Hey gang,
I’m upgrading an older version NEMA 23 plug and plat to run a 4th axis and it’s proving to be somewhat of an adventure.
My box has 4 CRP556 stepper drivers running X, Y, Z, & a slaved Y. The CRP850 BOB has a 5th position for the add’l stepper to drive the 4th axis, so I thought I’d be all set 
… but apparently AVID doesn’t sell the CRP556 drivers any more, so they refered me to Automationdirect.com, and recommended the DM556E driver… but… the CRP556 and the BOB have 3.81 mm pitch terminal connectors, and the DM556E has 5.08 mm pitch terminals, so no plug and play for me 
…
and apparently all currently available versions of this Leadshine driver now have the larger terminals.
So, here’s my plan… I bought male/female pairs of screw/plug terminals connectors for both the 3.81 mm and the 5.08 mm sizes.
I’ll plug the small female connector into the BOB, and jumper it over to the large male connector with 20 awg shielded wire… then I’ll mount the DM556E just beyond the BOB and send it to the bulkhead with the DB9 and on to my shop built NEMA 34 driven harmonic drive 4th axis.
So what says the forum? Do you think my plan will work?
Next topic is the power supply… Avid has instructions in the plug & play controller manual for upgrading to their 4th axis which tell you to augment the single 600 watt PS with a second 350 watt PS and a 1800 µF 63 vdc cap.
So my question here is 1.) do I really need a second PS if I only use the 4th axis for indexed Y-Z axis engraving, while the X axis stays put? And if I do, can someone please point me to the appropriate capacitor? (I’m a bit out of my depth here and overwhelmed by the plethora of options).
Does anyone out there set their hold (stand-still) current to 50% (DIP sw. #4 in the off position)? It seems like doing so I would lesson demand on the PS and potentially avoid having to add the add’l PS. Or does it really take 100% current to hold a stepper in place while not in motion?
Do people running 4th axis unplug them when not in use, to prevent hold current from being continuously applied the the 4th while running 3 axis jobs?
Sorry to put so many questions in one (my first) post. I very much appreciate the forums help,
Matt