Clearpath SDSK - with UC400ETH/UCSB & UCCNC?

[FerrumD]

Just a quick question as I plan to upgrade my machine's steppers to servo motors.

I'm currently pondering of getting three clearpath SDSK servo motors to replace the slightly underpowered an non-close-loop NEMA23 sized steppers on my milling machine.

In theory the Servo's should integrate nicely with the UC400ETH / UCSB I'm using ?? or is there something I am missing?

thanks.

[dhanger]

The Clearpath motors will work well with your setup, I have the exact same hardware and tried them for a while. For my purposes they did not perform any better than the closed loop steppers I had so I returned them. It wasn't worth the higher cost to me, but everyone's situation is different so I'm not making a recommendation, just an observation that it will work. Teknic has a great trial period policy, and their technical support is top notch.

[FerrumD]

The Clearpath motors will work well with your setup, I have the exact same hardware and tried them for a while. For my purposes they did not perform any better than the closed loop steppers I had so I returned them. It wasn't worth the higher cost to me, but everyone's situation is different so I'm not making a recommendation, just an observation that it will work. Teknic has a great trial period policy, and their technical support is top notch.

Thanks for the heads up!
My steppers aren't closed loop and they sometimes tend to loose steps.. they're not bad, but I think slightly underpowered.
with my setup I would need to upgrade both the steppers and the drivers... at that point if I'm not going for the low-end stuff, the price difference comapred to a small-ish clearpath SDSK isn't that large anymore... also I had an old machine that used servos (that machine had it's fair share of other problems) - the servos were worlds apart from the steppers on my current machine.
I think in my current case it's a mix of a mediocre driver and a slightly underpowered non-closed-loop stepper.
But I think the servos would do the trick and I like the integrated aspect of the Clearpath SDSKs...

[dhanger]

It's well worth trying and I didn't have any issues with returning everything to Teknic, including the PSU I bought from them also. Just be aware they won't reimburse the shipping costs (both ways).

If you stick with them I recommend setting up the feedback signal and integrate with UCCNC so that it will halt program execution if one of the motors halts for any reason, you don't want the other motors to continue running and causing further damage to workpiece or cutter.

[CT63]

Take a look at stepperonline's BLDC integrated servo motor. Its a direct replacement for NEMA 23 steppers. Use your existing stepper driver and power supply and 1/3 the cost of Clearpath. I'm looking at replacing my open loop motors with these.

[dhanger]

I've used a lot of Stepperonline's products (motors, drivers, closed loop steppers) and had good luck with them. I'm currently using their NEMA 23 integrated servo in place of OEM NEMA 34 open loop steppers and they actually work quite well. You won't get the same level of tech support with them as opposed to Teknic (worlds apart).

[CT63]

I was considering Clearpath but couldn't justify the cost of three motors, power supply etc. If I was running a commercial business Clearpath would be the better choice. I did contact Stepperonline's support to ask a few questions. They got back to me within one day and were very helpful. Clearpath is made in the US and top quality where as Stepperonline products are Chinese. Like with anything from China its a roll of the dice with quality.

[dhanger]

I will agree that Stepperonline does have better support than any of the other Chinese brands I've worked with, in fact in my view that's really the main thing that makes them stand out as it appears to me that most Chinese brands come from the same sources and the thing that differentiates them is the support, or lack thereof. But still nothing like Teknic. With one of the issues I had with Clearpath they offered to log on to my workstation and work directly with me on the issue. But yeah if you're running a commercial business and need to get back to work quickly Clearpath is the way, but if you don't have the spare change and don't mind spending time online researching (what I call having more time than money) Stepperonline is a really good choice, IMO.

[formantjim]

I have and currently use 4 Clearpaths on my DIY CNC machine for the past 5 years and they are ultra reliable and deadly accurate. They are incredibly powerful and will if not setup correctly destroy your machine! Ask me how I know.

Love the programmability of the servos they allow you to tune it to your machine to get max performance.

Help and support from Teknic has been nothing but first class highly recommend Clearpaths to anyone.

[FerrumD]

Thanks for all the replies.


I've pulled the trigger on a set of Clearpath SDSKs... and am really looking forward to put them on my machine.
The (open loop) Stepper's have been driving me crazy with their occasional missed steps and sometimes messing up parts because of it....

A few things for those here who may be looking at the same decision making:

I went with the Clearpath SDSK's over the Stepperonline's ISVT (BLDC) motors for a few notable reasons:
1. Pre-sales support... honestly, I can't speak highly enough of Teknic's support here. Above and beyond compared to many out there.
they swiftly and personally answered my questions, recommended the right size of motor after having described my application and sent them the spec sheet for my current steppers... then answered more questions, equally fast and thoroughly..

2. sealing of the motors... the Stepperonline motors list AVOID DUST, OIL, etc.. in their description... this is pretty difficult in a milling machine, milling steel, aluminium, wood, plastics...
The SDSKs are sealed properly...

3. The SDSKs have a great reputation from all I could gather with pretty much everyone liking them and hardly any issues anywhere.
Good and easy tuning software etc...

So yes, whilst I looked at essentially tripple the price, I looked at it as a longer-term investment.
And whilst I only run a small one-man business, it's still what puts food on my table.
Down-time of machines, messed up parts and non-working things cost more money to me than paying more initially.
essentially one of those "cry once, buy once" decisions.

In regards to needed accessories:
it's actually not as bad as it looks.
whilst Teknic offers advanced power supplies, and a bunch of other nice toys making wiring up everything neat and easy, it's not necessary.
In fact their tech-support confirmed my question if ANY decent 48V Powersupply (or other voltage) would be sufficiently ok, as long as it has enough power.
as I still have a 48V 600W supply from a differnt project I wanted to use.... so their support said: sure. should work well for my motors and application.



I don't think stepperonline's a bad option - in fact I have a few components from them in different projects. and they're working well.

Well I'm really looking forward to kick the steppers out of the mill's enclosure door.
they've given me more grieve and annoyances than I could care for.

it's kind of weird, my previous mill, whilst dated and underpowered in every aspect had closed loop servos... and whilst the machine had more issues (controller side and spindle) than I cared for, the old and worn servos' had been super reliable.
I didn't think too much about steppers vs. servos when I bought the retrofitted machine that I have now.... but over a short period of time: I really became annoyed with the open-loop steppers on it.
Sure they're not the most powerful things on the market... but they aren't the cheapest thing either (japanese made SANYODENKI SANMOTION F2 4A Nema23 stepper)... I can't figure out how people get happy with open loop systems like these... I've had a number of parts I make messed up just because missed steps of the steppers. that alone and the time to re-machine / re-make the parts was more money down the drain than the Servos I've ordered now.