GSoft2 by AutomationDirect is the quickest and easiest way to program your DURApulse drives
including the GS10.
GSoft2 software is completely free.
Just go to AutomationDirect.com and search for GSoft2 or follow the link in the description.
This video assumes you have already gotten the software connected to the drive.
If you haven’t and need help with that please see the GSoft2 Part 1 video.
Click on the parameter button and then click read to get all the current parameter values
from the drive.
This will take a moment since we’re using a serial connection so I’ve sped this up
a bit.
Parameters with green Modbus addresses can be written to while the motor is running,
blue can only be written when the motor is not running, and black are read-only parameters.
This line is important – it tells us that we are currently looking at the drive parameters,
not parameters read from the computer, which model drive we are working with, and a reminder
that if anything may have changed on the drive you will need to hit read to update.
For example, I’ll change Parameter 00.04 to a 4 at the drive and nothing changed in
the software.
If I hit read, we’ll see the change.
It’s red because it's not a default value.
I love that I can quickly see what parameters have changed from default by looking for the red
parameters.
You can also see the min and max allowable values for each parameter.
Unlike reads, writes from the software to the drive happen automatically as soon as
you hit enter or click off the changed parameter.
Notice as I change the same parameter from software, right away we can see the drive
is updated.
And if you look down here, you can see a message showing that write.
In the previous video, I showed the virtual keypad.
This can come in handy for testing your programming.
I also mentioned the settings required for that to work with the drive.
Let's program that so you can see how easy it is to program using the software.
So, we need to set the start-stop command and speed reference to the software connection
which is RS485.
We’ll set the remote frequency source to RS485 by setting Parameter 00.20 to 1 and
remote command source to RS485 by setting P00.21 to 2.
It’s so much easier to find the parameters by name than by number.
Now we can run the drive, adjust speed, and so on.
Programming through the software is that easy!
Here we have saved parameters.
These will be saved in an excel spreadsheet.
The new button is helpful when you are not connected to the drive – you can select
the drive model then program everything before you even have a drive.
This could be especially helpful if you have a tech or a customer in the field and you need
to program the drive for them offsite.
Just pay attention to the indication here that this is a file and here it shows we
are modifying the file.
Nothing is being sent to the drive.
You have to make sure you’re connected to the drive and use write all to send these
parameters.
Rating lets you use your parameters on a different size drive.
You can even change from a GS10 to a GS20 and back.
Maybe you have everything running right but need a larger drive or you need a group of
drives set up the same but they’re different sizes.
Just change the drive then set your motor parameters and you’re ready to go.
Again, this is a file operation not a drive operation so make sure you write to the drive.
One thing to keep in mind, if you are trying to change to a GS20, set up for GS2 mode or
GS4. Ratings will allow you to change drive model, but will not preserve the parameter
settings because the parameter set is too different.
Next we have open which opens the saved file.
Notice once again we’re dealing with a file, not a drive.
So, open, save and new are disk file operations. Read and write are drive operations.
Since this particular file should be what's on my drive let’s hit the compare button
and see if it is.
We have the drive tab and the file tab which show all the parameters in each that are changed from
default.
Then we have the drive vs file tab which shows any differences between the two.
This comes up blank in this instance because they match exactly.
One final note:
At the time I am doing this video, GSoft2 only works with the GS10, GS20 and GS4 drives.
But we do have free software for other drives we sell, as well.
The GS10 family of drives have an awesome feature set normally reserved for much more
expensive drives.
We've created a step-by-step video tutorial library for the drive that will help you
get up and running quickly with those features.
And many of the GS20 videos will work on the GS10, as well.
AutomationDirect is providing the products and support you need to make us your common-
sense way to buy industrial controls.
If you need more help, please see our tech support options here.
To see all GS10 drive videos click here.
Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel for upcoming products and solutions.