TMC2100 guide - Stepper driver upgrades part 1 / How to set VREF & firmware

Changing the mainboard in my Ender 3 to a MKS Gen L made it possible to fit a colour touch screen and now upgraded stepper motor drivers. In this first part of a three part series, we explore what stepper motors and stepper drivers are, before showing the setup for A4988, DRV8825 and TMC210 drivers. This includes how to measure and set driver current with the VREF, configuring microstepping and any necessary Marlin firmware changes.

This series has been one of the most requested I've ever had, and it has also been very time intensive in terms of research, testing, filming and making graphics. My aim is to make a definite guide that a novice can follow to achieve a great result.

When weighing up the cost of this, compare each stepper driver to a set of stepper dampers and/or TL smoothers. Neither will be necessary with a TMC driver. 2208 and 2130 guides to come.

Some notes:
- Never plug in stepper drivers or stepper motors while the power is on.
- Set VREF with the 12V/24V power connected, not 5V from the USB.
- Set VREF with the stepper unplugged.
- Stepper current should be as low as possible to limit heat. If too low, the stepper motors will skip steps. If too hot, they will be too hot to touch.
- The VREF values shown were correct for my Ender 3. Always go through the calculations yourself rather than simply copying mine.
- I am not liable for any damage your cause to yourself or your printer from following this guide.

Purchase these drivers from the following links:

Summary of driver installation:

A4988:
1. All jumpers in for 1/16 microstepping
2. Set vref
3. No firmware changes

DRV8825:
1. All jumpers in for 1/32 microstepping
2. Set vref
3. Double steps per mm for any DRV8825 equipped axis in firmware

TMC2100:
1. Remove all jumpers
2. Set vref
3. Reverse stepper direction for any TMC2100 equipped axis in firmware
4. If skipping steps while printing: Solder a wire across CFG1 and GND to switch to spreadcycle mode OR lower acceleration values in firmware.

Take a look around and if you like what you see, please subscribe.

#3dprinting #tmc2100 #upgrade

[MaksSwiderekUK]

You're honestly the best 3D printing channel that I've come across so far. I find an answer to my question within a minute. I hope you're making a good living out of this because you deserve every penny.

[FilamentFriday]

Well done. Good summary of the driver differences.

[bess]

You are a real teacher. This is one of the best channels on a 3D printer.

[JAKON]

This video is the only place I could find any information about the A4988 drivers causing zebra stripes. Thank you.

[sharnapankhurst]

Thank you for these videos, I am planning to do the MKS Gen L upgrade down the track and these comparisons of the stepper drivers (as well as your MKS Gen L video) are hugely helpful.

[danstreelman]

Thank you for all your videos...I have a MKS Gen L and a set of 2208's on the way, Looking forward to your video about the 2208!

[jakefromstatefarm]

This is great bro! Very thorough. I love this step by step (no pun intended) approach to test potential upgrade considerations.

[louis-ericsimard]

That is *the* video that was missing from YouTube on this topic. Thanks for making it !

[BladeDreams]

Also looking forward to the TMC2208 upgrade videos, so much info on the webs... - cut these - dont cut these pins - just change settings in marlin....
Just want a plain easy to follow how to - and the end printed results for doing so. And - you do that very well. Thank you very much :)

[TheWinkaway]

As always Michael, your videos are excellent and with the uprise of 3d printing you are blazing the way. Keep up the awesome videos

[aggronn]

nice video, you always compare very well. Can't wait to see the next video

[CuguTuxo]

This one is realy good unlike some previous videos. Great job Michael, looking forward to the second part!

[Reducer]

Wow, after hearing that difference in sound levels I'm not sure if it's technology or magic. I've only had my printer for two months and it's sitting on my desk, so I'll definitely look into this.

[LiveMusicOntario]

Another clearly laid out tutorial. From what I have seen in the series so far, my stock Ender 2 (my entry into 3D printing) is probably a non-starter for many of the upgrades I've seen.
I think I'm OK to add in a MOSFET for the bed because that's what I call an accessory, i.e. not tinkering with the main board components, it's all outboard.
Also a V6 hot end on its way, with a higher 50W cartridge.

All I've done to it so far is the metal/rubber dampers on X and Y. Not as slick a solution but still so quiet that I keep going into the room to check on progress because I no longer have an audible clue that the printer is even moving.

[davidwollen]

Thank you SO much - one of the drivers on my Artillery Sidewinder blew and before your video I had no idea how what VREF was or how to sort it.

[deceitive]

Hey Michael, great guide!
I just finished my 2208 upgrade 2 days ago and ran into an issue with board versions that might be useful info for your 2208 video. I ordered the Fystec branded boards from Banggood and was expecting to receive the ver 1.0 boards pictured, however I was shipped ver 1.2 instead which has the UART and PDN pins instead of NC (not connected). I spent a couple hours researching whether the 2 versions could be swapped interchangeably in standalone (legacy) mode, and/or how to switch modes. Here's how to determine which mode you are in:

1) Find the 3 pins named "CLK" "PDN", & "UART" and then flip the board over to the chip side.

2) There will be 3 small solder pads meant for switching between UART and Standalone mode. These three pads are closest to those 3 pins.

3A) If any of those 3 pads have solder bridging them together, you will need to remove the solder.

or
3B) In my case there was some solder on 2 of the pads, but it was not creating a bridge between them. If you find the same on yours (or no solder at all) you do not need to do anything further to run in standalone mode.

Banggood must have run out of ver 1.0 boards and were instead desoldering the bridge themselves to revert it back to 1.0 compatible. I'm really glad I got the ver 1.2 boards though, I plan on trying out UART soon and that should be easier with these. For now just wanted to get the machine up and running since my Melzi board fried on me about a month ago, decided to just upgrade rather than replace it. Now I'm printing out a Petsfang so I can attach my new BL Touch as well!

Thanks for all your guides, they were very helpful!
Cheers

[Jamesn-jszp]

Really looking forward to your future tutorial on the 2208 & 2230 stepper drivers. Hopefully you test them on the Ender 3. I've read elsewhere that the stepper motors run extremely hot when using these drivers so hopefully you also cover this issue.

[shutlexpc]

Helpful as usual, thanks Mate!!
Just waiting for the tmc2130/2208 video as I purchased a set of 2208 for the Gen L in my ender 3

[Pedro]

Great video! Now I finally understand vref and microstepping. Looking forward to the 2208 video as well as I want to put a chimera on my Ender.

[DevilbyMoonlight]

good info will be useful to many folk out there, it just happens that am changing the steppers out in my printers, I've just upgraded my kossel with 3x 2130's in its trigorila board- there are no jumpers I can remove but seems to work - it also took a little bit of soldering but was worth it for the noise reduction but had to drop the acceleration down to 1400 to stop the layer shifting when printing at 60mm/s, there are a few more minor tweaks needed but its definately getting there... I intend to be dropping 2x 2130's in a my ender 3 and fit lv8729's in one of my ramps boards for my cr10 when time allows