Stepper Motor Control

[BDJ]

Hi there.  I'm having trouble with a motion control prototype, and I'm at a loss for where to look next.

I'm running a Windows XP computer with LabVIEW 8.6.1.  The computer contains a brand new NI PCI-7332 motion controller connected to a NI UMI-7772 board controlling a P70360 stepper drive.  I'm trying to run a CTP 11 ELF 11 Danaher stepper motor with little success.

All of the lights on the boards are the correct color.  I've followed the set up steps in "Getting Started: P7000 Series Stepper Drives".  I've got the correct indicators in the MAX interface, and I can even get the motor to hum a bit when I press "Start", but the axel is not turning.  I did check the wiring from the driver to the motor and both the diagram and the multimeters agree that, at worst, I should be running it backwards.  This is prior to any LabVIEW programming.  I'm just trying to get the motor to run with MAX.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is my first time setting up such a system.

Ben

[Jochen · Accepted solution]

Hi Ben,

it looks like your motor and your drive are not compatible. The CTP 11 ELF 11 is only supported by the P70530 and not by the P70360 (see table 5 in the P7000 getting started manual). The bus voltage of the P70360 (320 V) is way too high for this type of motor. Please contact your local NI branch for options to swap to the right hardware (you will need to exchange either the drive or the motor).

Additionally I strongly recommend to use the P7000 tools software in combination with a serial cable (P/N 780099-01) to configure the drive. This provides much more flexibility than using the dip switches and you can optimize the drive's and motor's performance by adjusting the drive to the inductance of your individual motor.

Kind regards,

Jochen Klier

National Instruments

[BDJ]

Jochen,

Thanks.  I suppose that makes sense.  We were just using the hardware supplied by our rep, but I've now got a T21NRLC-LDN-NS-00 Step Mot, P70360, NEMA 23, 180oz-in, dual shaft on order as a replacement.  It looks like a lot more torque, but we're just trying to move a belt, so we're flexible.

Thanks again for your direction.

Ben