MY CNC sessions are now like laundry day....

[HankMcSpank]

Just taken delivery of a chinese TB6560 based CNC stepper driver board.

When I connect up my steppers, the sound from them is akin to water rushing through pipes (the same motors connected to another Allegro A3977 based driver board .... silent as can be)....so what's the noise all about - it makes me want to run to my missus & ask for some Daz.

While I'm here...my stepper spec is listed as this....

8 wire stepper
Rated Voltage 3.0V
Resistance per phase 1 0hm
Inductance per phase 2.1mH
Holding torque 1.25N.m
series connection and phase current 2.15 amp

Now since these are 8 wire, I've wired each of the phases in series, therefore 2 Ohms per coil 'leg'

I'm struggling here to make sense of the rated voltage spec. Just about every driver on the market takes at least 24V DC as an input ...so where does the 3V come into it (I can hazard a guess the resistance is 2 ohm, therefore 3V across the coil would yield 1.25A ...but where do I set the 3V - would this be a setting on the driver board?)

[blackburn mark]

Just taken delivery of a chinese TB6560 based CNC stepper driver board.

When I connect up my steppers, the sound from them is akin to water rushing through pipes (the same motors connected to another Allegro A3977 based driver board .... silent as can be)....so what's the noise all about - it makes me want to run to my missus & ask for some Daz.

:lol: hahahaha!!! buzzin !!!


iv got the 5 axis TB6560 china special...they have always sounded like that to me, i can only think the Allegro A3977 has some posh smoothing circut in them or its busted

sorry i cant help you with the other stuff... i bought my driver as a kit with the motors and power supply (24v)

[Jonathan]

Just taken delivery of a chinese TB6560 based CNC stepper driver board.

Oh dear, see below for why...

When I connect up my steppers, the sound from them is akin to water rushing through pipes (the same motors connected to another Allegro A3977 based driver board .... silent as can be)....so what's the noise all about - it makes me want to run to my missus & ask for some Daz.

If the switching frequency of the current limiting circuit in the driver is in the audible range, i.e. 20-20kHz (depending on your age!), then you will hear the sound you describe. The Allegro must switch at above this frequency, so you can't hear it. I wouldn't worry as there's not a lot you can do about it.

(The above is a bit of a guess, so treat it accordingly)

I'm struggling here to make sense of the rated voltage spec. Just about every driver on the market takes at least 24V DC as an input ...so where does the 3V come into it (I can hazard a guess the resistance is 2 ohm, therefore 3V across the coil would yield 1.25A ...but where do I set the 3V - would this be a setting on the driver board?)

You are correct in saying as V=IR, V=2.15*2=4.3V ... yes the numbers you've quoted are a bit fishy but nevermind.
The important point is the inductance of the motors limits the rate of change of current, so you need a high voltage to overcome that. It's common to drive them at 20-30 times the rated voltage. As a rough guide V=32*L^0.5 [Edit: Had wrong number]

Each phase of the motor can be modelled as a resistor and inductor in series. So you can write down the differential equation in terms of the voltage across each component. For a constant applied voltage, V:

V=Ri + Ldi/dt + idL/dØ*dØ/dt

Where Ø is the displacement.
The last term is the back-emf, for the purposes of this discussion that can be neglected. So solving the remaining first order linear differential equation yields:

i(t)=V/R-(V/R-I)*e^(-t/τ)

Where I is the initial current in the motor phase when the phase it turned on, and τ is the time constant, given by:

τ=L/R

We want the current to rise as quickly as possible, so that it has reached the rated value ideally well before the next step is commanded. If this is not the case the motor is effectively being run on less than the rated current, so the torque drops dramatically.
It's clear from the equation for i(t) if you increase V (or decrease R), i(t) increases, achieving our objective.
For the rate of change of current to be greater the time constant of the exponential must be decreased and if L or R are decreased τ is less, so the current rises faster.

So in conclusion you should run the motors at a high voltage, and select motors with a low inductance and resistance to obtain the most torque at high speed.

Now it is obvious why running the motors in parallel (though your driver can't take it) is optimal. The inductance in parallel is a quarter of what it is in series.

(Before someone complains :whistling: - the above is a simplified explanation. I have neglected certain factors for clarity such as initial conditions and the fact the motor inductance can vary with displacement)

[JAZZCNC]

(Before someone complains :whistling: - the above is a simplified explanation. I have neglected certain factors for clarity such as initial conditions and the fact the motor inductance can vary with displacement)

Now how could anyone complain about such an helpfull post as that. .:clap:

[m_c]

I'm sure some people could, but jonathan has kind of over explained Hanks question.

Basically the 3V is the voltage you could permanently supply to the motor without it going into meltdown. At the rated voltage, the connected winding should draw the rated current.

You use a higher voltage to force the magnetic fields within the motor to change quicker. Ideally you calculate the required voltage from the motors inductance, but that's a figure that often isn't quoted, so the accepted figure is 4to20times the rated voltage to ensure a reasonable safety margin.
However, as you know the inductance of your motors, the formula is 32 * vL = VMAX, or 32 * 3 * 2.1 = 201V, which seems a bit excessive, and is why Jonathan has questioned the figures (could just be that the motors you've got are an older design with a lot of iron in them!).


If you want a clearer understanding of stepper motors, check out the gecko drive Stepper Motor Basics at http://www.geckodrive.com/ark-2/support.html. Mariss knows a thing or two about stepper motors, and is also good at explaining things without too much geekyness.