Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542


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Thread: Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542

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    Default Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542

    Hi,

    Does anybody know the difference between a Leadshine M542 priced around £60ish and JMC 2M542 and these on ebay?

    CNC Stepper Motor Driver 2M542 4.2A Driver Controller | eBay

    They look identical apart from the silk printing on the cover.

    Thanks.

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    Default Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542

    Hi,

    Leadshine are the main manufacturers. Thay have a number of OEM's that have the product rebranded for their own use, This includes Keiling.

    They are providing a quality product.

    Kind regards,



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    ok thanks. It just feels wrong ordering something that is the same but half the price. I've ordered one, so if there is any differences between the two i'll be sure to let everyone know, along with pics, etc. :-)



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    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by dominic87 View Post
    ok thanks. It just feels wrong ordering something that is the same but half the price. I've ordered one, so if there is any differences between the two i'll be sure to let everyone know, along with pics, etc. :-)
    Dominic87..... i am too thinking about buying 2M542 driver kit from ebay CNC 3 Axis Driver 2M542 4.2A& Breakout board Router kit | eBay

    but i am not sure how will it work.. so plz let me know that how is your driver is working...



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    I don't have the 2M542 yet but it should be arriving next week sometime.

    I do have the same break out board though and it seems to work fine. Although the E-Stop doesn't seem to work as well as it should.



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    Anyone know what's inside that driver? e.g. what is it actually based on? And you guys /do/ realize it has a 7 day warranty on the ebay auction? And the main leadshine site says nothing about a warranty that I can find. So, if you fry it, what are you going to do? Just buy another one? Or are you just not ever going to let a motor lead come loose or short while it's running, or accidentally hook up the power supply at the wrong terminal or backwards or, or, or... ?

    Correct me if I'm wrong here, but 35 pounds is about $60 USD
    36 pounds to dollars - Google Search
    and for that sort of money you can buy a (slightly smaller) geckodrive
    G250X 10 Microstep Digital Drive
    and have a real warranty with a quality product NOT made in China.
    http://www.geckodrive.com/ark-20/terms_of_use.html (item 7.0) warranty is 1 full year.

    I don't know... maybe it's fine, but sometimes these knockoff products from China or Hong Kong are a false economy... look at all the people who got those ultra cheap TB6560 drivers and are now on CNCZone whining about all manor of problems. I just think buying local quality is better. Just me.

    Last edited by James Newton; 10-22-2011 at 05:00 PM. Reason: added link to gecko drive warranty.


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    I took the leadshine driver apart tonight, although I can't see what spec the MOSFETs are. This is a working driver so i'm not going to damage this one to find out. :-D

    I shall do the same when I get the 2m542 from Hong Kong to compare and hopefully it might even have the name of the MOSFETs silkscreened onto the PCB.

    One odd thing I noticed about this leadshine driver is the fact someone has purposefully removed the IC identification marks off them.

    As for Gecko drives, I would love to use Gecko drive, but at the moment I'm on a budget being a student. It also doesn't help that there is no UK supplier of Gecko drives that i'm aware of.

    Anyway to the pics....

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-img_1753-jpg   Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-img_1767-jpg   Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-img_1780-jpg   Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-img_1764-jpg  

    Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-img_1775-jpg  


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    Gecko is sold in the UK by
    Charter-controls - category_controling_it - <b><font color=#15317e>...step motor using a </font></b><font color=#15317e><br>step motor controller<br></font>

    The fact that the chip markings are removed pretty clearly points to a knock off design based on some commonly available components that they don't want you looking up because you would gasp at how much money they are charging you for very low cost parts.

    It also keeps you from finding out IF they are running the components past their actual ratings. e.g. 4.2 amps is 15% more than the 3.5 amp max rating on standard mosfets. Nice round number 15%... Not saying that is what is really happening, just saying hiding the parts is exactly what a mfgr who wants to push the parts would do.

    Notice how the geckos show the part numbers even in the photographs...



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    Thanks for the link.
    The prices aren't too bad and infact there is only a £20/$31 difference between the Leadshine and Gecko G201X

    It is definately an odd thing to do and the only reason I can think of is to prevent unlicensed copies being made.

    If a chinese manufacturer can copy something cheap enough, it will cover their costs should they get sued.



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    Ha! Or preventing someone from reporting that the product being sold is an unlicensed copy of an existing design... Not saying that IS what is happening, but its possible.



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    Quote Originally Posted by James Newton View Post
    Anyone know what's inside that driver? e.g. what is it actually based on? And you guys /do/ realize it has a 7 day warranty on the ebay auction? And the main leadshine site says nothing about a warranty that I can find. So, if you fry it, what are you going to do? Just buy another one? Or are you just not ever going to let a motor lead come loose or short while it's running, or accidentally hook up the power supply at the wrong terminal or backwards or, or, or... ?

