Tb6600?

[jtar40]

Huh, not a bad idea at all thanks!
May be a dumb question but, what really makes a cnc controller extra good/ " a good quality controller"? I know that many controllers have better microstep settings, ie) 1, 1/2, 1/8, 1/16 etc. But what else makes a controller superior to a simple cheap tb6560 or tb6600?


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[Ger21]

It's a drive, not a controller.

What makes a drive good?
Smoothness.
Anti Resonance.
Motor heating.
Stall detection.
Software configurable.

[routercnc]

Other features of better drives are the ability to run at higher voltage. The 542 is about 50V, tb6600 is 42V I believe, whereas the other drives you mention in post 1 are rated at 80V. This means more stepper torque and ability to run at a higher speed. So a much faster machine.

Also, and sort of related is the tendency to miss steps on the cheaper drivers because you are trying to get the most out of them. By way of example I had an all-in-one board (system3?) which was rated at 24V to 30V. I was advised by the supplier that it could be ran it 32V to squeeze more performance out. I had lots of missed steps and it took me a while (as I was just starting out) to realise why and dropping to less than 30V sorted it out. Of course I was then stuck with the performance it could offer.

I ran with this board for a few years and it did actually work and I could make parts. Would I buy another - not a chance. So you pays your money and takes your choice.

[m_c]

One thing I didn't mention in my previous post, was get individual drives. That way should one die, you only need to replace the one. Plus it means if you do decide to upgrade in future, you could do it one driver at a time as funds allow.


As Gerry says, there are a few things that make drivers better. Some of them more so than others.
The TBxxxx chips output is directly proportional to the settings and input pulses. Up to it's maximum speed, it's still outputting in microsteps, which although makes slow speed movement smoother, it reduces performance as speed increases due to the slower nature of the microstepping output.

Geckos/M542 type drivers introduced microstep morphing. What that means, is as speed increases, the output gradually changes from microstepping to full steps. This allows for smooth low speed operation, but high speed performance is improved. I know Geckos have a trim pot for adjusting the speed at which the morphing occurs, but I'm not sure if others do.

Then digital drives brought in things like anti-resonance and stall detection. Anti-resonance is essentially morphing but done dynamically by monitoring the current/voltage being applied to the motor. Stall detection is just an extension of that monitoring system.