Electronics help needed

[gaffa]

Hello all, I've been watching these threads for a while and finally decided to jump in and give the whole cnc bit a go for myself.

Here's where I get stuck, I have come across 3 x nema 23 stepper motors and am unsure of what size power supply and driver board I require. They have the following info printed on them

Type 23KM-K381
24 v. 2.0A 1.8 Deg.

I understand this is the volts and amps required, but does it mean I need a power supply that delivers 24 volts and 2 amps per motor ?
They have an input for a 6 wire plug which I believe means they are unipolar ?

Also is it safe to run these on a higher capacity power supply and driver board if in the future I decide to get bigger stepper motors ?
:?
Any info would be very much appreciated, as you can tell I am very much a newbie.
thank you , Chris

[watson]

Sorry Chris,
I don't have an answer..but one of the sites I frequent has a lot of cnc stuff,

www.oatleyelectronics.com
Based in NSW, and full of good stuff on CNC and other goodies.

[rodm]

Hi Chris,
I am not the best person to answer a question about electronics but here is my take on it.
It looks like the motors have come out of a photocopier or some other type of equipment.
Yes they are unipolar so try looking for a unipolar driver board that will handle 2amps per drive. Should be easy to find in this size. HobbyCNC is one and there are many more. The boards usually have a potentiometer to adjust the motor output for each drive.
Lastly welcome to CNC and I hope you do follow through with building a machine.

[Ch4iS]

A little off, but in what printers ect do you get the nema 23's? ive been pulling some old printers apart and getting only nema 17 (I think they are 17) motors.

24v power supply with 6 amp supply (for all 3 motors) shouldnt be hard to find I know you can get them from jaycar but they will ripp you off for it.

Just one I found on ebay just now

http://cgi.ebay.com/24V-DC14-6A-350W-Regulated-Switching-Power-Supply_W0QQitemZ380063578796QQihZ025QQcategoryZ58288QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Free postage also :D


but you dont need one as powerful, search ebay.com

[rodm]

I did a google on the motor number and got a few hits that they are used in a Fuji (Xerox??) photocopier.
These size motors appear on ebay regularly.

[twistedfuse]

Blue-Ray,

Have you used their power supplies before. I like the idea of a switching power supply as it allows for expansion and will only supply as much amperage as the load needs. Would there be a problem with the continuous switching causing the supply to fizzle out?

Daniel

[twistedfuse]

Gaffa,

Another thing about stepper drivers and motors(that i was told and remember) is that the motors will usually be supplied with many times the voltage capacity. I think mine are 6v and are running on 24v, this is because the current is more important. The current limit has to be adhered to and steppers should be run at about 80% full current. I may be wrong but if i am im sure blue ray can fix any errors in my post.

Daniel

[Ch4iS]

Isn't the xyoltex kits including a switching power supply?

I dont know much about the electronics side I just found the auction on ebay before I was going to buy it when I had 3x stepper motors which I am pulling from printers.

From what I have read the voltage determines how fast the coils can charge up to give a full step, amps is the amount of power is can push per step. I dont think you can go 4x their rated voltage :o would burn out the wiring I would gather?

Then again I am still learing about the electronics correct me if I am wrong.

BTW I am a long way from a expert :p like on the other side of the earth with rod.

[twistedfuse]

Lol. Yeah the xyoltex have a PS. I think its something like 4x the voltage but im like you, im sure the coils would burn out if it was too much. LIke you said the higher the voltage the faster the steps can be preformed and the more ampsthe more torque the motors can output.

Daniel