Fysetc TMC 2130 v1.0 in standalone/stealthchop mode on RAMPS 1.4?

Hi all,

Just a simple question really.

I've built my 3D printer with A4988 drivers on a RAMPS 1.4 board but would like to make my X and Y axes a little quieter, so I spotted some v1.0 Fysetc TMC 2130 drivers on a well known auction site and bought them. I've read and re-read Instructables, tutorials and datasheets and am struggling to comprehend what it is I need to do to get these working in Stealthchop mode.

Some posts and tutorials say remove all the jumpers (MS1 --> MS3) on the RAMPS, others say leave them in.

Looking at the datasheet, it says CFG1 and CFG2 need to be open for 1/16 Stealthchop, so would I be right in thinking I should just cut the SDI (CFG1) and SCK (CFG2) pins from the driver and I'm done? I guess if I cut the pins, then the jumper positions make no difference?

Cheers

Joe

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2018 08:03AM by JoeK1973.

Are you mixing up TMC2100 and TMC2130 infos? AFAIK the 2130 is configured by SPI and the 2100 relies on cfg pin config.

My experience with TMC2100 is: stealthchop isn't suited for 3d printing, better use spreadcycle. It's still way more silent than A4988 ( 24V PSU recommended )

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o_lampe
Are you mixing up TMC2100 and TMC2130 infos? AFAIK the 2130 is configured by SPI and the 2100 relies on cfg pin config.

I'm fairly sure the TMC 2130 is able to be set this way. The datasheet and schematic seem to point towards this being possible.

The v1.0 Fysetc driver has the SPI 'bridge' closed with a blob of solder which according to the docs would appear to suggest it's already in standalone, I'm just wondering whether I need to cut the pins and whether keeping/removing the jumpers on the RAMPS board has any influence on selecting Stealthchop mode.

Sorry if these are silly questions, it's all very new to me still!

Just for information for anyone who's thinking of doing something similar, I installed one of the drivers in the Y axis on my RAMPS yesterday.

I desoldered the CFG 0, 1, 2, and 3 pins (SDO, SDI, SCK, & CS) and placed them facing up in case I want to try SpreadCycle in the future. With CFG 1 & CFG 2 in the 'Open' state, I think I've got it in StealthChop mode now.

In Marlin, in config.h I inverted INVERT_Y_DIR in and set DEFAULT_X_JERK and DEFAULT_Y_JERK to 5 (as Banana_Luke did in a previous thread). In config_adv.h I set HAVE_TMC2130 and Y_IS_TMC2130. '#define STEALTHCHOP' was already uncommented, and I left Y_CURRENT at 1000.

Anyway, plugged it in (remembering to have the pot facing towards the polyfuses rather than away) without the stepper motor connected and set vRef (initially 1.1v). Then I connected the motor and got a 'driver overtemperature' warning. Turned the vRef down to 0.8v to get rid of this. Then did a calibration print. No steps per mm change required. Also printed a small toy plane, and the 3D Benchy boat, no skipped steps to report!

Way quieter in operation than the A4988, I didn't think my X-carriage was particularly noisy before now, but having got this installed, I'm not stopping there. I might try the TMC2208 now just out of interest to see how the installation differs and whether Stealthchop2 is any better? I kind of have a feeling it won't be any better for my current needs but may come in handy if I decide to build a different/better machine at some point in the future. Fun to experiment though!

Interesting, that the Vref potmeter still has a meaning, although you've set the current by SPI in FW. I guess SPI wasn't connected?

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o_lampe
Interesting, that the Vref potmeter still has a meaning, although you've set the current by SPI in FW. I guess SPI wasn't connected?

You know, I don't think setting the current in Marlin has any effect when it's installed like mine (CFG0 > CFG3 disconnected and not wired to SPI pins on RAMPS). The main thing for me is that it has achieved what I wanted, which is a much quieter Y axis.

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JoeK1973
Anyway, plugged it in ... without the stepper motor connected and set vRef (initially 1.1v). Then I connected the motor and got a 'driver overtemperature' warning.

How did you get the overtemperature warning without SPI? Are you sure it wasn't just noise on the wire?

It seems like if you're running them in standalone mode, you shouldn't set the TMC flags in Marlin, because there's no way to receive feedback or anything. It should just treat them as drv8825s, or a4998s (except maybe some of the new timing stuff could be better tuned).

Also, thank you for this information, I was able to get mt TMC2130s that used to be in Marlin hooked up to a grbl control board (which is Grbl_ESP32 based and doesn't have the SPI/TMC2130 stuff in it).