[georgei]

Hi,

Has anyone experience in this 4 Axis driver board?

[James Newton]

It's using the TB6560 which was never intended for stepper drivers in an environment where the power on sequence isn't tightly controlled, so it will fail in time.

[georgei]

Well, I am almost sure that it will fail. The question is how fast. I do not have tested it yet with motors - just communication with the computer.

The board comes enclosed in an enclosure (image at the bottom).

I am planning to use it in a diy Shapeoko with Nema17 motors. The seller has sent me the usual chinese manuals. But everything looks to work up to now.

The reason of my post was because there were some inconsistencies regarding the power supply.

The manual says that you can power the unit with up to 34V. But on the sellers website says that for Nema17 motors the suggested voltage is 12-16V and that any higher voltage will damage the boards. I can find a 12V power supply but in my opinion it will be on the low end for Nema17 motors. I want to use 24V but I do not want to blow the all thing up (tight on money).

Any suggestions are wellcome.

[James Newton]

How much are they asking for this turd?

[georgei]

I bougth from here:
Cnc Kit 4 Axis Tb6560AHQ Stepper Motor Driver Board Controller With Box +Mach3 | eBay
so the price was £57.

I know what you will say but I do not have £350 for a Gecko540.

[James Newton]

So you are outside the USA? Probably can't help. Sorry.

[H500]

Most 6560 boards were incorrectly designed, such that they will self destruct even if you do nothing wrong. That is why the vendor recommend a very low voltage to reduce the chance of damage. But low voltage will mean low performance. If it was my board, I would take a chance with 24v. The performance at 12v might be too low to be useful.

You should actually get a tb6600 based driver instead. Many also have serious design problems, but they probably will not self destruct on their own.

[georgei]

H500 I will try the 24V and cross my fingers.

James I have seen that you have done a lot of research on the TB6564AH. Do you have any input regarding the below driver.

[James Newton]

James I have seen that you have done a lot of research on the TB6564AH. Do you have any input regarding the below driver.

More than research, I sell a kit of parts with a PCB designed by Luc Degrand who is a genius with drivers. I haven't seen or tested that specific driver, but I would say the following about it:
1. I'd buy that over a TB6560 any day.
2. I'd buy MY kit over that because I know the critical components are quality (and expensive) and it won't fail unexpectedly.
3. That driver doesn't show the sense resistors, so I can't comment on them. They are the 2nd most critical component.
4. The most critical component is obviously the main chip. When you purchase from China, you never know if you are getting the real thing or a knock off. That one looks good, but you can't know. If you blow that one, I have replacements available at very low cost. They are really pretty easy to replace, even for someone with minimal soldering skills.
5. The large electrolytic caps are much smaller than they should be, but they appear to be the right type. Perhaps with both together, they are enough.
6. I like what they did with the current adjust silk screen... I'll have to see if I can get that on the next board run for my kit.
7. Not sure why they included that fuse... but extra protection is never a bad thing.

So how much do they want for it?

[georgei]

Hi James,

Thank you for the reply.

They are about $22 each.

[James Newton]

So that should tell you... there is no way those are actual name brand components. I purchase parts in hundreds, make almost no profit, and sell my /kit/ (not assembled and tested) for $32 each in sets of 3. Without the heat sink. So there is no way in hell that has quality components for that price.