The stepper driver on my Warthog controller board fried itself, support says I’ll need to buy a new board but at that point I’d rather just switch the system to something more capable like Mach 4. For now, I’d like to try and replace the burnt chip through microsoldering.
I’ve found a source for the chips online and I’m planning to get a few, considering they’re so cheap, in case I screw up the first time, which I probably will. I’ve done plenty of soldering before but never microsoldering, but this seems like a decent opportunity to learn. My main concern is that the chip itself is surrounded by so many smaller components that may come loose, but considering the relatively low cost of replacing the chip, I feel like this would be something worth attempting? I’ve watched some videos on the subject and the process seems relatively straightforwards given some patience
If this is a bad I idea and I should avoid it, please let me know, otherwise, suggestions or information about this would be greatly appreciated.
Maybe check out hot air soldering with solder paste and a solder stencil to lay down the paste on the solder pads. Then place the new chip on the paste and hit it with the hot air.
EDIT: You know, after looking into it to post a few links, it’s a lot more involved and expensive than I remember when I was looking into it a couple of years ago.
Might be better / less expensive to just do what you wrote - practice on a spare one before trying the real one.
Maybe check out hot air soldering with solder paste and a solder stencil to lay down the paste on the solder pads. Then place the new chip on the paste and hit it with the hot air.
EDIT: You know, after looking into it to post a few links, it’s a lot more involved and expensive than I remember when I was looking into it a couple of years ago.
Might be better / less expensive to just do what you wrote - practice on a spare one before trying the real one.
I got a cheap hot air soldering station to remove the chip. From what I’ve found the chip should be big enough to resolder each pin one by one with a small iron tip
I would look at covering other components with tape or some kind of heat shield to keep the hot air off of them.
I have an extensive background in soldering. However not with those tiny components. It wont hurt to try but I think you may have to replace your board in the end.
So if you have to replace the board what are your options. Of course you can get the C3D board and just keep going as usual. There are other alternatives and of those alternatives you to give yourself the option of a 4th axis. A rotary axis would be quite nice on a big machine like the HDM. The cobbling on the smaller machines does not seem worth the effort.
So if you end up replacing the controller what will you replace it with?
I looked into it some more and blown stepper drivers seem to be a relatively common problem. Given that all the other motors and functions work normally, I think the problem is isolated to that X axis, whether it’s only the driver or with some of the components next to it.
The component itself is less than 3 dollars a piece, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll at least learn some microsoldering and board repair, which is something I’ve wanted to try for some time now.
I was thinking of going with Mach 4, but given that the chip is only 3 dollars, I thought I would at least give it a try. Even if it does end up working, I’ll still probably end up switching the system to Mach4 and smoothstepper sometime soon. My HDM fried mid part, so I just need to finish up a project that I’m working on right now.
I’ve looked into some 4th axis stuff to see what I would be getting myself into, and I’ll probably end up switching cam software to something like freecad that lets you do simultaneous 4th axis for free.
The stepper motor drivers on all C3D boards should have been designed to be replaceable from day 1. Simple .1" header pin boards with female sockets on the main board for each driver and its capacitors would reduce so much electronic waste and allow for EZ repairs.
