new and learning

[leonpiper69]

Not sure if there is a section for just the basics.

But I am going to try upgrading an old CNC series 1 and I am looking at the acorn vs allinone. Not sure what the difference between the two really is.

Also not sure what I need besides the acorn (or allinone). I bought a three drive cnc conversion kit a while back with three good sized stepper motors and three power supplies and three of some other box as well as a breakout board.

I know the series one will have servos I can use, but do I need to use my power supplies or does the acorn replace those?

I know I have a lot of reading but even though I watched some videos on youtube they usually glance over things that someone with no experience may not be familiar with.

[Centroid_Liviu]

You already have stepper motors and drives? In that case it would be the Acorn as it outputs step and direction. The Acorn comes with its own logic power supply but it does not have its own drives built in.

The ALLIN1DC can drive DC servomotors. The ALLIN1DC does have DC drives built in.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[leonpiper69]

Yes I do have steppers, stepper controllers and power supplies but the Bridgeport I am haggling with the guy about right now has servos on it (it's a series 1).

The big area where I am confuse is what the pieces really are. Can a stepper controller not control a servo then? In other words if I want to use the servos on the series 1 I can only do that with the allinone or can the acorn use my stepper controllers to control the servos too?

I have read servos are much better than steppers in terms of accuracy so I would be inclined to use the servos since they also would not require me having to make mounts and shaft connections.

I have no problems with wiring, I run a VFD on my BP right now and have wired plenty of motors, installed alarms and remote starts in my vehicles and do my house wiring when needed (went to school for HVAC) but all the videos that go into detail tend to skip the basics of what the individual components are. I literally am sitting here thinking "ok I hook up this box thingy to this box thingy and don't know what it is but at least I know how wire it up" LOL.

I also have an extra tower that I built a couple years ago that I am not using that should meet the requirements so the PC side is no problem either.

[martyscncgarage]

Yes I do have steppers, stepper controllers and power supplies but the Bridgeport I am haggling with the guy about right now has servos on it (it's a series 1).

The big area where I am confuse is what the pieces really are. Can a stepper controller not control a servo then? In other words if I want to use the servos on the series 1 I can only do that with the allinone or can the acorn use my stepper controllers to control the servos too?

I have read servos are much better than steppers in terms of accuracy so I would be inclined to use the servos since they also would not require me having to make mounts and shaft connections.

I have no problems with wiring, I run a VFD on my BP right now and have wired plenty of motors, installed alarms and remote starts in my vehicles and do my house wiring when needed (went to school for HVAC) but all the videos that go into detail tend to skip the basics of what the individual components are. I literally am sitting here thinking "ok I hook up this box thingy to this box thingy and don't know what it is but at least I know how wire it up" LOL.

I also have an extra tower that I built a couple years ago that I am not using that should meet the requirements so the PC side is no problem either.

If you have servos, then go with All in One DC.
You should post pictures of the control cabinet, and the motors with their labels. You'll get better information.
You need to have decent basic electrical skills as well.
You can go on Centroid's website and download the schematic package and review for yourself what is involved. To do it right is not trivial. You can also download the All in One DC Installation manual and read it, educate yourself.

Here is the page link for All in One DC: https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_di ... oller.html
Don't kid yourself either, its not just spend $2249 and that's it. Doing it yourself, close to $4k is a more realistic number by the time its said and done and you do it right.

Rock solid system too when wired PER the schematics, and good control wiring practices are followed.
Marty

[leonpiper69]

Yeah I'm well aware of the total cost involved ad will have no trouble wiring it.

I'm just wanting to make sure I don't spend money on things I don't need or waste money thinking I am saving money when I buy wrong parts.

So what your saying is the all in one can only control servos and the acorn can only control steppers so depending on which I choose to use determines the control unit to get. Ad the all in one is more because the only diff is it has motor controllers on board but they will only control servos.

[leonpiper69]

And I have no pics to post as I have not purchased the new BP yet. Currently I only have my manual BP and a bunch of new parts (steppers, controllers etc).

I am still looking at the BP that is a series 1 cnc with servos.

[tblough]

The Allin1DC is more because it has three on-board DC servo drives AND it is a true closed-loop system. It receives encoder feedback from the servos and adjusts accordingly. The Acorn is open-loop which sends step and direction pulses to the drives. Those drives can be either simple steppers, smart steppers, or smart servos if, and only if, they accept step and direction inputs. The only way the Acorn knows if the drives did not do what was asked is if the drive has the ability to assert a fault signal.

The Allin1DC is considerable more flexible in that additional digital (272), analog (17), and encoder inputs (12) can be added to control up to 6 simultaneous axis.

[dbensavage]

If it has DC Servo's already on it Go with the All in One like Marty Said. Going with the Acorn at that point would be going backwards.

[martyscncgarage]

Yeah I'm well aware of the total cost involved ad will have no trouble wiring it.

I'm just wanting to make sure I don't spend money on things I don't need or waste money thinking I am saving money when I buy wrong parts.

So what your saying is the all in one can only control servos and the acorn can only control steppers so depending on which I choose to use determines the control unit to get. Ad the all in one is more because the only diff is it has motor controllers on board but they will only control servos.

Correct.
All in One is true closed loop with 3 DC brush servo drives on board.
Before you buy anything, mechanical condition of the machine needs to be checked.
Then the servo motors need to be checked. See Tech Bulleting 155:
https://www.centroidcnc.com/dealersuppo ... ds/155.pdf
Most DC Brush servos will require a new encoder to be installed. Budget $250 each
Some DC Brush servos are easier to refit with new encoders than others. Posting pictures of the motor with the end cap removed will help us help you.
You will need an Estop contactor
Terminal Blocks
VFD?
Bridge rectifier/capacitor
Lots of nickle and dime stuff....

Marty