Any one using the printrboard? It seems like its the cheapest controller around and supports printing from SD card.
In my experience it’s a huge annoyance to transfer files via SD card. I suggest a Raspberry PI ( + optional wifi) and OctoPrint.
I dont mind sticking stuff on an sd card the old way but man that octoprint looks cool but you still need a controller + PI right?
If thats the case and some one can weigh in on this controller I posted that would be great as I can always add the pi later with octoprint.
The only problem I see with that boart is having the drivers directly soldered to the main board. It shouldn’t be an issue, but they are the weakest link of electronics. If you fry one, you have to change the whole board.
Mind you for that price…!
Nah, you can replace the drivers easily enough. Cut the legs, remove the chip, wick off the pads, solder on the new chip. Not that hard. Its overall a good board. Native USB means fast and reliable comms. Don’t like the ATX power connector but whatever. 32x microstepping would have been nice. Maybe on the Brainwave v2…
Yes, the drivers I designed for the CNC electronics use TI’s DRV8825 with 1/32 micro-stepping and an overall good thermal design. They do rock and work incredibly well. 1.75A per phase, no heat sink nor fan needed.
Oh, what seems funny is that the board sold on eBay is almost $90 cheaper than the original sold by the printrbot folks!
@Brian_Evans Thanks for the input on the board and I’m versed with electronics repairs so if I fry a chip I can handle soldering on a new one.
This is what I call progress as $40 or so seems about right for the electronics not $100+
A Chinese Arduino Mega ($15-ish), Geeetech drivers ($3 each on sale) and a Sainsmart Ramps (20$) isn’t much more expensive overall, but way more flexible and better supported by firmwares. Unless every single penny counts, go for a Ramps - maybe some day you’ll need the extra flexibility (believe me, you will).
@Thomas_Sanladerer Got any links for us?
@Mike_Ashcraft Sure. Keep in mind though that these all ship from China, so depending on where you’re at, orders will have a two to five week lead time.
Arduino: http://www.ebay.com/itm/mega2560-R3-ATMEGA16U2-16MHz-development-board-2012-New-Compatible-Arduino-/171058616407?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:DE:3160
Drivers: http://www.geeetech.com/new-stepstick-a4988-stepper-driver-pololureprap-4layer-pcb-p-651.html (often go on sale, e.g. on some Fridays. I got five for $15)
Ramps: http://www.sainsmart.com/sainsmart-3d-printer-control-board-ramps-1-4-for-arduino-reprap-mendel-prusa.html
If stepper controllers are cheap, buy extra, you’ll thank me later. Also don’t forget to set the pots as low as practically possible
I rather separate pieces so I can swap out parts if broken.
You can swap out drivers if need be if you are skilled with a soldering iron 
I’m still running the first set of drivers from three years ago that so far survived three printers and about 30kg of filament.
The only thing that kills drivers is loose wires or unplugging motors while powered up, other than that, they are pretty though little things.
Very nice I need to wait tell its back on sale again and snatch it up.
I know a lot of this stuff is industrial grade, built to last.
Turning your pots tip high and insufficient cooking will kill the motor controllers. Mine had the little heatsinks too and i was able to smoke one on my extruder
They should have a thermal shutdown that turns off the whole driver when it gets too hot - I generally run mine as hot as possible to get as much speed as possible.
I suspect something else went wrong with your cooked driver, @Eric_Moy
@Thomas_Sanladerer that’s interesting, I did not not know that. When I pulled off the heatsink to the motor drive, there were definitely smoke components. maybe just faulty soldering… oh BTW, my stupid autocorrect changed cooling to cooking, but the point got across in the end I guess