Delagrange motor drivers?

[phantomcow2]

Im looking around at stepper drivers and came across this driver board from Delagrange Technologies.
http://dtllc.com/4xcnc10b.html
It claims 10amps, considering my motors are barely pushing 2 amps...that might work for me.
Does anybody have any comments regarding this board?
And say I was going to get it...besides 3 motors, cable, a computer, and wire, what else would I need to have it all going? I have a 28V 15A power supply so i assume i would need to find some way to reduce that to 5v.
Thanks

[H500]

Drive aint no not good. You will need to buy at least six 50+ watt resistors, costing about $10 each. And it don't do microstepping. For the price, look at hobbycnc or xylotex.

[philba]

It drives unipolar motors, not bipolar. Make sure you have unipolar motors.

I can't tell but it doesn't look like its a chopping driver.

No isolation on the inputs.

[phantomcow2]

I've already got unipolar motors.
I have a hobbyCNC board. BUt i feel like tI can never get it working right, something is always wrong. I dont blame the board, it seems to get pretty good reviews. BUt i want to try something new so i may end up selling this board and throwing in 2 driver chips.
I see it only does up to 1/2, 1/2 gave pretty bad vibration. I found better results with 1/8
Thats a good point you bring up about the resistors, i had no idea of their cost. Well, I will see...

What about something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Linistepper-Step...QQcmdZViewItem

[H500]

The linstepper's main disadvantage is that the drive will produce a LOT of heat, so you will need a large heat sink and a fan.

The hobby cnc board should be pretty troublefree unless you have a habit of disconnecting the motors with the power applied. Make sure your wires are solidly connected. Also, check your supply voltage and make sure it's not too high.

Perhaps your motors have a intermittent short?

[phantomcow2]

Well i learned the lesson of making sure motors are tight in there, after having to replace 2 driver chips. But today I tried turning on my power power supply after my old one failed for no obvious reason. Loe and behold the X motor was getting no voltage, the Z and Y were okay. Seconds later i look and see smoke coming out from the driver board and the X driver chip getting burning hot. I looked carefully and smoke was coming from one of the transistors and the transistor has a crack in the body. Not sure what its from.
I have tried the board with 6 different motors, and they are brand new.

As for the linisteppers, will they drive 2amp motors alright?

[H500]

Linstepper should work. Just remember to use a BIG heat sink and maybe also a fan, or board will sizzle.

[phantomcow2]

Should it work without modification to the board?
I dont know a heck of a lot about electronics. DUring this entire CNC conversion project, the mechanical aspect was fun and relatively easy. The electrical part has been a nightmare, and seems to be giving me more trouble than many.
But using the bridgeport at school, I think I can make one hell of a heatsink! I've got several fans sitting around I can use.
How is voltage to the motors adjusted on the linistepper? On the hobbycnc its just a variable capacitor, does the linistepper use anything similar?

[H500]

I'm no expert on the board, so it's best to email the person who designed and sells the board. In all likelyhood, you will set the current in the same way as the hobbycnc board.

But be warned. It will put out as much heat as a small room heater when driving 3 motors with 2 amps.

Instead of machining the heat sinks, it's cheaper to buy them. You can't use steel since it don't conduct heat that well, compared to aluminum or copper.

[philba]

A local PC recycler place is a great source of heat sinks that take just a little milling (really just cutting). I get old PC heat sinks and cut them to shape. Usually I can either get them free or $.50. They are really efficient. The old mac power PC head sinks work quite well. I can usually cut 3 or 4 out of one.

[phantomcow2]

Just so i know, what causes the linisteppers to put out so much heat? If these things can put out enough heat to heat a room, it sounds like I will need one hell of a heatsink.

[philba]

the schematic from the ebay seller shows bipolar transistors which are less efficient that mosfets. It also doesn't seem to have current limiting.

I think your hobbycnc driver, if you could get it working properly, would be a much better match to your steppers. The SLA7062 controller chip on it is pretty modern in its design - chopping with current limiting and microstepping.