Looks like the differences are minimal between the two drivers.
The DM542 has a slightly lower voltage requirement having operating range from 18v-48v and a max current output of 4.2A
The DM545a has an operating range of 24v-50v with a max current rating of 4.5A
I also have not seen a reliable North American source for this driver
maybe here ? stepper motor driver-DM545A - China Changzhou Longs Motor I do not see pricing on their site.
Perhaps contacting Omtech first and see if the replacement drivers are available.
Unfortunately, Longs motors has a minimum order of 100 unitsā¦
I would check to see if it was replaceable with something that can be purchased without it being a headache to find and butā¦
If youāre right about the specifications these are 24V, no need for a 50V unitā¦ I havenāt looked at the specificationsā¦ Iād probably replace them both
DM542 are easily available on amazon. I would grab a pair of those. I used those for my second cnc. Driving some bigger nema 23 at full 4a @ 48 volts. They are very smooth and run my steppers nice and cool.
Definitely the first step is contacting OMTech. Should the laser be within whatever warranty you think it has, they might just send you a free replacement. It could happen.
To a reasonable approximation for this sort of laser, stepper driver bricks are interchangeable, but you should definitely buy from an actual company, rather than the usual online scammers who sell a wide assortment of stepper drivers, beach balls, and dog leashes.
You must learn more vocabulary before ordering.
The first manual I found online is for a DM545D stepper driver. According to the sticker in your photo, the stepper drivers in your (and my) laser are DM545A.
Note that the same switch settings on those two seemingly identical drivers select completely different step/rev values. The DM545A drivers in your (and my) laser are set for 5,000 step/rev by SW5-SW8. The same switch position on a DM545D select 50,000 step/rev: ten times higher!
LightObject deals in laser hardware and has some DM542ES drivers in stock:
They should be a drop-in replacement for the DM545A you have now. The motor current set by SW1-SW3 will be slightly different, but that doesnāt matter.
Note that their seemingly identical DM542 (no suffix) is completely different:
Before ordering anything, take a deep breath, contact OMTech, and discover what they can do.
Of course LightObject! I keep looking on their site at mechanical parts and XY stages etc. Shipping and duty is the killer for me to ship to Canada. Apart from that I have had good experience with them in the past.
@jkwilborn so I have replaced the driver and it now moves!!! Now I just need help getting my x and y axis reset because itās smacking the edges. I like my work to start from the top left corner and use that as my origin. And I am drawing a blank on how I set it the first timeš
The machine origin really isnāt a choice for the user.
Wherever the machine homes on power up is your originā¦and need to be set to the same corner in the Device Settings or the resulting output will be mirrored in some way.
This is determined by your home switch location.
It determines the quadrant the machine will operate. This is the quadrant systemā¦ Home is 0, 0
Iām going to be completely honest with you, that was absolutely no help to me. I do not know if Iām not understanding or youāre not understanding my question.
When I start my machine, it tries to home. it crashes at both ends of the x axis. I have reset both the X and Y axis on the controller. when it resets, the gantry still crashes.
I moved it to the center of the bed. And started it and it home in the top right corner. Previously it homed in the top left corner.
Also when I frame my project from Lightburn, it is not correct. I do not think I can control the axis from Lightburn either. I do not see that option or any arrows in Lightburn.
Powers on and homes to the top right. It used to home in the top left for some reason. I changed the driver. Now itās opposite. It now homes where the sensors are.
Everything seems to be normal.
Now the only issue I am having is that when I frame my project, it doubles in size than what Lightburn is showing.
When you replaced the driver, did you set the DIP switches to match the failed driverās step/rev and current settings? Unless the new driver is an exact match for the old one, the same switch positions can produce different results.
If the new driver is set for half the step/mm value as the old one, the axis will travel twice as far. The best fix is to set the DIP switches to produce twice the step/mm as they do now, which will make the motion match what it was.
Double-check the switches that set the current, as the new value should match (or not exceed) the previous driver.
I tried my best to match them as close as I thought made sense since they are not the exact same drivers. If I post a picture of my old one and the new one, would you be able to help me configure it to see if that is the problem?
