PIC Current Limiter

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Revision as of 11:23, 12 November 2008 by 195.11.86.82 (talk) (New page: == Adding Current Limiters to the PIC/Generation 1 Electronics == The PIC/Generation 1 electronics do not have any form of current limitting. They rely on the stepper motors resistance to...)
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Adding Current Limiters to the PIC/Generation 1 Electronics

The PIC/Generation 1 electronics do not have any form of current limitting. They rely on the stepper motors resistance to keep the current below 2 Amps at 12 Volts.

V = IR (V = voltage, I = current, R = resistance)

R = V/I

If V = 12 and I = 2 then R = 6 Ohms

Stepper motors with a resistance of 6 Ohms and up will work with the PIC/Generation 1 electronics with no modifications.

Unfortunatly the more commonly available Steppers of the size used in RepRap have much lower resistances. e.g. The current BitsFromBytes supplied Steppers have a resistance of XXXX.

Current limiting can be added to the PIC/Generation 1 electronics via a few modifications to the existing board and the creation of a daughter board.

Creating the daughter board

Modifying the main board

Testing

Schematic