Would this work?
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Hello everyone,
I came up with an idea that would automatically keep my stepper motors cool, and I want to see if it would work before I put any effort into it.
I currently have heatsinks and fans on my stepper motors. They work great, but the fans are on when there is no need to have them on. So I came up with the idea of having the DuetWifi control the fans when the motors got above a set temperature. Just like the hotend fan. I would have thermistors on each motor, and a fan that is linked to each thermistor. That way if a motor started to get warm, the cooling fan would kick in. Plus it would allow me to see if a motor is getting to hot since the temperature would be displayed on the web control.
I would not be buying a Duex2 or Duex5 for this since I don't have the need for the additional stepper drivers and/or the heater MOSFETS. I would using the Duex5 schematic as a reference for designing my own board. I would use all the exact same parts as the Duex5, just without the extras I don't need.
So I am asking all the Duet gurus... Could I use the Duet to monitor some thermistors and control some fans to keep my stepper motors cool without having the fans on all the time?
thermistors
Thanks
TCP.S. One option I did start on, is making a circuit using a comparator that would turn on a fan when the temperature went above a set level. I would do this idea if the Duet idea would not work.
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Yes the Duet can do it. You can configure virtual heaters that use the extra thermistor inputs, and have them control the extra fans thermostatically.
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Wonderful, thank you
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If you want something much simpler, just wire a KSD9700 thermostatic switch (NO, normally-open) in series with your fan, and attach / glue / zip-tie it to you stepper housing.
Cheap, simple, easily removable, and does not require any active electronics. -
Thank you for the suggestion, but I want to use active electronics. I want to have the ability to adjust what temperature the fans turn on.
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