    Correct me if I'm wrong here, but 35 pounds is about $60 USD
    36 pounds to dollars - Google Search
    and for that sort of money you can buy a (slightly smaller) geckodrive
    G250X 10 Microstep Digital Drive
    and have a real warranty with a quality product NOT made in China.
    http://www.geckodrive.com/ark-20/terms_of_use.html (item 7.0) warranty is 1 full year.

    I don't know... maybe it's fine, but sometimes these knockoff products from China or Hong Kong are a false economy... look at all the people who got those ultra cheap TB6560 drivers and are now on CNCZone whining about all manor of problems. I just think buying local quality is better. Just me.

    i do have a TB6560 from ebay.. and let me tell you that it works totally fine.. only problem with TB6560 is = it cant be used for more then 2AMP motor. and motors rpm are limited to 250.
    comparing gecko and TB6560 (or any other china driver) is like comparing BMW and Beetle.



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    Quote Originally Posted by sizala View Post
    i do have a TB6560 from ebay.. and let me tell you that it works totally fine.. only problem with TB6560 is = it cant be used for more then 2AMP motor. and motors rpm are limited to 250.
    comparing gecko and TB6560 (or any other china driver) is like comparing BMW and Beetle.
    Getting a bit off topic for this thread (apologies to the OP), and I totally agree with you, but I'm a little curious where you got that 2 amp number from... The AHQ version of the chip is rated for 3 amp's continuous (see page 6). It's only the AFG version (which should not be used in a driver that is spec'd for 3 or more amps) that is limited to 2 amps continuous. So I'm curious if you are saying that these drivers from China are using the wrong version of the chip, or if the 3 amp version doesn't really manage 3 amps, or if you just happened to buy a 2 amp driver, or...



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    Quote Originally Posted by James Newton View Post
    Getting a bit off topic for this thread (apologies to the OP), and I totally agree with you, but I'm a little curious where you got that 2 amp number from... The AHQ version of the chip is rated for 3 amp's continuous (see page 6). It's only the AFG version (which should not be used in a driver that is spec'd for 3 or more amps) that is limited to 2 amps continuous. So I'm curious if you are saying that these drivers from China are using the wrong version of the chip, or if the 3 amp version doesn't really manage 3 amps, or if you just happened to buy a 2 amp driver, or...
    i used "2AMP" bcoz.. if something is rated for "max 10 amp" so it is better to stay little bit lower then that(only if you not want to fry things up). TB6560 is running nice at 3amp but i m running it at 2amp.



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    hello guyz?....... any updates?... how does the Driver works?????



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    any updates about the driver now?????



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    Default Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542

    IK have been using the DQ542MA for the past 6 mo0nths with the 428oz NEMA23 motors and have had no problems. I set the motor current to a modest va;ue and have never had to increase the current up to the full amperage the motors can handle. The t6orque and power is adequate as it is set and the motors and 36 Volt power supply run cool as a result.

    Kind regards,
    Les



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    Ages ago I bought an ebay special one (as per original post) for my micro cnc PCB router.

    Last night I thought I would compare it against the Leadshine.

    They are almost the same internally, but both behave differently in operation. The leadshine is definitely much better!


    Here are the pics....

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-dom_0008-jpg   Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-dom_0010-jpg   Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-dom_0015-jpg   Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542-dom_0003-jpg  



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    Could you describe what is the difference in behaveing and what settings do you use (microstep setting and current). I am going to buy three controllers and i would like to find out if there is godd reasoon to pay much more for original Leadshine controllers or maybe those 2M542 will be good enough.



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    The first noticeable difference is the 2m542 makes a high pitch buzzing when idle on every other step. Second, I noticed the power output seems to fluctuate. One minute the steppers to warm up, the next minute they are ok.

    It has nothing to do with power supplies either. I tested both types of drivers on a dedicated power supply and on my TTi bench top supply.

    Finish quality of the casings are identical, just different text on the front.

    I've just bought a Leadshine M542 V2, so I'll do a comparison of that shortly.



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    Quote Originally Posted by dominic87 View Post
    The first noticeable difference is the 2m542 makes a high pitch buzzing when idle on every other step. Second, I noticed the power output seems to fluctuate. One minute the steppers to warm up, the next minute they are ok.

    It has nothing to do with power supplies either. I tested both types of drivers on a dedicated power supply and on my TTi bench top supply.

    Finish quality of the casings are identical, just different text on the front.

    I've just bought a Leadshine M542 V2, so I'll do a comparison of that shortly.
    Is there any progress with comparsion?



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Difference between Leadshine M542 and iCan 2m542

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