stepper motors wired 2 metres from motor driver using shielded wire

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello,

I’m about to build a circuit that has two stepper motors that each run at 3v and 1.7a.

They will run off of two TB660’s connected to 1 uno board. I have attached the data sheet for the driver. Each TB660 will be powered by a 12v mains supply.

I have also attached a schematic from the manufactures website.

The drivers will both run when activated by a motion sensor.

Due to the nature of the project I need to place the stepper motors about 2 metres away from the arduino and stepper motor drivers. The motors will not be together, but both 2 metres away from the arduino and driver in opposite directions.

I have read up a bit on using shielded cat 5 wires, but wondered if anyone had any experience. Running stepper motors at distance from the drivers and arduino? And the best ways to go about this?

Thanks,

TB6600 User Guide V1.2.pdf (442 KB)

DRI0043_Connection.png
DRI0043_Connection.png875×608 91.2 KB

2

I don't know, is the short answer.

I have some of these motors and they came with about 1.2m of unshielded cable which seems to work fine. My guess is that you won't have a problem.

As your motors need 1.7 amps I would use heavier cable than what is in CAT5 or CAT6. The more copper the less resistance in the cable. However I am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert in these matters.

Driving the motors with a higher voltage might also be a good idea (subject to the limits of the TB6600 driver). Just make sure to set the current limit on the drivers to match your motors.

...R
Stepper Motor Basics
Simple Stepper Code

3

Hi,
CAT cable will not help, you will get to much volt drop.

You could look at multicored cable that the Autoshops sell for wiring trailers to plugs and lights.

5 or 7 core, and it is designed for at least a couple of Amps, shielding is not needed.

Tom... :slight_smile:

4

Thanks for you replies,

I found some 5 core automotive cable from here.

I can get it in 1.00m and .75mm cores, the specs are below:

ALT/TW05/01-01 5 x 1.00m2 cores 16.5 Amp per core. 6.30mm o/dia
ALT/TW05/02-01 5 x 0.75mm2 cores 14 Amp. Amp per core. 6.25mm o/did

Would you recommend trying the circuit with 1.00m core as it will have less resistance?

And is it good practice to ground the remaining, 5th, cable to the arduino?

The TB6600 stepper motor driver has an input range between 9-42v. I could run 24v or even 36v in to power it.

Thanks,

5

I would buy the heavier cable just to be sure. You should be able to find a formula online that allows you work out the difference in resistance between the two sizes of wire.

I would just isolate the unwanted strand so it can accidentally connect to anything. I don't think there is any value in grounding it.

...R