Stepper Driver Pinout - 'Free' pin

[bigbigblue]

Hi,
I have an SMD093064 3A Bipolar Stepper Motor Driver which I purchased some time ago but am just getting around to using. The inputs on the driver are:
A+,A-,B+,B-,DC+,DC-

Com,Pulse,Dir,Free

Now I understand what they all are, except for the 'Free' pin.....
Now it could be 'Free' as in no connection, but I don't think that is what it is, as there is a symbol next to it which suggests it is an input.

The documentation does not mention this Pin and the supplier is 'unable to help', so I was wondering if any of you guys know what the mysterious input is used for?

Thanks
Pete

[doorknob]

My best guess is that "Free" on that terminal is another term for "enable".

Try connecting it to ground (but if that doesn't work, connect it to +5 volts - once you figure out what it has to be connected to, you may want to connect it to the enable signal from your breakout board and set Mach3 appropriately for the enable polarity). Or maybe you can get away with leaving it unconnected.

This guess is based on a note in a diagram on page 10 of http://www.motiongroup.com/download/manuals/smd1man.pdf ("abort" input).

Since this is just a guess, I could be completely wrong (and that document could have absolutely no connection whatsoever with your driver).

[bigbigblue]

Hi Doorknob,
Thanks for the reply. I guess it is the enable line - as you say I will just have to try it and see what ti does.

Regards

[johnsattuk]

Hi Pete

Another possiibility -

My 'Vexta' drivers have an ' all phases off ' input to ' free ' the motor for manual manouvering