Disgruntled SMD V2.3 purchase from makerbot

I thought I would voice my concern on this forum as it appears im about to eat money on a purchase I made from Makerbot.

Im making the McWire cartesian robot. My electronics are as follows:
1X Arduino Duemilinova
3X Opto Endstop 1.2
3X SMD V1.2
3X Keling 24H51 Stepper motors

The problem I had was I broke one of my stepper motor driver 1.2's and needed a replacement. I contacted makerbot and asked if the 2.3 was compatible with the 1.2 and could be driven from an arduino instead of the reprap motherboard. I was ensured by Isaac that in so many words "Yes". I ordered the SMD 2.3 from makerbot along with 3X more opto endstop kits. The board arrived and I plugged all the previously used wires into the board.

The board's power LED lit up, but when I sent steps to it from ReplicatorG it did not light up its activity LED's. I double checked the stepper motor wiring, the arduino wiring, and the cabling. All the wiring and cabling was correct. I even pulled the plugs from existing "working" steppers on the Z and the Y axis and plugged them into the 2.3 board and recieved the same results...No steps, no activity led's

I checked the forum on the 2.3 build and looked to see if it had some strange requirement in terms of firmware or wiring, I found no such evidence.
This is the email chain that Ive had with Isaac from makerbot concerning this matter:

Quote
charles
Hi Isaac,

I just recieved my order from makerbot last night. I Plugged in the stepper motor driver v2.3 into my system (I have the Mcwire Cartesian Robot repstrap) and it powered up, but didnt seem to take any inputs. I tried switching the different cables in and out thinking it was the cables, but they all work in the stepper motor driver v1.2 boards that are currently on the system. I read the documentation online and followed the "test your electronics" and I did not get any activity LED's when I sent steps to the controller from the Arduino.

I have two theories 1.) This driver is not compatible WITHOUT the reprap motherboard, or 2.) It is DOA. Any thoughts on this would greatly be appreciated. Thanks again


Charles

Quote
Isaac
Hi Charles,


I am going to pass on your email to one of our engineers here, who may be able to comment on the situation with greater aplomb. One question, you are seeing evidence of the Stepper Motor Drivers powering on, ie, the four LEDs on each board light if the axis are moved manually? Do you get any feedback at all?


Best,

Isaac Dietz
MakerBot Industries

Quote
charles
Any word on this?

Quote
Isaac
Chuck,


Perhaps there is some documentation available in the McWire community regarding adding the Stepper Motor Driver to your Mcwire Cartesian Robot repstrap? We can't support your issue here because of the custom nature of your machine. Sorry.


Best,

Isaac Dietz
MakerBot Industries

Not sure what the deal is but im feeling like im about to get hosed.

Thanks,
Charles

Check the enable signal is present. I have a vague feeling that might have been different between versions. Apart from that they should be compatible.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Hi Charles

On the 1.2 boards the enable signal is tied high, on the 2.3 boards it is an active low signal.

Which actually makes sense, I.E. Broken wire brings everything to a stop.

Ok, this all makes sense to me. Now im not using the enable signal on any of my other boards....but how do i check and fix the signal to high? Do i apply voltage to pin 5 of the idc connector? Thanks all for the help troubleshooting

Chuck

As freds said, it is active low on 2.3 so you need to tie it to ground to enable it.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Awesome!!! Tied it to ground and it worked!! Thanks everyone for the help


Chuck

Hey Chuck

Since we solved your problem, how about re-editing your orginal post title, adding the word fixed or no longer disgruntled?

Given your mixed enviorment and being a beginner at this it easy to understand the communication problems.