What's the difference between the stepper driver for Reprap and Sparkfun's EasyDriver? Is it just the way the wires connect to the board, or is there something more? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,31429#msg-31429 Thu, 05 Mar 2026 13:01:52 -0500 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,39068#msg-39068 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,39068#msg-39068 objects.reprap.org]]]> nophead Controllers Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:44:11 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,39060#msg-39060 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,39060#msg-39060
Maybe when I'm to the point of actually building my Mendel, someone will have created a tutorial on how to use them for the Mendel? The are a lot cheaper then MakerBots price of $35 a piece.

I guess I could always buy them and learn to play with them before that time.

Next issue - what to do about the printed parts. I need to come up with an inexpensive solution until I can print out my own.]]> sasharp65 Controllers Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:32:38 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38997#msg-38997 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38997#msg-38997 -------------------------------------------------------
> I'm very new to all of this without much previous
> experience in electronics, stepper motors, etc.
>
> I've been waiting for Makerbot to get electronics
> back in stock but came across the EasyDriver.
>
> EasyDriver
>
> Has anyone used or planning on using EasyDriver?
> With my limited knowledge I don't want to stray
> too far away from the path.

i am going to use teh pololu one here is a link, it has allot of good things going for it.

A3983
[www.pololu.com]

i think there are a few people here using it. and it is not too pricey too]]> dissidence Controllers Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:24:16 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38995#msg-38995 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38995#msg-38995
I've been waiting for Makerbot to get electronics back in stock but came across the EasyDriver.

EasyDriver

Has anyone used or planning on using EasyDriver? With my limited knowledge I don't want to stray too far away from the path.]]> sasharp65 Controllers Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:56:47 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38863#msg-38863 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38863#msg-38863
I'm planning to plug my extruder directly into my main board, my '168-based arduino has enough I/O to drive the whole reprap. I even have a spare pin for something, currently I have a second mosfet hooked up. I used the IRL3803 which can handle 7A with no heatsink, so 2A should barely warm it up]]> Triffid_Hunter Controllers Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:12:25 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38574#msg-38574 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38574#msg-38574 2. No you still need a MOSFET to switch the heater and a resistor and cap for the thermistor input.
3. That is what Adrian has done here: [blog.reprap.org]]]> nophead Controllers Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:12:22 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38548#msg-38548 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,38548#msg-38548 I am in the process of completing my stepper v2.3 driver boards, and came across the recent posts for pololu electronics.
I have a few questions related to the pololu product offering:
1. Will the pololu stepper-boards inter-operate with the Sanguino Gen3 board?
2. Is it correct to say that the extruder board is also completely replaced with one of these boards? I have had issues with sourcing all relevant components for the extruder, especially the dmos full-bridge motor driver and mosfets. The pololu offering seems like a reasonable alternative (provided they ship to South Africa ):S
3. The ideal configuration would be that I can use existing sanguino motherboard h/w and s/w and connect pololu boards w/ modified headers. Is this a reasonable expectation, or fantasy?:(

Thankyou, in advance.
Marius Botha
Pretoria, South Africa
[mariushermanbotha.wordpress.com]]]> BalanceSeeker Controllers Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:01:08 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33342#msg-33342 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33342#msg-33342
the heatsink gets burning hot when running near maximum current, which tells me 2 things: the chip is effectively transferring heat from its top surface, and the heatsink could be larger.

I've considered drilling out the bottom of the board and adding a copper slug or something, but I'm really not sure that the hassle is worth the gains.

I've also considered soldering a bunch of thin copper wire hairs to the bottom where the thermal vias come through. Pololu did add them, but there's just not enough board space for effective cooling.]]> Triffid_Hunter Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:20:33 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33332#msg-33332 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33332#msg-33332 dissidence Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:31:44 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33331#msg-33331 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33331#msg-33331
You mentioned putting a heatsink on the Pololu board on my "drive by" thread as well. Since you have experience with this board, how do you mount a heatsink on it? According to the chip datasheet there is a thermal/groundplane on the bottom, and they recommend holes underneath the chip to vent it.

Generally I would expect putting a heatsink on top, over the plastic case to be only minimally useful, but perhaps with the small size it will help enough to make a difference ... you tell me. Otherwise does the Pololu have the bottom drilled beneath the chip with a large enough hole to bond some kind or radiator to it?

Thanks yet again!

-- TWZ]]> ColonelZen Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:28:37 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33328#msg-33328 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33328#msg-33328
The pololu board is advertised some places as a "breakout board" ... and that's pretty much what it is; it houses the chip and minimal necessary support components and otherwise just provides a .1 inch pad spacing for the chip signals. It's probably not much, if any different than the suggested board on the datasheet.

-- TWZ]]> ColonelZen Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:16:25 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33301#msg-33301 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33301#msg-33301
the opto endstop connectors are just pass-through, nothing to do with driving the steppers at all]]> Triffid_Hunter Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:39:45 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33294#msg-33294 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33294#msg-33294 dissidence Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:01:39 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33203#msg-33203 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33203#msg-33203 Triffid_Hunter Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:29:01 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33194#msg-33194 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,33194#msg-33194 -------------------------------------------------------
> sparkfun easydriver only does 750mA which may or
> may not be enough. It uses the allegro A3967,
> whereas the reprap drivers use the allegro A3949.
> I have ordered the A4983 carrier boards from
> pololu for my reprap, as the A4983 is far superior
> to the others on a number of fronts.

forgive me for asking from what i have read that is a far better chip are there any diagrams on how to make a board for it, or could a person just replace the one on the spark fun one with that one.?]]> dissidence Controllers Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:20:10 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,31464#msg-31464 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,31464#msg-31464 kitep Controllers Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:56:54 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,31434#msg-31434 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,31434#msg-31434 Triffid_Hunter Controllers Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:00:57 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,31429#msg-31429 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?13,31429,31429#msg-31429 kitep Controllers Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:53:01 -0500