4th Axis Control Board for CNC Shark pro plus

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sinardet
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:55 am
Location: Perth Australia

4th Axis Control Board for CNC Shark pro plus

Post by sinardet »

Hi everyone,
i've got CNC shark Pro plus and I wondering if I can use 2 stepper motor ( NEMA 23 ) with one driver, link below:
https://www.rockler.com/4th-axis-contro ... -cnc-shark.
I would lke to know features about the chip on that driver board but I didn't find anything about it.
many thanks for you help :roll:

Rando
Posts: 757
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Location: Boise, ID
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Re: 4th Axis Control Board for CNC Shark pro plus

Post by Rando »

Sinardet :

That appears to be a standard single-channel driver board for the Shark controller. The board has four sockets, of which three are already populated. That one goes in the forth connector, and then the DB9 at the back becomes active with signals for it. The motors are indeed NEMA 23, but be sure the drive current (adjustable on the board, IIRC) is sufficient to achieve the torque you're trying to get from it.

Are you trying to use it outside the shark? Or are you trying to duplicate the y-axis drive motors for both sides?

If you're actually trying to drive two NEMA 230 280 oz-in motors with the exact same stepper commands, you'd be better off using a separate driver board for each motor.

I say this based on the fact that some people have experienced temporary driver board "failure" during a run due to heat. From what I remember, the drivers came back when cooled, but the wasted part did not :( . So, driving two motors of the same torque would make that happen a LOT faster. Also, IIRC, the boards were set pretty close to their maximum drive current.

So, use two boards, and parallel their inputs, and supply the outputs to the motors separately. If you are PCB-modification savvy (e.g., you know what an x-acto knife is used for in that context....), you could parallel the logic signals from one driver board to the inputs of that fourth board's connector (which you previously disconnected). There's typically only three: Enable, Step and Direction, besides logic power, driver power, logic ground and driver ground.

If you're planning to use a drive motor different from the one already in the machine, note that tuning the driver electronics properly can be a little tricky. But, thankfully there's only one knob. So, set it high enough you don't lose steps and have enough torque, but not so high that the motor gets hotter and hotter during use. It should get warm, into the low 100's F, but not anywhere near 200F. If it does, back the current setting back.

Hope that helps, reply back to continue, if there's more to your need than I'm seeing.

Regards,

Rando
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sinardet
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:55 am
Location: Perth Australia

Re: 4th Axis Control Board for CNC Shark pro plus

Post by sinardet »

Hi Rando,

Hi Rando,

At first, thank you for your answer.

" Are you trying to duplicate the y-axis drive motors for both sides? "
Yep I would like to duplicate Y Axis to get an accurate move better than just one spot in the middle of the gantry.

" If you're actually trying to drive two NEMA 230 280 oz-in motors with the exact same stepper commands, you'd be better off using a separate driver board for each motor "
Yes I think it's the best way to get it but I don't know anything about features of driver board and wiring. Could you give some details about it?
I've got electronic's knowledge with Arduino board and know to to drive steppers motors but without schematic of the controler's motherboard, I'm not really confident to do the right wiring.
I don't want to distroy my motherboard

I will buy the same stepper motor to be sure to get someting equal.
Thanks for your help and if you are already done something like that , could you give all advices to do it.
Many thanks
Regards
JL

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