Rafael The wires you need will depend on what motors you are using, the arrangement of limit/home switches and if encoders are being used. Once you know these things you can choose the cable.
For example I have built a machine of similar size to yours. It's driven by three 3.1Nm steppers with no encoders. The steppers each need four wires and are driven at 4.5A so I choose 24/0.2 wire to carry this. I have two limit and one home switch per axis so I need six signal wires per axis. I could have combined the 0V line, the I would only need four wires, but felt this would limit my options. I have used CAT5 cable for this, but now find that I may have to replace this with shielded cable. Mike On 21 May 2012, at 04:57, Rafael Skodlar <ra...@linwin.com> wrote: > On 05/20/2012 12:12 PM, Dave wrote: >> On 5/20/2012 12:40 PM, Rafael Skodlar wrote: >>> I wonder what kind of power and data cables would you recommend for use >>> in X-Y-Z CNC about 1.2mx1m size? Besides power, it's not clear to me how >>> many data lines for sensors, encoders, motor control, etc. are needed in >>> general. >>> >>> Is it preferable to carry power and handful of control signals to the >>> circuit on the gantry and preprocess some functions there or have >>> everything wired into the central box? That would dictate the number of >>> wires in the cable needed and what kind you need to buy. >>> >>> Would cable carrier from McMaster-Carr # 55835K432 be sufficient? >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> >> >> Figure out what cables you need to move back and forth and then choose >> the carrier. Jamming cables into a cable carrier is not a good idea. > > I'm well familiar with flexing and shielding issues in general since > early HP plotter days. I was hoping to get a simple answer based on real > life experience, get this or that cable with x number of shielded and > stranded or twisted wires ;-) That's why I mentioned size as that would > give one an idea of motor sizes and other requirements. > > Is it better to have one cable with x number of wires to take care of > all needs or a number of smaller cables (y) with x/y wires? > >> If you don't do some figuring before you know what you are going to carry, >> you will either have too much, or not enough space. Guessing usually >> doesn't work out nearly as well. >> > > Agree, and that's why I tried to see what others are doing on this issue > as it seem to be poorly documented in general. I try to capture this > from numerous pictures but wires seem to generate little interest in > general. > >> As an alternative supplier; Igus sells direct in the US. >> http://www.igus.com/default.asp?c=us&L=en >> >> Dave >> > > Links are always encouraging. However, I'm still struggling with the > variety of cables mentioned on Igus site: data cable, bus cable, servo > cable, control cable. Lots of homework ahead I guess, and that's before > the experiment can begin. > > Thanks guys, > > -- > Rafael > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Live Security Virtual Conference > Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and > threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions > will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware > threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
