If you're running a 24V supply (you should), you can connect the Z motors in series and drive them with one driver. I wouldn't recommend that if you're using 12V. In that case, you can assign an unused driver to the Z axis in the config file and run the two motors from two drivers.I believe that board uses DRV8825 drivers. There are a couple companies selling little plug-in boards for the purpose or you can just wire diodes to the leads yourself. The selection of those drivers for that board should indicate the quality of engineering you can expect. AFAIK, you won't get any tech support from MKS, and the smoothie folks are reluctant to help until after you've tried and failed to get help from the MKS people.If you want your printer to be very reliable and not need a lot of tweaking, connect the Z axis screws with a loop belt and drive them with a single motor. Series connection works with 12V also, withouth problems.
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Been doing that for a year now. Well, the MKS Sbase just works, and the same with Smoothie, not much support needed. You are right about Sbase needing diode hacks. I used to make my own, but I now use Trianglelabs TL-smoothers that are nice boards that are supplied with the intermediary cable and heatshrink tube to be shrunk around the board. Running Z with a loop belt is a nice idea, but would force to rebuild almost the whole printer.
With an i3 based design it is easier just to print a couple of blocks that you can use against the frame on a suitable palce to manually level the x-rods if they have gotten out of alignment. In printers with the X axis lifted by two motors and screws, the alignment of the axes is critically dependent on maintaining sync between those motors and screws.
Among the many ways the screws get out of sync are simply using the printer. Every time the motors are powered up (and maybe when they are powered down), they snap to their nearest whole step motor positions. There is no guarantee that they turn the same amount or even the same direction. Over time and use the errors can accumulate and result in the X axis tilting relative to the Z axis.People (and autoleveling) usually compensate by releveling the bed to match the now tilted X axis. Leveling the bed against a tilted X axis will get the first layer of the print to stick but it doesn't change the fact that the axes are out of alignment.
Good explanation for a noob also, I'm setting my new printer with dual Z axis Nema17 motors (from Anet A8) and a MKS Gen with DRV8825. In this way, if I connect the motors in serial mode to the DRV8825 (board powered at 12V), what's the VREF should I use? I think my motors are similar to SL42STH40-1684A (2,8V / 1.65ohm / 1.68A). Thanks for your. Jun 16, 2018 MKS Gen L 1.0. Rebels without a clause. HY1403 which are rated for 4.5 Amps two for the dual hotends plus fan control there an additional 12 V out next to X axis which could be used for a V6 fan. Nice feature to have for such a budget board. Other than the Gen 1.4 board being a little larger and maybe not so.
The net result is skewed prints.If all you ever print are Yoda heads and tugboats it doesn't really matter, but as soon as you try to print threaded parts that screw together, tightly fitting lids for boxes, or gears that mesh, you'll wonder why they rarely work right. The error accumulation/releveling process usually goes on until the Z axis binds or the bed leveling screws run out of adjustment range and then the person posts a message here or at reprap forums asking what's wrong with their printer.
The answer should be obvious- the printer has a design flaw. Autoleveling is a band-aid that was designed to cover up the flaw and keep the printer working a little longer, but it doesn't fix the problem.The only real fix is to use a looped belt to drive both screws with a single motor. The screws can't get out of sync. I haven't had to tweak the X axis alignment in over 2 years on that printer, since the last time I took the X axis off to make a modification.In printers in which the screws lift the bed in the Z axis the problem isn't quite as critical. The axes maintain their alignment even if the screws lose sync, so accurate prints can still be made. If the screws lose sync the bed support tilts (along with the bed) and can be corrected by releveling the bed, and autoleveling will work fine, at least until the bed support and bed tilt so far that the mechanism binds. Then the person operating the printer will post a message here wondering what's wrong with their printer.Besides preventing the misalignment problem, using a looped belt has another big advantage over using mutiple motors.
When you want to raise the X axis, maybe to do some work on the bed or extruder, with two or more motors you have to power up the machine and maybe the computer that drives it, start up the host software, get the two talking to each other, then jog the Z axis. If the printer has an LCD screen you have to step through multiple menus to raise the Z axis. In a machine with a single motor driving two or more screws with a looped belt, you don't have to power up the machine or the computer.
All you do is pull on the belt and you can raise and lower the Z axis without worrying about the screws losing sync. I have worked on both types of machines and can tell you that it is much easier to work on a machine that has a belt to keep the screws in sync. The belt also makes zeroing the Z axis much easier. Wow, thank you for the education!This has to be the single most thorough answer I have ever received!I really appreciate the time and thought that went into this answer and can now fully understand these benefits.I now know what my next project is!I have been looking around to find a good new metal frame to replace the acrylic garbage, im thinking the 8020 rails will be good & I should just build my new frame and printer using my ANET & then move over the last few parts when I get to that point. Single motor belt loop is the way to go!.
Welcome!This sub is for all things related to the Creality Ender 3 3D printer.The sub was started to be a good place to find information about anything related to the Ender 3 from setup, to help with your prints, to showing off some of your creations.Feel free to ask questions, look for advice, post about issues, and search for suggestions. Most folks will be happy to help.
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