I’m building my OpenBuild Cbeam XL and using a TinyG as my controller with a 36V, Mouser power supply. I additionally purchased 4 DQ542MA Stepper Motor Drivers. From everything I have been reading the TinyG may not need the additional drivers, but I want to ensure that I get a smooth movement along the X,Y,Z axis. Does anyone know who to wire up this configuration? Is it not needed? Any tips would be helpful. Noob level 1 so don’t beat me up. 😊
TinyG and DQ542MA Stepper Motor Drivers?
From the original Synthetos forum (2011–2025)
You will receive the best tips, guidelines, and assistance on the Google + community’s sites for both open builds and TinyG. Specifically for running the TinyG on Chilipeppr, or even another gcode runner, you will get the best/quickest help there. The best contact is John Laurer, who runs it. I use TinyG and it works well. You don’t necessarily need an external driver for the controller unless you need more than 2.5A of power per motor. I run Nema 23s and it has been sufficient.
I agree with Gallen66 that external drivers are not required for tinyG to run NEMA 23s, but you will get maximum stepper performance, should you need it, with those external drivers.
Many folks do run with external drivers, particularly those with long running (hours at a time) Gcodes controlling high current steppers.
If you choose not to use your external drivers, be sure to provide adequate moving air (a fan) for tinyG
It is a builders choice.
I'll add that if you do run high current/high torque motors, you should routinely check fastener torque, particularly pulley set screws.
It's not 100% clear that some of the machine designs in service were designed to handle the power (torque) that is available these days.
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