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SmoothStepper USB / Re: SmoothStepper fails when extending stepper motor cable.
« on: May 15, 2015, 04:48:59 PM »
Thanks for the information Jeff.
This is what I have found:
1. Switched to 22AWG cables. Good idea, since it should handle the current better. But it did not improve the SmoothStepper hanging up.
2. Moved the resistor to the G540 side of the cable. SmoothStepper still hanging up.
3. Use an external 5V power source for SmoothStepper. This improved things a lot, but I still got lock ups once in a while.
4. Bought an old desktop PC and use the parallel port directly to the G540. Throw out the SmoothStepper. Couple of hours of testing later I had no problems.
Conclusion: I thought I would save a couple of $$ by using my existing laptop and adding the SmoothStepper interface in between, but the money would have been better spend going straight for the desktop PC.
This is what I have found:
1. Switched to 22AWG cables. Good idea, since it should handle the current better. But it did not improve the SmoothStepper hanging up.
2. Moved the resistor to the G540 side of the cable. SmoothStepper still hanging up.
3. Use an external 5V power source for SmoothStepper. This improved things a lot, but I still got lock ups once in a while.
4. Bought an old desktop PC and use the parallel port directly to the G540. Throw out the SmoothStepper. Couple of hours of testing later I had no problems.
Conclusion: I thought I would save a couple of $$ by using my existing laptop and adding the SmoothStepper interface in between, but the money would have been better spend going straight for the desktop PC.