Where to buy inexpensive, reliable stepper drivers in Canada. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Langdon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 13, 2025, 10:51:26 pm
content: I am in Canada.I have a 3-axis CNC machine from around 30 years ago that I am refurbishing.The original stepper drivers are all broken and horrendously inefficient.I have purchased one "DM556" driver off Ebay that works with every axis.I am totally certain that alll other components (stepper motors, parallel port card, power supply, breakout board, and mechanical parts) work without problem.Power supply options are: ~40VDC and ~40VACThe motors are 4.6A steppers.I need a driver capable of 4.6A (at least)Where should I buy 2 more drivers for the other two axes?I am not buying from Ebay ever again.I am not dealing with USPS shipping either.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 13, 2025, 10:54:34 pm
content: Quote from: Langdon on January 13, 2025, 10:51:26 pmwhy not ebay?

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 14, 2025, 08:20:59 am
content: Well, the DM556 drivers are available on Amazon and AliExpress. I can also see them in a couple of online stores here in Australia.Ebay or Amazon are probably the easiest, but sometimes you get a bad seller or just unlucky enough to have a bad experience.Shop around. See if you can find someone local to you. They might cost substantially more though.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2025, 06:44:02 pm
content: I have bought quite a lot of stuff from Aliexpress myself. When you buy BJT's or Fet's they tend to be fake, never dared to buy an USB stick or SD card from there. But overall experiences are quite acceptable on average. When you go for the "cheapest" deal, quality seems to be quite a lot worse then when you're willing to pay a bit more for a similar product. For example, I've bought two 24000 RPM spindles, my first was a cheap one, and I bought the second from G-Penny, and it seems a lot better in quality, but I have not run it yet. It's been gathering dust for 3 or more years now, while progress on my second CNC machine is very slow indeed.But every now and then something does go wrong. I've had a few packets which never arrived, at least one packet got scrapped or sent back because I only had a week to go to the post office to get my package though the last 3km, and christmas and new year got in between. I just write it off. Even with those outliers, buying "western made" products would have been much more expensive. Prohibitively expensive even.I've also bought a bunch of stepper motors (most Nema23 112mm long, some Nema17 and two Nema34 10Nm), and I never had a problem with those. But there are quality differences. On Hackaday / Youtube there was a test in which similarly sized Nema17 motors had a factor 2 to 3 in performance difference. With stepper motors, there is also a tradeoff between torque and maximum speed.For the bigger motors, I won't be buying open loop motors anymore. the closed loop versions perform much better, and the price difference is becoming negligible. Usually you can also use a closed loop driver with an open loop motor, you just disable the feedback with a dip switch. This does give you the option to upgrade the motors later.Here in the EU, there are also a bunch of "local" shops which sell the same stuff as what you can find on Aliexpress / Ebay / China, and I guess similar options are available in Canada too. But if you don't trust a courier, then those also become more complicated to order from.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2025, 10:21:35 pm
content: Quick google finds this:https://abra-electronics.com/electromechanical/motors/motor-controllers/mot-dm556.htmlhttps://www.stepperonline.ca/leadshine-digital-stepper-driver-0-5-5-6a-20-50vdc-for-nema-17-23-24-stepper-motor-dm556.html(lead time though)First one doesn't have leadshine branding, not sure if that matters.

author: Langdon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2025, 02:16:51 pm
content: DM556 are too small.I actually need DM860.I need 6.5A peak.

author: Langdon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2025, 09:24:05 pm
content: The seller on newegg mysteriously disappeared.I got my money back though.Where do I buy a DM860?I am not paying a lot for some knockoff.If it's cheap, it should at least be inexpensive.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2025, 09:41:44 pm
content: The best quality motor drivers and robot stuff I find atPololuLas Vegas NV.SolarboticsCalgary might be worth a look.

author: LaserSteve
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2025, 04:59:46 pm
content: Anaheim Automation might have a Canadian distributer?https://anaheimautomation.com/I know, 3X the cost of Amazon, but it will be reliable.Steve

author: Langdon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 11, 2025, 03:56:31 pm
content: I ended up buying 2 of these:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007737637928.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.3f911802o14bkDThey should arrive in 4-18 days(I don't believe the "4")