the cover off. There is a switch there that you can move. It's the charge pump switch I believe and the green light will not come on unless you disable it or change some settings in Mach3.

I just set up a machine for Trepla and I couldn't get the settings in Mach3 to work, so I just turned the switch to off.

If that's your problem (green light not coming on at all), this might fix it.

Also, if you had to wire your power supply to it yourself, you also need a jumper wire for the E-Stop. If that's the problem, I can tell you which pins.
Click to expand...
I will get my son to read this. There are all kinds of pins and screws on this thing. It looks like Greek to me to figure out how it works. I thought it was going to be plug and go like Xylotec was. I do hope it really works better. I could have repaired the other one for 1/4 the cost of this one.
 
cueman said:
I will get my son to read this. There are all kinds of pins and screws on this thing. It looks like Greek to me to figure out how it works. I thought it was going to be plug and go like Xylotec was. I do hope it really works better. I could have repaired the other one for 1/4 the cost of this one.
Click to expand...

Chris, the G540 actually is easier to setup in the long run. I believe what you need to do is bypass the external e-stop switch. I believe you stated that you do not have one. You will want to jumper a wire from pin 10 to 12 of the bottom connectorr. Here is a link to Geckos pdf:
http://www.geckodrive.com/upload/G540InitialSetup.pdf

What Tony was refering to is: There is a switch on the front pannel. It is close to the 4th axis connector. This enables a safty macro pump. A signle comes from you PC like a hart beat. This is an output pin of your printer port. You will either need to set that up (usually output pin 16) if you want to use it. If not just change the switch setting. If you can't get it going then give me a call. I will be happy to help you or your son. Cell is 847-489-3904. If I am busy at the time, I will call you back shortly.

Jim.
 
Tony Zinzola said:
IF there is no switch on the top of the unit (there are in the newer ones), then you have to take the cover off. There is a switch there that you can move. It's the charge pump switch I believe and the green light will not come on unless you disable it or change some settings in Mach3.

I just set up a machine for Trepla and I couldn't get the settings in Mach3 to work, so I just turned the switch to off.

If that's your problem (green light not coming on at all), this might fix it.

Also, if you had to wire your power supply to it yourself, you also need a jumper wire for the E-Stop. If that's the problem, I can tell you which pins.
Click to expand...

Yes, we are having to wire it all up from scratch, down to being able to plug it in the wall. Pretty sure I can get a simple plug in on it, but I have no clue what to do with it all, sorta like my dad, what goes between the power supply and the driver is like greek to me.

Thanks,

Hightower84
 
Jim posted a link up above. There's also a users manual on that site too that I found the diagram to be a little more helpful in.

You need the following:

Pos 11 SUPPLY +18 to +50VDC
Pos 12 POWER SUPPLY GROUND
Pos 10 DISABLE input = Jumper Wire from Pos 10 to Pos 12.

Once that's set up, you'll need to adjust your steps per in Mach as the Gecko's are different than the Xylo's.
 
Tony Zinzola said:
Jim posted a link up above. There's also a users manual on that site too that I found the diagram to be a little more helpful in.

You need the following:

Pos 11 SUPPLY +18 to +50VDC
Pos 12 POWER SUPPLY GROUND
Pos 10 DISABLE input = Jumper Wire from Pos 10 to Pos 12.

Once that's set up, you'll need to adjust your steps per in Mach as the Gecko's are different than the Xylo's.
Click to expand...

Do you have a picture of the wires going from the power supply box over to the driver?
 
It's basically what I told you. You run 1 wire from the + on the power supply and 1 wire from the - to the controller pins listed above (my power supply has 3 of each (+/-)).
 
Tony Zinzola said:
It's basically what I told you. You run 1 wire from the + on the power supply and 1 wire from the - to the controller pins listed above (my power supply has 3 of each (+/-)).
Click to expand...

My power supply also has 3 - and 3+.

Pos 11 SUPPLY +18 to +50VDC
The above line is the puzzling one.
I assume this means to run a wire from one of the three positives on the power supply to the 11th position from the left on the controller.
But what does 18 to +50DVC mean.

Pos 12 POWER SUPPLY GROUND
Above line means to run a wire from one of the three grounds to the 12th position from the left on the controller.

Pos 10 DISABLE input = Jumper Wire from Pos 10 to Pos 12.
Above means to jump a wire from 10 to 12 to bypass safety switch.

Let me know what part I have right or wrong.

I appreciate you walking me through this.
 
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cueman said:
My power supply also has 3 - and 3+.

Pos 11 SUPPLY +18 to +50VDC
The above line is the puzzling one.
I assume this means to run a wire from one of the three positives on the power supply to the 11th position from the left on the controller.
But what does 18 to +50DVC mean.

Pos 12 POWER SUPPLY GROUND
Above line means to run a wire from one of the three grounds to the 12th position from the left on the controller.

Pos 10 DISABLE input = Jumper Wire from Pos 10 to Pos 12.
Above means to jump a wire from 10 to 12 to bypass safety switch.

Let me know what part I have right or wrong.

I appreciate you walking me through this.
Click to expand...

Chris, you would have had originally a 24vdc power supply for your old controller. This will work fine. Yes you will want to connect the + side of your power supply to pin 11 and you will want pin 12 to the - side of the power supply. Also shorting pin 10 to 12 will bypass the s-stop safty switch. You have some other work to do as well. You will need to add in some resistors to the 9 pin connectors bassed on the motor current rating. This is an important step. Don't forget it unless you purchased a setup with motors pre-wired.
 
Mc2 said:
Chris, you would have had originally a 24vdc power supply for your old controller. This will work fine. Yes you will want to connect the + side of your power supply to pin 11 and you will want pin 12 to the - side of the power supply. Also shorting pin 10 to 12 will bypass the s-stop safty switch. You have some other work to do as well. You will need to add in some resistors to the 9 pin connectors bassed on the motor current rating. This is an important step. Don't forget it unless you purchased a setup with motors pre-wired.
Click to expand...

I forgot about that. Only took a few minutes though with Jim's help. There's also a Radio Shack only 5 minutes from my house, which helps.
 
Mc2 said:
Chris, you would have had originally a 24vdc power supply for your old controller. This will work fine. Yes you will want to connect the + side of your power supply to pin 11 and you will want pin 12 to the - side of the power supply. Also shorting pin 10 to 12 will bypass the s-stop safty switch. You have some other work to do as well. You will need to add in some resistors to the 9 pin connectors bassed on the motor current rating. This is an important step. Don't forget it unless you purchased a setup with motors pre-wired.
Click to expand...

The motors came with really nice plugs on the motor to match the controller and matching cables. Do you think the resistors will still need installed?
 
Did you buy it from that guy ahrenkj (he's also got a website, but I don't remember what it is) on Ebay?

If you did, I think you're all set. I had to put a resistor in one motor because I used a nema32 for the X axis and it wasn't set up with the type of cables I was using.

The other motors, I just mounted and plugged in with the provided plugs.
 
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