Duex4!? usefulness
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A long time ago I got some old 2nd hand Duet3D hardware. I believe this to be Duex4's (rev 0.2 and 0.2a). Do they have any practical use (in combination with my operational Duet2 wifi) Documentation on these boys seems to be scarce.
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The pinout of the 50 way cable has changed so you would need to make up a special cable. If you did that, then in principle it should be possible to use the stepper drivers and heaters on it. You would need to set the motor currents on the X4 using M260 commands.
Duet WiFi hardware designer and firmware engineer
Please do not ask me for Duet support via PM or email, use the forum
http://www.escher3d.com, https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com -
@dc42 Is there any documentation on the Duex4 available?
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Schematics are in here: https://github.com/T3P3/Duet/tree/master/Archive_Files
Should have the PDF available with the pinout of the connector:
https://github.com/T3P3/Duet/blob/master/Archive_Files/Duex4v0.2a/Duetx4_v2a_Schematic.pdf
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@Nxt-1 said in Duex4!? usefulness:
what are the current ratings on all the chips
Google for the win:
Disaster? The original Printeye is dying with RRF 3.5 (M208 depreciated).
PrintPy2024 to the rescue!
MicroPython based; with simple wiring and and no custom PCB. -
@EasyTarget said in Duex4!? usefulness:
@Nxt-1 said in Duex4!? usefulness:
what are the current ratings on all the chips
Google for the win:
I did see the datasheet, but datasheet level performance is not always achieved. Especially when thermals are involved.
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@Nxt-1 said in Duex4!? usefulness:
level performance is not always achieved
Fair enough
though I'd take it as a good starting point in the absence of hunting down and reading the docs. DC tends to design boards that can use the full power of the chips.
Speaking of docs; I came across this (possibly not as easy to hunt down):
http://blog.think3dprint3d.com/2015/04/duex4-v02a-minor-updates.html
I think that addresses your 'differences' question. -
Apropos to nothing (tl:dr)
Having just skimmed the schematics; If I had one of these lying around I'd be VERY tempted to hook it up to a ESP32-DEV board and my in-progress MPCNC inspired laserEngraver.
With grbl-esp32, an SD card shield, and some dupont Jumpers this could make a superb controller for such a machine. I'm already using a similar setup on my 1610 CNC and like it a lot.
- For an industrial CNC a Duet would make far more sense, and offer far more features. But a home CNC with just 3 axes, two mosfets (enable , fans) and a pin for the laser PWM makes the esp32 route very appealing.
- Plus, dare I say it, I think grbl-esp32 is a better firmware for such application than RRF. In particular it's laser mode is superb; when enabled the firmware will not allow the laser to remain on when stationary. period. It scales the laser power as a function of actual vs. set speed; making it very hard to over-burn line ends and corners, or start fires if the job halts unexpectedly.
Disaster? The original Printeye is dying with RRF 3.5 (M208 depreciated).
PrintPy2024 to the rescue!
MicroPython based; with simple wiring and and no custom PCB. -
@EasyTarget said in Duex4!? usefulness:
Plus, dare I say it, I think grbl-esp32 is a better firmware for such application than RRF. In particular it's laser mode is superb; when enabled the firmware will not allow the laser to remain on when stationary. period. It scales the laser power as a function of actual vs. set speed; making it very hard to over-burn line ends and corners, or start fires if the job halts unexpectedly.
I'd say you're not wrong at the time of writing; but I suspect it will become less correct in the near future, some improvements have already been made and I suspect it'll receive more attention as the current tradeshow and duet 3 release become a thing of the past. As the firm-/soft-ware matures for non FDM printing modes; exciting times ahead.
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@bearer said in Duex4!? usefulness:
As the firm-/soft-ware matures for non FDM printing modes
Yes, I agree; it's something I've been waiting to appear; lack of a safe lasermode is the only thing that would put me off a Duet for laser use.
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That is running the same drivers as v0.6 / v0.8.5 which had an advised 1.5A current limit with cooling.
This driver does 16 microsteps, bit no driver interpolation to 256 steps.
I had a layer shift on a print when running at 1450mA which I think was the drivers dropping into thermal protection. The board was mounted vertically.
