Have railcore with 4 tools, needs new controller, which one?

[gnydick]

My duet2 Ethernet and duex both have fried bits on them, want to just replace them. Should I get the same thing or is there a benefit to the duet3 lineup for this application?

[dc42]

@gnydick in the coming years the firmware for Duet 3 will have more features than Duet 2.

[gnydick]

It's hard to know exactly what the best value for money setup would be using duet3 as there are different combinations to get me the same motion system and tool count, along with, IIRC some quirks with tool boards vs direct connection.

Is there a guide somewhere with the express purpose of comparing for the sake of making this sort of decision?

[dc42]

@gnydick probably the main difference between Duet 3 MB6HC and Duet 3 Mini is the rated current of the stepper motor outputs. The 6HC can support up to 6.3A peak. The Duet 3 Mini is most comfortable at 1.5A peak or less but can be pushed to about 1.8A peak with good cooling. So it depends on the size of the machine and the rated current of the stepper motors.

The 6HC also has a faster processor and more RAM, however if you will only be using one tool at a time that that's unlikely to matter.

HTH David

[gnydick]

@dc42 yes, that helps. But, with CAN bus on board and on tool distribution board, both look like they have 2 rj11, I can't tell what is exactly needed. Do I need tool expansion board to use tool boards?

[dc42]

@gnydick the tool distribution board isn't essential but it makes it easier to connect multiple tool boards.