chinese TB6600 drivers

[jonnydeen]

its been quite a while since ive been on the forum but im now getting back into the cnc swing of things

since there is a distinct lack of information regarding these cheapanese boards i thought i might as well start a thread on them.

in particular the haoyu brand board of which i have ordered 2 to test on a d&m/colne lathe.

8851

TB6600 1 axis Stepper Motor 2-phase Drive Board for CNC Router Beter with TB6560 | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181085195528?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648)

for those not in the know the specs are as follows...

TB6600 Features (courtesy of the ebay advertisement)

Single-chip bipolar sinusoidal micro-step stepping motor driver
BiCD 0.13 (50 V) process
Ron (upper + lower) = 0.4 Ω (typ.)
Forward and reverse rotation control available
Selectable phase drive (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 step)
Output withstand voltage: VCC = 50 V
Output current: IOUT = 5.0 A (absolute maximum ratings, peak, within 100ms) IOUT = 4.5 A (operating range, maximal value)
Packages: HZIP25-1.00F
Built-in input pull-down resistance: 100 kΩ (typ.)
Output monitor pins (ALERT): Maximum of IALERT = 1 mA
Output monitor pins (MO): Maximum of IMO = 1 mA
Equipped with reset and enable pins
Stand by function
Single power supply
Built-in thermal shutdown (TSD) circuit
Built-in under voltage lock out (UVLO) circuit
Built-in over-current detection (ISD) circuit

sounds good for £16.14 a pop eh? but will it live up to expectation?

there is currently an interesting thread on cnczone in which one member has made an interesting camparison between this and another brand of cheapanese tb6600, it makes for some compelling reading

Toshiba TB6600 - Page 3 (http://www.cnczone.com/forums/stepper_motors_drives/165224-toshiba_tb6600-3.html)

the boards ive ordered should be with me in the next 2 weeks so i shall keep this updated as things progress.

the main data i am most interested in is voltage capability, i plan on testing the units from 12v up to 45v in 5v increments measuring performance as i go

if anyone has any ideas for how or what to test then your welcome to chime in

[birchy]

Looks similar to the M542 boards?

[Jonathan]

Don't go up to 45V. According to the datasheet 50V is the absolute maximum rating, so you can never go over that, which makes only 5V lower almost certainly too close with an inductive load. The datasheet reccomends up to 42V. It accepts up to 4.5A, which is good for the 3Nm stepper motors in bipolar-parallel, since they're 4.2A.

Datasheet:
http://www.kosmodrom.com.ua/pdf/TB6600HG.pdf
Cheaper versions:
Aliexpress.com : Buy New Product 4.5A TB6600 stepper motor driver board from Reliable TB6600 driver suppliers on Changzhou Rattm Motor Co., Ltd. (http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/New-Product-TB66600-stepper-motor-driver-board-4-5A/704350_737247453.html)
Aliexpress.com : Buy New Product / 4.5A TB6600 stepper motor driver board from Reliable CWTB6600stepper motor stepping motor driver 50V/4.5A suppliers on RATTM Motor 101 (http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/New-Product-4-5A-TB6600-stepper-motor-driver-board/907217_740312178.html)

It looks quite promising, but I doubt I'll be getting many as for the 3Nm motors it's better to run them from 75V.

[John S]

It looks quite promising, but I doubt I'll be getting many as for the 3Nm motors it's better to run them from 75V.

Virtually any modern square stepper will benefit from running at higher voltage.

When we did the X3 CNC conversion back in 2005 we used 2.2Nm, as these were the best we could get at the time and ran them at 72 volts using the 888 drivers set to 2.5 amps.

Real over kill but never had one driver go pop, didn't need a fan either as they never even got warm

What is needed is a source of the high voltage drivers at a reasonable price.

[jonnydeen]

thanks for the input lads, think ill keep it to the recommended 42v then.

Jonathan, not sure if you checked out the link i posted but in the tests that were carried out, the other board examined was the rattm brand one you linked to. and to be honest the reason i chose to buy the haoyu board was due to that comparison

interesting that those tests were only done at 24v, i'd be pleasently surprised to see some sort of reliability at the 36v to 42v range

obviously these would never replace the higher voltage drivers but i see a real appeal for people with a low budget and or small machines (such as the tiny lathe i will be using these on).

[jonnydeen]

a small update.

drivers arrived yesterday while i was away

88868887

interestingly, if you look at the picture with the label there is a distinct lack of the expected chinese language but rather a belgian label.
considering it only took 8 consecutive days to arrive (same day dispatch) i think its safe to say the seller has cohorts in belgium which certainly makes it more convenient.

packaging seems sufficient, each unit appears to be sealed in an anti-static bag then cushioned in bubble wrap inside a suitably sized box

no manual or any literature is included with these drives.
the silkscreen on the board is quite self explanatory and the ebay add seems to fill in any gaps.
only time will tell if an electronic simpleton such as myself can coax some life from these boards

now to wait for the breakout board to arrive...

[robump]

Just ordered some of these..... Looking forward to having a play