A3979 A3986 these seem like great motor driver chips micro stepping lots of power

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joshua w.

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Dec 2, 2009, 11:48:56 PM12/2/09
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A3979 A3986 these seem like great motor driver chips micro stepping
lots of power.
If the ...86 can handle more why not drive it with less if the motors
are small and the price is similar to the other chip. This would give
this project a 1/16 th step & allow more current if needed.

Vitaly Mankevich

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Dec 3, 2009, 12:17:31 AM12/3/09
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Sounds like a good idea, would it be able to run off ATX PSU?

joshua wojnas

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Dec 3, 2009, 1:51:43 AM12/3/09
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The A3979 also has a lower cost TI chip option & it does not have
external resistors... etc like the larger chip.
I did a few searches and it apears it has worked for some in servo
magazine & some others had some problems with it.
But it has more power than the maker bot stuff & should run at 12-15
volts supplied by a pc power supply but maby a laptop one could be a
better solution because they can run at 18V.

This can be done in kicad and my last board design I put a picture on
the back by using a script that turned the picture into a modules silk
screen & came out nice. Since I would want to make a nice heat sink
why not also have the contraptor logo on their. :)
That would be the word Contraptor and a black on white inkscape
tracing of the gear with the modular parts in it.

Kicad is what I use if you guys want to install it & watch some
youtube videos on it or curious inventor tutorials that might help.


thanks for your time,
Joshua Wojnas
315 5071070
My webpages on electronics
... comming soon

Vitaly Mankevich

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Dec 3, 2009, 2:19:23 AM12/3/09
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> The A3979 also has a lower cost TI chip option & it does not have
> external resistors... etc like the larger chip.
> I did a few searches and it apears it has worked for some in servo
> magazine & some others had some problems with it.
> But it has more power than the maker bot stuff & should run at 12-15
> volts supplied by a pc power supply but maby a laptop one could be a
> better solution because they can run at 18V.
It might work, I'm not sure how much power goes into three stepper
boards. Laptop adapters I've seen are under 100W. Cost of laptop
adapter vs PC power supply is also a consideration.

> This can be done in kicad and my last board design I put a picture on
> the back by using a script that turned the picture into a modules silk
> screen & came out nice. Since I would want to make a nice heat sink
> why not also have the contraptor logo on their. :)
> That would be the word Contraptor and a black on white inkscape
> tracing of the gear with the modular parts in it.

That would be great!

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