Okay, so i wired up some sensors for the end stops ( see my other post) these work fine. To use these succesfully with my existing setup (basic Laser rig, no end stops,Estop,Fire alarm etc) i decided to upgrade to a DLC32-V2.1 board i acquired for this job a while back.
It wasnt working until i flashed the DLC and changed a few direction settings etc. This was working well and seemed to be doing everything i had anticipated, however after running a test job today i noticed the X stepper was really Hot and the Y steppers ( 2 motors on one axis) were hot but not as bad as the X.
I get the feeling that this is an over current issue, as i had no issues at all with my old set up.
I have changed the wiring slightly to accommodate the new board, the biggest change being rewiring the laser module to run of the new board ( it used seperate board @ 24v for the Laser and i just ran the motors off the original 12v board)
It is set up to use TMC2209 steppers on the DLC32, and i think these are sending to much to the motors compared to the previous board. The steppers have trim pots on and i wanted to know if anyone had any thoughts on this, or can advise the easiest, safest way to check/reset the output ( what is should be or how to calculate it).
I believe it uses steppers from Vevor but dont recall seeing any model numbers on the motors themselves. As i said, it all ran find when it was taking 12v from the old board. (Vigo-13 V1.2 210201).
I have access to basic electronics kit (I have a portable scope if you need readings and i can figure out how to get them).
Any help appreciated, i will reply as soon as possible, usually the same day/night.
Is the new board running at 24V then.. ?
Do you use the stepper driver sticks from the old controller on the new one?
The trimpots on the stepper drivers set the current for the motor; you need to find the specific datasheet for your stepper drivers and that will tell you how to measure and set the current limit (it is different for each type of stick). I suggest measuring the current setting for each axis on the old board at 12v and matching that on the new one.
Where would i read the current setting at the pot ? Just go from ground and the middle pin (vref ?) of pot ? What should i be looking to set at ? I was looking at reading what it is at present and reduce if necessary.
sorry it took a while, had to reinstall the PC after an odd NVMe wipe.
@jkwilborn - sorry i would have normally checked elsewhere before posting but after re-installing the PC (and associated issues ) i just answered the post, my bad.
I have dialled the TMC2209’s back to around 0.70v and done a short test but the motors had already warmed up significantly by then. Things went smoothly and i will monitor them again on the next test and report back.
Do you think moving to FluidNC would be a good call. I understand all this is handled by UART using FluidNC, it’s backwardly compatible with GRBL and adds some functionalty. What i dont really want to be doing is soldering stuff onto the existing board if i can avoid it ?
Not necessarily; I think you can choose to ignore the UART settings and the driver will fallback to the onboard pot.
UART operation is set both in the config and with the onboard jumpers, but I’m not familiar enough with the board to be sure. I dont think you’d need to solder anything.
A quick followup to my previous post; I’ve been looking at the schematics for the DLC32; there is no wiring/provision for UART operation of stepsticks (TMC2209 or otherwise) on this board. It only supports setting microstepping via jumpers, current via trimpot, and control via enable, step and direction pins.
This means that the advanced tuning and sensorless (stall) homing features are not available for this board. Even if the stepstick drivers themselves support it.
Thanks for the info, it does what i need at the moment so no worries there.
Motors (particularly X axis) still getting warm, but i can honestly say i never noticed if they displayed the same behaviour when using the old board. I dont believe they did but i may be wrong.
I’ll tinker some more and see how it goes, thanks again for all the help.
Grab a multimeter, set it to measure <10V and attach a black needle probe and a red spring hook probe if you have them. The black needle probe goes to gnd on the stepper driver, and the hook probe should be clamped to a flat screwdriver that fits the adjustment pot on the stepper driver so it can act as the other probe and adjust at the same time. Place the screwdriver in the adjustment pot without pressing too hard and read the voltage. It should be around 1.25V. If its higher, turn the screwdriver slowly to reduce it to 1.25V. That should allow it to run cooler. If its at 1.25V, you can lower it as far as you like, until the voltage is insufficient to drive the stepper and you lose steps in operation. Also, even properly adjusted steppers can run a bit hot, though usually not too hot to touch.
