microstepping setting for Cncrouter R&P

[Dan911]

Could some1 please guide me to what microstepping settings for my stepper driver I should use.

I'm using the cncrouterparts nema34 R&P with moore racks for the X and Y

and the K2 slide with Leadscrew pitch is .1, 10 revolutions = 1.0", one start lead. for Z.

This is the Driver I'm using.
Stepper Motor/Stepper Gearmotor/Stepper Motor Driver wholesaler and supplier

Thanks,
Dan

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[Dan911]

Please help a newb out here! I need to know the dip switch settings for my new drivers.

I've read the tutorial on the buildyourcnc site and he used 1/16 settings, but that was for chain driven and not sure if that matters.

I read the MACH Settings for R&P on cncrouter parts.com for the nema34 R&P and read 10x microstepping.

Does that mean 1/10?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

[Ayjay]

Yes, 10x means 1/10 microstepping. If you use 1/10th microstepping, you will need 2000 steps to rotate your stepper motor 1 revolution. If you us 1/16th microstepping you will need 3200 steps per revolution. The cncrouterparts nema 34 rack and pinion system travels 1.5708" per revolution. Therefore you will require 2037.1785 (3200/1.5708) steps to travel 1". Hope this helps'

[Dan911]

Yes Ayjay it helped allot, and I appreciate your reply/help. Hoping I could trouble you with 1 more question.

What would be the pros and cons between 1/10 or 1/16?

Is there a guide line to maximum steps when using this formula to choose the correct microstepping setting for the drivers?

Thanks again,
Dan

[Ayjay]

1/16th would give you higher resolution but you would lose speed as you need to output more pulses to travel 1 inch. If you are using Mach 3 your maximum speed for each axis will be dependent upon the kernel speed that you selected on installation. As an example, if your kernel speed is set to 45,000 hz., you could expect somewhere in the range 1325 inches per minute (45,000/2037.1785*60). Realistically it will be less but still pretty good i think.

[cornbinder23]

1/16th would give you higher resolution but you would lose speed as you need to output more pulses to travel 1 inch. If you are using Mach 3 your maximum speed for each axis will be dependent upon the kernel speed that you selected on installation. As an example, if your kernel speed is set to 45,000 hz., you could expect somewhere in the range 1325 inches per minute (45,000/2037.1785*60). Realistically it will be less but still pretty good i think.

I am under the impression that your resolution is based on the mechanical side of your "power train", micro stepping just facilitates smoother low speeds from the motor.

JTCUSTOMS

[Ayjay]

I am under the impression that your resolution is based on the mechanical side of your "power train", micro stepping just facilitates smoother low speeds from the motor.

I was merely trying to explain the difference between 1/16th microstepping and 1/10th microstepping. 1/16th will give higher resolution at the expense of maximum speed. At least that's how I believe it works, but I may be wrong.

[brtech]

Well, hold on.

ACCURACY is dependent on a lot of things, of which microsteps is a factor. The RESOLUTION however, does depend on how many microsteps, plus the step angle and the gear ratios.

You can have insane resolution, but if you don't have much accuracy, it's not very helpful. OTOH you can have insane accuracy and really lousy resolution, which is also not particularly helpful.

Whether 1/16 is better than 1/10 probably depends on accuracy. If you have the accuracy, then yes, it's better. Here, 1.5" in 2000 steps is .00075. Doubt you have the accuracy to make 1.5" in 3600 steps worth it.

[Ayjay]

Well, hold on.

ACCURACY is dependent on a lot of things, of which microsteps is a factor. The RESOLUTION however, does depend on how many microsteps, plus the step angle and the gear ratios.

You can have insane resolution, but if you don't have much accuracy, it's not very helpful. OTOH you can have insane accuracy and really lousy resolution, which is also not particularly helpful.

Whether 1/16 is better than 1/10 probably depends on accuracy. If you have the accuracy, then yes, it's better. Here, 1.5" in 2000 steps is .00075. Doubt you have the accuracy to make 1.5" in 3600 steps worth it.

I don't recall mentioning anything about ACCURACY in my replies. The point I am trying to make is that if you use 1/16th microstepping as opposed to 1/10th microstepping, your contrrol software will need to output 60% more pulses for a given distance. As the computer is limited in the number of pulses per second that it can generate, this will reduce your maximum speed

[brtech]

With any machine likely to be used today, and Mach, that's not likely a problem. Might have to bump up the kernel setting.

[Dan911]

Ayjay, I started this thread because I didn't have a clue to the settings for my drivers for microstepping, and you made it very clear to me...Thanks!!!

I don't even have a settings for 1/10 for my drivers, my choices between the 2 would be 1/8 or 1/16. Thanks to you,cornbinder,Brtech, I learned setting the wrong microsettings isn't gonna damage your driver or stepper motor(what I feared) but my take some experimenting with setting to achieve satisfactory speeds and resolution.

I'm sure this thread will help other newbs like it did for me.

Thanks all,
Dan

P.S Btw Whats this setting all about?

"SW4 is used for this purpose. OFF meaning that the standstill current is set to be half of the selected dynamic current and ON meaning that standstill is set to be the same as the selected dynamic current"

[CarveOne]

-snip-

P.S Btw Whats this setting all about?

"SW4 is used for this purpose. OFF meaning that the standstill current is set to be half of the selected dynamic current and ON meaning that standstill is set to be the same as the selected dynamic current"

It's also called idle current reduction. When the motors have not moved for some period of time the motor idle current is reduced by 1/2 in order to let the motors cool off and reduces the load on the power supply.

CarveOne

[Dan911]

Changing my settings to off...lol

Thanks CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Changing my settings to off...lol

Thanks CarveOne

It's a power saving mode, but in this case it's beneficial. As soon as a motor moves it automatically goes back to full current. Mine stays enabled (off) as I would think most people leave it also. I thought it was factory set in idle reduction mode by default.

CarveOne