Adding driver to Duet 2 wifi?

KennethR

Hi,
I have a dead driver on my Duet3D 2 Wifi. Instead of trashing the whole board I’m considering using the Duet expansion breakout board, buy a TCM2209 and connect to one of the additional driver interfaces. Would that work after remapping the motor in the config file?

BR Kenneth

oliof

@KennethR I believe you would need a TMC2660 to work on the Duet 2 Wifi without firmware changes. It may be easier to find a friend who can do replace the SMD tmc. It worked for me.

droftarts

@KennethR The Duet Expansion Breakout Board is really for driving larger external stepper drivers, as it provides 5V signalling. Most smaller stepper drivers work with 3.3V signalling, so can be connected to the expansion header, or CONN_LCD header. Most TMC stepper drivers need some configuration by the firmware, usually over I2C or SPI, but this can't be done when connected to the expansion header. So you need to use a breakout board that sets the configuration for you, or use a simpler stepper driver. For more info and examples, see https://docs.duet3d.com/en/User_manual/Connecting_hardware/Motors_connecting_external

So long as it is not generating errors, though these can be turned off with M569 R-1, the existing internal and any external stepper drivers should work fine. Though as @oliof says, it may be easier to replace the dead driver on the Duet. There are some people on the forum who might undertake that work for you: https://forum.duet3d.com/topic/13875/community-repairs

Ian

KennethR

Thank you both. Based on the recommendation from Oliof I decided to have a go at replacing the driver myself. I have been doing some electronics myself over the years, but I have never worked with SMD components before.

Well, Youtube is your friend and I found a video showing how to use special solder with a low melting point (Chip-quick) that you add to the solder already present on the old component. That way it’s easy to keep all the solder in a fluid State and the component can easily be removed.

Then it’s ‘just’ about learning the right technique to solder(and to use LOTS of flux).

It worked at my first try

It did bring some expenses of course. I didnt have the flux nor the special solder and I of course had to buy a driver as well. All in all I guess my cost was €40-50,- but I have flux and special solder to last me a lifetime and learned how to fix this if it happens again.

BR Kenneth

oliof

@KennethR happy to hear you were able to make it work and you picked up some valuable skills along the way.