Cheap closed-loop drivers. Am I asking for trouble?

[terbospaghetti]

I have a pair of these https://www.biqu.equipment/products/big ... ter-parts stepper driver boards in a drawer, and a lathe build that could use them. I'm not confident enough to just start hooking em up though, so I thought I would see if there were any answers to be had here

My novice mind can't come up with a reason they wouldn't work as long as I run within the given 3.3A max current limit for the boards, but I'm looking for you fine folks to tell me why I'm wrong about that haha. Should I be reading that as sort of a peak current, given that it lists 1600mA as the "default" operating current?

Assuming that they're worth trying, I'm a little stuck finding the best wiring diagram to base things from. I won't have a Drive-ok pin so I'm not sure if I need to simulate that somehow or it can be forgone.

Any guidance is appreciated!

And merry Christmas!

[suntravel]

Hi, they are expensive, not cheap.

For 108$ you can have bigger and faster ones from Stepperonline, sealed, with wiring and powersupply.

https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/close ... cable.html

Uwe

[terbospaghetti]

Hm.

That was not an answer to any question that I asked, but thanks for googling something for me.

I have these already, as I stated in the first post. Free is as cheap as it gets. If you mean they're expensive because they're going to break, you could have at least offered a crumb of evidence to support that

[suntravel]

ok. on a late you must build some enclosure for the board on the stepper.

I would connect them to the DB25 with a breakoutboard like any other stepper.

For the powersupply, I would ask the seller what is recommended.

Without drive ok signal, would not let them run unattended

Uwe

[Sword]

They're designed mainly for 3D printers. Not sure what kind of torque specs you would get out of them, they are likely set to run in "Stealth Chop" mode to make them quiet. Is it a mini lathe?

Hey, they must be good for you, they're "Lower Calorific"!

[tblough]

I think if you are having to ask the question if they will be trouble, they probably will be. If this is your first attempt at CNC, there will be enough hurdles to jump without adding in questionable drives and steppers.

Go with something that has been sucessfully used AND DOCUMENTED to work with Acorn and you'll be much happier and will end up with a running machine much quicker.

[terbospaghetti]

They're designed mainly for 3D printers. Not sure what kind of torque specs you would get out of them, they are likely set to run in "Stealth Chop" mode to make them quiet. Is it a mini lathe?

Hey, they must be good for you, they're "Lower Calorific"!

Yeah, it's an 8 inch swing mini lathe. That 3300mA number is barely shy of the maximum current rating for a gecko g540, so I feel like the torque wouldn't be tooooo far off. And they're configurable for different modes, so stealthchop isn't necessarily a problem

[Greg]

I think if you are having to ask the question if they will be trouble, they probably will be. If this is your first attempt at CNC, there will be enough hurdles to jump without adding in questionable drives and steppers.

Go with something that has been sucessfully used AND DOCUMENTED to work with Acorn and you'll be much happier and will end up with a running machine much quicker.

I agree with everything Tom said.

Do you want the lathe to work properly and start making parts with as little time and hassle as possible? OR is the lathe itself the project? I know some people do conversions as a hobby and like to tinker with it. Others want to get it done and start making stuff as soon as possible. What's your goal?

[terbospaghetti]

No, I want to experiment with it and learn things that aren't already written down somewhere. It's real hard to get a straight answer around here...

[ShawnM]

You want a straight answer? Here ya go, those are junk, you ARE asking for trouble, trouble shooting that is. Spend your time on something that is actually worthwhile. Those are for 3D printers not a lathe where you’ll actually need some actual power and torque from the motor. When you start to have issues with those, and you will, you’ll pretty much be on your own because no one building a lathe that actually wants to cut something or make parts would ever use those drivers.

If you just want to learn something, by all means use them. If you want to build a machine that you can actually use, toss them in the trash and buy proper drivers.

Is that a straight enough answer for you?