Hi guys,
Just to clarify one thing.
As sling says,
The VID66-06 selection in AM is absolutely the correct one to use for any industry standard stepper driver. -
@Corjan @Ralph - Please (pretty please ?
) can we have a generic industry standard option to remove confusion with the vid66 ? - it is exactly the same I believe. It just needs to be called something else. - and it would be really useful to clarify the role of the VID66-06 (hardware) in that it is excellent, BUT, limited to the X.xx series automotive steppers. and, also the X.xx steppers are limited to certain drivers.
(yes, It was me who asked it to be clarified in wiki)
but it is absolutely worth repeating the above and noting that the VID66-06
DRIVER IC / BOARD cannot be used with just
any stepper. This chip is specifically designed to work with the X27 X.XX type automotive instrument stepper motors. Certainly not the normal steppers an A4988 would drive !
For the BYJ, then the choice is absolutely
not the VID66 IC /
BOARD - or any board using the VID66-06 ... but,
it IS the only current option to chose in AM for the signalling as that is the only thing in AM that produces the correct (and again, industry standard) step / direction outputs.
I hope that is clear as it seems a bit ass backwards at first glance.
The above is really important. if I am not explaining it well enough then please ask and then I or others will try to help to clarify.
In the same way that you should never try to run an actual X27 X.XX automotive stepper from a 4988 driver board, although you would still need to select (at the moment) the VID66-06 option within AM to even control the A4988 board in the first place ....
- yes, it can be a bit head banging.
Anyway, regarding the a4988 and the BYJ
First you need to Modify the BYJ from unipolar to bipolar - see this link to a thread I posted in -
https://siminnovations.com/forums/viewt ... 459#p36459
Then,
after getting rid of the red wire and cutting the track as per the thread, use a simple multimeter to find the two coils. - if you are unsure how to do this please ask.
Mark these (I usually simply twist the end of the pairs together a turn or so and then tape them) - or you could use a bit of heat shrink.
then if you check this page you will see the connections for the easydriver board-
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/ea ... -guide/all
Connect one coil pair from the modded byj to the A+ A- pins, and the other coil to the B+ B- pins thats it. - if it runs in the wrong direction reverse the pins in one set of coils only.
The above also applies to any other standard bipolar stepper as far as coil finding and connection is concerned (be it for an A4988 or Easydriver etc.)
If using something like a NEMA 17 or 23, then coil pair finding is even easier as the motor is non geared. You don't even need a multimeter. Just play with the 4 wires and find two wires that when connected make the motor more difficult to turn by hand than without any wires connected - you will easily feel the difference. When you find a pair that makes the motor more difficult to turn, mark those wires as one coil. then the other 2 are the other coil. That's it. after that - same as above.
Hope that helps ?
Joe