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What stepper motor drivers were supplied with my kit?

Added by drogon almost 10 years ago

Today, because I have noticed the occasional mis-step (and extra step on long horizontal cuts), I decided to tune the stepper motor drivers.

The BoM specified the slightly cheaper green Pololu units - http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1182

I have used these Pololu units many times in the past - mostly the black ones - they're great. Connect meter to the test point and tweak the pot to suit the stepper motor...

But these are not Pololu boards. They're not even clones.

So what ones did you supply? ebay No.141351918460 is the best match I can find.

Please tell me why you've supplied these and not the Pololu ones you put on the BoM.

Please also tell me how to set the current limiting on these boards - I can't find anything that looks like the test point on Pololu boards.

Picture of front of the ones you sent me: http://unicorn.drogon.net/IMG_20140811_142454.jpg

and rear: http://unicorn.drogon.net/IMG_20140811_142410.jpg

-Gordon


Replies (1)

RE: What stepper motor drivers were supplied with my kit? - Added by jaap almost 10 years ago

Hi Gordon,

I'm sorry to hear your stepper drivers are acting up. The ones I ship are no Pololu's, the information in the BOM is outdated in this respect. When at one time the Pololu's were not available I changed to one of the many clones available from a local supplier and until now I didn't have negative feedback on their quality.

As far as tuning is concerned... I didn't know the Pololu's come with a test point. I usually tune them by turning the current limiter while moving in large motions. I turn the current limiter up and then down until the machine stops shaking. There's probably more professional ways to do this.

Without cooling, these stepper drivers can take up to 1A, but probably that's only a very optimistic estimate. Putting coolers on top can help a bit. If you're in doubt about their strength/quality, I wouldn't waste time on them and just swap them for something stronger. Connecting external stepper drivers can really boost the performance of your machine.

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