Hello, I’m at the “Wiring the Steppers” step in my build (the forum software won’t let me post the link).
First, my stepper motor wires don’t even seem to be long enough to reach from the further away steppers to the board. I found extension cables in the store but am confused why those aren’t included by default. Do I need to go back and order these. If so, it would be helpful to include those in the build kit since apparently everyone would need those.
Second, and more importantly, The wording and diagram in the “Wiring the Steppers” post are confusing (to me). It’s juxtaposing series, parallel, and dual end stop wiring in the instructions and I am very new to this. I’ve finished the mechanical build but don’t know much about the control circuitry. Can someone please clarify if I need to buy (or make) some sort of additional series wiring harness (as a “series wiring kit” is mentioned but not linked).
Or can just go ahead and plug all 5 steppers directly into the Rambo board without blowing anything up? I’m really confused as to what constitutes a series vs parallel vs dual endstop setup and I have no experience or context to draw on for which is which. I’ve read a lot on the forum and otherwise but am still unclear what I need to do next.
I’m a super noob but I’ve tried to find the answers for myself without clarity, so thank you for any help you can offer.
For a standard size MPCNC build the included 5 wires and the steppers should pair together to reach one corner of the machine with plenty to spare. This is not a issue we hear about.
What size is your build, how did you route the wires.
It would be best to include a picture of your build.
Don’t worry about it. Just ask your questions, we are not search sticklers. I have been revamping the instructions slowly over the last month or so and phasing some things out. I hope to clear these issues up so the next person doesn’t hit the same snag. Your questions are important so I know where the issues are.
Thanks Ryan! You are fast on the draw. I appreciate the details and will give it a go.
As far as the wire length, I’ve attached a photo. I also need to provide some detail. I bought this Burly parts kit from you in March 2020 and partially built it and am only now getting to finish it, LOL. So it’s possible that these older steppers have shorter wires? They are no more than 30 inches long, as you can see from the photo. All 5 are the same.
Please let me know what you think I need to order to complete this wiring setup. It sounds like I only need the extensions and nothing else? I did also get 4 limit switches and wires when I ordered this initially. Is there some other wiring harness (or raw wire) that I should order to make all that work with this.
Just a clarifying question: Is the “size” you mentioned the dimension of the board you have the machine installed on, or the work area of the finished machine?
I’ve not built a Burly, but I did build a Primo and a working area of 30x26 is fairly large for a Primo. My work area was actually larger (36x24) to start with, but I shrunk it down in the second iteration (23.6x18.1) and after I finish my LR3 I expect to make it even smaller. I’m thinking 18x20 or maybe even a little smaller.
Thanks Ryan, I don’t seem to have gotten those extension wires with the kit. I don’t see them pictured in the current parts kit either, so I’m not sure where they are included. Could you please point me to the wire set I need to buy to make the build work (your reference to the 1.5 meter series wires)?
As far as the limit switches, I got those in March 2020, so should I not be using them, based on your note? They look identical to the ones on your site here: Limit Switch, Endstop – V1 Engineering Inc
Sorry to be dense, but do I need to not use the ones I have, and if so, what is the alternative. Just want to make sure I’m doing this correctly.
Thanks, I think I have almost enough info and hope to stop with the 20 questions soon enough .
Regards,
Matt
Thanks Robert! Ordering away shortly. Appreciate the help from everyone.
In the meantime I’m just going to get the steppers temporarily wired up with the short wires just to test the connections, software, and gantry movement.
If you are sure they did not come with your kit, and they were not just misplaced over all this time. I will replace them. I have 1 set of series wires here (I think). If you have a 5 stepper board rambo or Ramps, it will work individually but you will need to update the firmware.
I’m pretty certain that I didn’t lose them since I hadn’t opened the electronics parts packages until this week, but who knows?
Please don’t concern yourself with sending me new wires. I’ll order them from you.
The amount of support you’ve already given me in forum is already worth more than my cost to order another set.
That time savings is way more valuable and I appreciate it!
On another note, here is a photo of the Rambo board.
Sorry, I didn’t understand what you mean by “If you have a 5 stepper board rambo or Ramps, it will work individually”. Could clarify what you mean by that and what that means for me to do?
This should almost be the end of this topic! I appreciate all the help.
Thank you!
You have X, Y, Z, E0 and E1, so this might be a 5 driver board. So you don’t need to put them in serial (so 1 driver for 2 steppers) but connect 1 driver to 1 stepper each. Then you don’t need serial wiring.
The homepage says: Major Features - 5 x integrated 1/16th microstep motor drivers.
So I guess I might be right.
I appreciate the clarification! This corner of technology is still pretty new to me.
So it sounds like I’m good to at least start testing. I’ll get out of the analysis paralysis loop now, order some wires, and just do some proof of concept wiring and testing of the movement in the meantime. Thanks for your help!
Yeah, just get it going. In Germany there is a Youtuber that used the OpenCNC Shield back in the days that works directly with Estlcam and I never even thought about there being another board because I didn’t know the forum yet. So my build was kinda wild. I bought a board from Arduinoclub which does not feature the little drivers and asked him where they’d go and stuff like that. Like, totally green. Or whether I could add endstops for the three driver board, not knowing that Estlcam only supports three drivers out of the box (I only learned that three weaks ago when shopping for the LR3…). So there is lots to learn but also lots of fun things to discover. It’s a great yourney and experience.
I’m not sure which firmware to get. I am comfortable with Arduino/electronics but not sure which firmware to use? I’ll peruse the docs on this site, but is there a specific github repo or other site to grab the correct firmware from. I’m guessing that the Rambo board has many different flavors of firmware to choose from.
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