X1 cnc wiring

Andy -

It's a good plan to shield the motor cables - as they are being driven by a pulse train at high currents, unshilded cables have the opportunity to interfere with signal cables (which should also be shielded. Ground them at the driver end only - the stepper body will be in electrical contact with the table, and via that, with the machine's eart, so if you ground the shields at both ends you are indeed creating a potential earth loop.

A neat way to connect the cables to the steppers is to attach a small plastic lidded box over the cable grommet on the stepper and run the cable in through the side (through a rubber grommet), make the connections inside the box (lose all but a few cm of the stepper's wires), srink sleeve over the solder joints, and you're done. RS do a range of lidded "potting" boxes that work well for this.

You should "star" wire (rather than "daisychain") from the power supply to the stepper drives. If you daisychain, then the second drive will see a varying supply voltage depending on how much current the first is taking, and so on.

In general, keep the signal cables as far from the mains and stepper cables as is practical.

Have fun!

Regards, Tony

That's the one. What you don't mention is that the plugs are 4-pin XLRs. These are pretty much ideal for CNC use - the pins are good for

Regards, Tony

Thanks chaps, rs duly instructed