Hi, I’ve searched through the forum and haven’t found an answer to my question. The section that covered wiring external drivers (specifically DQ860MA) mentions, "The 4 pins are EN, DIR, STP, and ground. These pins or their equivalents are found on most external stepper drivers."
If the stepper doesn’t have this type of labeling, such as the Gecko G203V - can you still wire them differently? I’m wondering if there is a different logic I can follow to still be able to wire this type of a stepper. The control wiring is labeled as follows: DISABLE(7), DIR(8), STEP(9), COMMON(10), CURRENT SET(11), CURRENT SET(12)
Is the G203V a different kind of driver, which fundamentally works differently and therefore cannot be wired to this board? I’m attempting to change a LaserSaurs electronics to smoothie and I haven’t found anyone who has done this complain about the motor drivers issue (since lasersaurs typically used this line of gecko drivers).
Basically, is it possible to wire DISABLE(7), DIR(8), STEP(9), COMMON(10), CURRENT SET(11), CURRENT SET(12) to EN, DIR, STP, and ground?
Is there something fundamentally different from the external driver smoothie used in the documentation vs the driver i’m asking about?
Imported from wikidot
Also,
As I thought about it, it says that most "Most external drivers have both a + and - pin for each of EN, DIR, and STP. " but these drivers don’t have the positive/negative for each PIN so wouldn’t I just wire DIR to direction, STP to STEP, and Ground to COMMON. What would EN wire to? to DISABLE? Gecko G203V manual says Disable is, “This terminal will force the winding currents to zero when tied to the step and direction controller +5V.”
So DISABLE is wired to STEP and DIR? Not sure I understand.
Also what would I have to wire the current set resistor pins to on the board. Its 11 and 12 on the gecko G203V - says that you connect 1 end to 11, and the other end to 12. Is there a way to wire these two pins to the board?
Thanks to anyone in advance!
Hey.
So, first off, you should read the datasheet for your driver, it’ll explain what each pin does exactly.
It’s definitely possible to wire a gecko to a Smoothieboard, thought they are generally known to have problems at high speeds if I remember correctly, so might not be a great fit for a lasercutter.
Generally, you have the same pins as the documentation, but you have one ground instead of 3, which changes nothing ( just wire one instead of 3, it’s the same internally anyway ).
Step/Dir are the same. Ignore enable ( or disable in your case ) for now and just set it to however your driver’s datasheet instructs to set it so it’s always enabled.
Cheers.
Thanks Arthur,
So, wire Direction to DIR pin, STEP to STP pin, Common (ground) to Ground pin, and set the driver as always enabled.
So besides that, what are the pins 11 and 12 for? They say its for a current resistor. Based on the amperage of the motor I believe you pick a current resister (they have a chart). But I am not sure if I fully understand how its wired. Is the current resistor wired to the board, and then wired to the driver or do I just use jumper cables with a correct current resister (i.e. 11 = Side 1 current resistor, 12 = Side 2 current resistor).
Also, can I ruin a stepper driver by wiring it incorrectly?
Thanks again!
Hey.
I think you just connect the resistor between 11 and 12 yes. It has nothing to do with Smoothieboard.
Drivers are pretty protected, unless you do something really stupid ( like, involving a skyscraper or lightning ) you shouldn’t be able to destroy it.
Hehe I’ll try not to drop it out of a speeding car 
Thanks for your input - I think this completes the picture.
Can’t wait to wire it up!