Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

I’m reconfiguring my current DYI plasma cutter with the Centroid components as shown on their web
site.

I'm planning on using my existing Stepper Online DM542T stepper drivers (at 24VDC) and would like any info on how they perform with the Centroid components. I'd like to use then to save on cost. My plan is to wire them as shown in schematic R15033.r2. It's a different model number but the configuration seems to be the same. Any comments?

My assumption is that the 24V/5V power supplied is adequate to power the Acorn board, 4 DM542T stepper drivers and the relay board. Am I correct in this assumption? I have a separate 24 VDC power supply for the motor power and it looks like the RX and TX boards have their own 24 VDC power supply.

Are there any schematics that describe the physical characteristics of the 3 boards (dimensions, mounting hole placement, etc.)? Everything is on order, but I’d like to get a head start on the layout.

Any help would be appreciated,

Tom

Hi Tom and welcome.

The DM542 drive works just great with the Acorn. You need a DB25 breakout board to wire them to the Acorn. Do not wire them to the headers, do not use the schematic you mention. Wire those drives per schematic S14976. I had 3 of the DM542 drives on a router and no issues ever. The DM542T is the newer version.

On that note, you might want to think about getting a 48 volt power supply for your stepper motors. Those drives work up to 50 volts. You will get more torque and speed from the motors. You may not need the torque if it's a lightweight machine but speed you'll want for plasma.

It is recommended to use the Acorn power supply for the Acorn only. This includes the plasma RX board and the relay module, that's it. Use a separate 5V power supply for your stepper drive logic power. And your 24 volts (or 50v if you upgrade) for the drive power. And yes the plasma TX board has it's own power supply. Make sure you tie the negative or common of both the Acorn power supply and the stepper drive power supply together. DO NOT tie in the ground or common of the TX power supply to any other power supply. Leave it separate.

All the dimensions of the boards can be found in the plasma manual at the end. Here's a link:

https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_di ... manual.pdf

Hope this helps and let us know if you have more questions.

Hi Shawn,

Thanks for the reply.

What you said makes sense. Do you have any idea of the current draw for the DM542Ts so I can properly size the 5VDC supply? Also, you recommend not tying the ground of the (24V or 48V) motor power supply to the Acorn 24/5V and logic 5V together. Is that right?

Thanks again,

Tom

Hi Tom,

The 5v logic supply for the drives can easily just be 1-2 amps, it requires very little for the logic circuit. I've seen many people run them off the Acorn 5V - 2.2A power and you can certainly do this, it's just recommended to use a separate one. You can connect the negative or common on the motor power supply to the others. Just keep the TX power supply separate.