1 Topic by ebarton97

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Topic: Stepper Driver Discussion

Hey printer geeks!

Like most of you I'm sure, i spend more time playing with my 3d printer itself than I do printing useful things. I have been printing for about a year and I love being in this age of new technology. I always feel behind with how quick new parts are developed for 3d printing. While browsing for more parts, i came across a new stepper driver board( at least new to me).

So let's have a discussion on driver boards and your experiences with them. I'd like to start the thread talking about 3 of them. Feel free to mention others you've had experience with. I'd also like to point out I'm not much of an electrical engineer so big words take me a while to research. I get along enough to print what I need .

Let's discuss the A4988, DRV8825, and the seemingly new DRV8880.

A4988:
This is what my printer originally came equipped with. I had no problems with it and it ran well. This is until I started longer prints. Once I hit prints of 4 hours or so the boards would over heat and go into thermal shutdown. I didn't know about setting the Vref so that may not of helped. But I also didn't have cooling fans to dissipate heat. For this reason, i got a set of 5 DRV8825's.

DRV8825:
I love these. I have yet to set them to 1/32 microstepping because I'm not sure I have the need for that resolution. But I love them. Once the Vref was set properly they run the motors quietly and don't generate too much heat. They've never gone into thermal shutdown and havent given me any other problems. I see no reason not to upgrade to these.

DRV8880:
I just read about these on the internet today. They seem really interesting. To be completely honest, though, I'm not entirely sure what they do. I saw the term "auto-magicStuff" and figured they must be pretty fancy. Does anyone have any experience with these? I think they're new to the market. If nobody here has tried them on their printer, what would be the advantages/disadvantages to using them?

Lastly I'd like to talk about mixing stepper drivers. I ran either all A4988 or all DRV8825. I've seen some people use certain drivers for certain motors. Why? Why not?

I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences here. Happy printing!

2 Reply by heartless

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Re: Stepper Driver Discussion

i am a "mixer" - run 4988s on X, Y, & Z at the standard 1/16th microstepping, and an 8825 set to 1/32nd microstepping on E for the resolution - pretty much eliminates any moire caused by motor pulsing.
The main axis' don't really need 1/32nd microstepping...

at this point i know nothing about the 8880 - time to do a bit of research?

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

3 Reply by ebarton97

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Re: Stepper Driver Discussion

heartless wrote:

i am a "mixer" - run 4988s on X, Y, & Z at the standard 1/16th microstepping, and an 8825 set to 1/32nd microstepping on E for the resolution - pretty much eliminates any moire caused by motor pulsing.

That's a good idea. What changes did you make to run the extruder at 1/32 other than steps/mm. Did you have to slow it down? Does it generate more heat? Does it handle retraction better or worse?

4 Reply by heartless

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Re: Stepper Driver Discussion

other than the steps/mm (basically doubled from 1/16th) i haven't had to make any other changes. I think the motor actually runs a little cooler, but that could simply be a placebo effect...
Speed remained the same, retraction works fine - but that is one of those fine tuning things & every material is little different.

After upgrading to E3D v6 hotends, i was having a hard time eliminating moire with the 4988 steppers, i could reduce it, but not eliminate it. the 8825 allowed me to tune it completely away.

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

5 Reply by AZERATE

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Re: Stepper Driver Discussion

heartless wrote:

After upgrading to E3D v6 hotends, i was having a hard time eliminating moire with the 4988 steppers, i could reduce it, but not eliminate it. the 8825 allowed me to tune it completely away.

Heartless has it, as always! When using an all metal hotend, moire is far more prevalent, which requires a higher steps/mm to really obliterate it.
The higher the steps/mm, the higher the resolution. That's why (for many reasons) some users upgrade to the E3D Hobb Goblin, .9 motors, Bulldog XL, DRV8825, and E3D Titan. I've done all of the above, and every mod has a pro and con. The important thing it to know what the cons are and how to combat them.
The 8825 will require a heatsink on the driver chip, active cooling, or a combination of both. Once you get into pushing maximum printing speeds, 1/16 is the way to go, or so I am told.

I run med-high speeds, so pushing drivers is not something I am an expert at. But retraction shouldn't be effected by the driver, but by settings, and firmware primarily, but the material type and heat/cooling will play a factor.

Printit Mason and Printit Horizon printers
Multiple SD2s- Bulldog XL, E3D v5/v6/Lite6, Volcano, Hobb Goblin, Titan, .9 motor, Lawsy carriages, direct Y drive, fishing line...the list goes on
Filawinder and Filastruder #1870.....worth every penny!

6 Reply by heartless

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Re: Stepper Driver Discussion

Thanks for adding more info, Azerate! smile I still have a lot to learn about the technical aspects, but I have figured out what works/doesn't work for me...

I am no speed printer, either.. yes, i did bump it up a little from stock, but not by much - i am more interested in the quality of the print, not how fast I can churn it out. 

keeping the electronics cool is a definite must... most steppers will come with a heat-sink, but a good fan blowing air over them is essential to keeping things happy and working well.

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

7 Reply by IronMan

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Re: Stepper Driver Discussion

Great stuff, folks!

To outline further:

Example - A stock Solidoodle comes with a 1/16 Stepper Driver and a relatively standard drive gear for the extruder. 
The driving pitch diameter of a Hobb Goblin is just a tad over 1/2 the diameter of the standard drive gear, so switching to a HG and doing nothing else effectively gives you the equivalent to a 1/32 step situation.
Adding a 0.9 motor (from the standard 1.8) to the equation now halves that again, so now you are at the equivalent of 1/64th stepping...all while keeping your 1/16 driver.

Also, the HG's smaller diameter also requires a less torquey motor, meaning a half-stack will do fine while reducing the carriage mass substantially; allowing for faster printing.

SD2 - Stock - Enclosure - Heated Bed - Glass Plate - Auto Fire Extinguisher
Ord Bot Hadron - RAMPS 1.4 - Bulldog XL - E3D v6 - 10" x 10" PCB Heated Build w/SSR - Glass Plate
Thanks for All of Your Help!