Confused Xylotex Alien Stepmaster,...

[b25hf4u]

Just looking at purchasing a 3 axis board bipolar for a CNC router/drill, I see a good selection among the following: Xylotex, Mechatronics, Alien CNC and Stepmaster. I have read a bunch of posts and seen everybody's opinion, but nobody has really expalin differences between models. The specs all look the same, of course none give the actual driving chip. So which is the better choice?

, (played with a stone cutter before with 48" dia blade 20'x30" 3 axis and a 5 axis 10'x10') I need something more practical at the house, Driving a 24x36 overhead gantry design driving 425oz motors 2.8A. This is my first stab since playing with old dot matrix printers.

Can anyone provide some good advice.

thank you

P.S. check these out real neat www.intellibotrobotics.com

[Stepper Monkey]

Many boards have the same Allegro chip driving them, which could explain the similar specs. Not all boards are constructed the same even if they do have the same chip in them however.
For instance, because they use the same Allegro chip sometimes people say the Xylotex and the StepmasterNC are very similar - which I guess counts if you consider rectangular and green enough to be similar.
The Xylotex has a number of practical features designed in, such as the ability to be used with a breakout board, adjustable current outputs, the ability to enable each axis individually, and heatsinks on the driver chips.
It has shown it can run reliably at its rated output for long periods of time.
It also has proven track record of good build quality, good after-service support and the ability to be repaired by the company.

The Stepmaster NC has none of those things, can't be relied on to run at half it's rated current without smoking something, has NO after service support and they won't fix them if something goes wrong.

They both give the same specs, 2.5A per phase, which is what the chip may be rated at, but that does not mean the board itself can always handle that. Considering the StepmasterNC factory power supply only turns out a tad over 2.5 amps TOTAL, to be shared among all four axes, it should tell you something. That it overheats and shuts down trying to use even that little power is absurd.

Just thought I might say I don't have any relation with either vendor, I don't even favor the Xylotex for my own machines, just reporting what I see as I have used them both on several different machines. Design is everything, and the differences aren't always obvious.

I have never used the other two, but I am very curious about the Alien CNC boards! Any people who have used them?

[b25hf4u]

Thanks for the input, I figured it was the same chip driving them, but as in what do here at work, the traces and other features added on do play an important role in the final package. What do you use to drive everything?

[jfc11]

i bought an allien board and it lasted about 2 min before smoke came out....you get what you pay for......

[Stepper Monkey]

I have started using separate single-axis drives for each axis, as I need somewhat higher voltages and currents than an all-in-one board can deliver.
Geckos are a great choice for this if you really need the best - extreme power, reliability, and of course thier support is stellar, but they cost.
I have lately been using a style of Chinese-made driver by Jiangsu Provincial - they are rebranded and sold under a variety of names like MSD-556, EU-56, WS-2H057M, etc. Keling sells a similar unit but from a different company. They are cheaper than Geckos, and while not as powerful or full-featured still well surpass the all-in-one boards for performance in both departments - a nice middle ground in my opinion.

That being said, the Xylotex is a good option if you are starting out, and realistically it or another quality all-in-one board will very likely quite handily do more than you will ever need it to for some years to come.

Then, later, as the addiction sinks in, eventually you will go all Tim Allen and it will happen that too much power just isn't enough...

[b25hf4u]

Seems the Alien had a rough day. well I did not limit myself to all in one board, #1 will be used to build #2 and just transferring drive system to new one, maybe give the shell to my son to play with. I do miss the oversized CNCI use to have access to, it let me design and build this medallion for somebody else.

My wife just loves new toys for me to work on

[pelletman]

Hi,

Im new to this cnc stuff, but i can tell you PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM STEPMASTER. IT STINKS, HAVE MINE les then 6 months and had nothing but problums with it. i have sent more then 12 emails to stepemaster and never got i answer. also left the a massage 7 times by phone not 1 return call gut mine off ebay never again.

thanks tom

[b25hf4u]

I read something like in another post

[Kipper]

Originally Posted by Stepper Monkey Many boards have the same Allegro chip driving them, which could explain the similar specs. Not all boards are constructed the same even if they do have the same chip in them however. For instance, because they use the same Allegro chip sometimes people say the Xylotex and the StepmasterNC are very similar - which I guess counts if you consider rectangular and green enough to be similar. The Xylotex has a number of practical features designed in, such as the ability to be used with a breakout board, adjustable current outputs, the ability to enable each axis individually, and heatsinks on the driver chips. It has shown it can run reliably at its rated output for long periods of time. It also has proven track record of good build quality, good after-service support and the ability to be repaired by the company. The Stepmaster NC has none of those things, can't be relied on to run at half it's rated current without smoking something, has NO after service support and they won't fix them if something goes wrong. They both give the same specs, 2.5A per phase, which is what the chip may be rated at, but that does not mean the board itself can always handle that. Considering the StepmasterNC factory power supply only turns out a tad over 2.5 amps TOTAL, to be shared among all four axes, it should tell you something. That it overheats and shuts down trying to use even that little power is absurd. Just thought I might say I don't have any relation with either vendor, I don't even favor the Xylotex for my own machines, just reporting what I see as I have used them both on several different machines. Design is everything, and the differences aren't always obvious. I have never used the other two, but I am very curious about the Alien CNC boards! Any people who have used them?

Just been checking my StepmasterNC stuff to see if what you say is true....What I found was that I had to use a BOB to use it and had to set the current output (and even adjust the PFD setting) I then made sure that the remote enable was still there...However I have no heatsinks on the chips oh no I'll have to throw them away.....Oh wait is it true that the chip uses large copper traces on the PCB to sink the heat? I have corrected the lack of heatsink by sticking one on and hope that the next time the machine runs for several hours it doesn't let out the magic smoke. I've just been looking at a thread started by Marris Freimanis (sp) and it appears he has made an "idiot proof" stepper driver with the 203V I may have to order 4 of those as I feel such an idiot for buying these Stepmaster boards now...attached picture of undersides of 2 "similar" drivers using variations of the A3977 chip (I cant buy the chips to finish the PmInMo boards this side of the pond but I will one day ) Of course I'm no expert to post on whether a product is "fit for purpose" but the boards have worked flawlessly thus far.

[b25hf4u]

So how many IPM will the board drive and onwhat kind of motors?

[Kipper]

Originally Posted by b25hf4u So how many IPM will the board drive and onwhat kind of motors?

23LM-C210-07 and 5MPM I don't do inches :shrug:

[b25hf4u]

Love doing conversions, been so long since I lived on the other side of the pond. Finally getting the sytem down on this side, now having to think EU standards again. Interesting the motors are only 1.2A rated, I seem to have read somewhere boards based on this chip love something around 2.0A to start with