MKS SBASE V1.3 change Stepper Drivers

Hello guys,
i am planning on building a Hypercube EVO.
I want to use a 32 Bit Board with TMC2100 for at least X- and Y.

I found The MKS SBASE v1.3 for really good prices (a smoothieboard clone: [de.aliexpress.com])
It comes with preinstalled DRV8825 drivers but as i said i want to use TMC drivers.


Is there a way to run them anyway?
I noticed a 4 Pin Output on the board in front of every driver, is this to attach another Stepper driver?
If not, is it possible to unsolder the installed drivers and solder TMCs?
When i do that, can i only switch the X- and Y drivers to TMC or do i have to change them all?

I also found the AZSMZ ARM pretty cheap, is this board good (maybe better?) and can it be used with the TMCs? (https://de.aliexpress.com/item/New-Version-AZSMZ-32bit-ARM-based-controller-3D-printers-CNC-Machines-Laser-cutters-Like-Azteeg-x5/32421892934.html)



I tried to google for a long time but did not find anything at all. I hope some of you can help me.

Huge thanks in advance!

Greetings,
Florian

Possibly out of your price range, but have you considered the Duet WiFi or Duet Ethernet, both of which have built-in TMC2660 drivers? [www.duet3d.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2017 02:52AM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Yeah i have considered them but as you say, pretty much out of my price range. I'd rather not use the TMCs as pay 100+€

You can buy external drivers, that are much better than the TMC2100 and connect them to the output pin header.
Or you buy a RADDS and simply plug the TMC drivers in the sockets.

Which external drivers are better than TMC2100 ?

Thanks
Lukas

TMC2100 drivers are excellent in many respects (e.g. high microstepping and microstep interpolation), but the maximum current they can handle is lower than for many other drivers. That's why we chose the TMC2660 for the Duets rather than the TMC2130 (which is essentially a TMC2100 with SPI interface). Also the cooling of the driver chips is inadequate on all plug-in stepper driver modules, because there is far too little PCB area - hence you won't achieve the theoretical maximum current of any driver chip if you use it in the form of a plug-in module.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

A proper heatsink with TIM should help greatly with the thermal capacity in place of the lack of pcb.

I would actually prefer that as a means of dissipating heat as relying on the pcb alone means that heat can spread to other components on the board which over time can cause erratic issues. Not to mention that it is still a passive cooling solution.

Now a combination of both would be the better solution. I do view the loss of modularity as a potential drawback however as it's nice to have the option to upgrade potions of my hardware.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2017 04:03PM by obelisk79.

The problem with using a heatsink and very little PCB area is getting the heat out of the chip and into the heatsink. Whereas a 4-layer PCB with 2oz copper on top and bottom can be very effective at removing the heat from the chip if designed properly, and a fan used to help remove the heat from the PCB if convention alone isn't sufficient.

Modularity of drivers is useful if you have very basic drivers to begin with, but not needed if the controller board has good drivers in the first place.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

There was a time when 4988's were the driver of choice, then 8825's and then TMC2100s. Times change, being able to adapt your hardware at relatively low cost has merit. Your approach does too. Neither is the clear best solution.

Placing the heatsink directly on the chip or underside of the pcb will absorb heat, the increased surface area with a fan could also compensate for lack of convection. Again, both approaches have merit and can be deemed effective if planned accordingly.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2017 10:06PM by obelisk79.

Placing a heatsink on top of the chip does seem to help, however the plastic top of the chip does not conduct heat very well. With the exception of the chips used in RAPS128 drivers, all these chips have a metal slug on the bottom, intended to transfer heat to the PCB. So if you are stuck with insufficient PCB area, it's probably better to use thermal vias to transfer the heat to the other side of the PCB and put the heatsink there. This requires the plug-in driver module to be designed with the driver chip on the underside. I have seen some DRV8125 and TMC2208 plug-in drivers that are designed this way.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Short answer is yes you can use those 4 pin connectors to connect an external stepper motor driver.

Quote
marm496
Short answer is yes you can use those 4 pin connectors to connect an external stepper motor driver.

Well thank you for saving that derail!

Now if one were to get themselves some TMC2130 drivers and they had the MKS SBASE v1.3 board, what would be the best way to connect to those 4pin headers?
Also...Being on a cartesian printer, and only one output for two z motors, how is that hooked up?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2018 07:49PM by Hedobum.