Another Epilog rotary question

[Andrew Stow]

I've lurked around and read several of the threads about this...

What I'm wondering is, did anyone ever figure out the correct wiring scheme for the Epilog? IE, which wire goes where, if using a non-vexta/oriental motor? As I understand it, the diagram for a 2 phase unipolar stepper has something like step, common, and direction for phase A (3 wires), then the same for phase B (3 wires). Has anyone tried to trace the wires on the cabinet mounted connector down to the driver on the motherboard to see which ones are which?

I do recall someone mentioning which driver Epilog used for the rotary stepper, but I cannot for the life of me find that thread again.

I've got a Legend 32 that I'd like to do some rotary stuff with and I'm willing to experiment a bit to save a grand and wind up with something more suited to my purposes, but I'm a little concerned about damaging the motherboard.

Mostly, what I'd like to do is:

Beer glass engraving
Curved (but not necessarily fully cylindrical) wood engraving.

Any help at all would be most appreciated.

[AL Ursich]

Did you ask Epilog?

[Andrew Stow]

Just did. They flat out refused to give me the pinouts. And then said if I "modified" the machine this way, they "couldn't" provide tech support any longer. Which I take to mean "wouldn't."

[Glen Monaghan]

The steppers are a standard 6 wire variety. Two sets of three wires, each basically center tapped coils (NOT step, direction, and common as used by many controllers). Check here regarding the connector:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?189680-Epilog-laser-Rotary-question

[Andrew Stow]

Wow, thank you so much for that explanation, Glen!

The tech guy I talked to at Epilog said I'd risk blowing up the motherboard, but it sounds from your explanation in the other thread that so long as I get the commons wired correctly and the ground-sensing pin wired/jumped correctly, I can safely trial and error the two sets of pos/neg pins, right?


Secondary question... what do you think of adding a small PC fan to the back of the motor, if I go with a 24V stepper? How hot are we talking about getting?

[Glen Monaghan]

Don't make any changes with the machine turned on. Always shut it off to insert or remove the connector or change the pins around, then power back up or, yes, you could damage things.

I've never used an Epilog rotary but comments on this board by those who have said things like it can get uncomfortably warm, all the way up to too hot at the end of the day to handle without gloves. Adding a fan is a bag, but if the gets too warm to hold comfortably, a fan seems preferable to nothing. Alternatives are to get a better specified/matched motor or to add a controller that interprets the stepping signals and properly drives the motors (with appropriate current limiting). An add-on controller could also permit microstepping and/or provide a mechanism to account for the radius independent operation of Epilog's setup compared to the radius dependent nature of a chuck arrangement.

[Andrew Stow]

I realize this thread is old. Figured I'd revisit this topic.

What do you think of this for a motor for rotary attachment on an epilog?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SPPJK62/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AWQBCGWISS7BL
Nema 23
Can be wired 3 different ways (unipolar, bipolar series, and bipolar parallel)
Recommended voltage 24V to 48V
3 amp rated in unipolar mode
It turns 1.8 degrees per step, but I figured I'd just compensate for that with 2:1 gear reduction. Assuming the epilog rotary attachment was 1:1, that is.

No idea about brand. Or that seller.