How to NOT destroy the tb6600 drives

I noticed that many have trouble with the tb6600 self destructing. Although most of these drives are poorly designed, they should not self destruct if several precautions are observed.

1. NEVER connect or disconnect the motors with the power applied. This is the surest way to kill the drive.

2. The drive spec says it can take 50v, but it can't. This is the limit that will cause the chip to self destruct. To ensure that it never happens, don't go higher than about 40v.

3. Some versions come with a diode in series with the power supply to prevent damage in case you accidentally reversed the power. If you have a low friction gantry type machine, this diode needs to be replaced with a wire or even better, a 4 amp fuse. Motors acts as a generators when they are decelerating. If the diode was left in place, the power has nowhere to go and may cause the local power supply voltage to rise beyond 50v and kill the chip.

4. Be sure the green connectors are pushed in all the way. If they work loose, rule 1 will be violated.

5. Don't pull to hard on the connectors. On some version, the circuit board is not attached to the heat sink. The force can break the pins on the tb6600.