How do StepStick Protectors work and what exactly do they protect?
If I use them with Pololu style stepper drivers, can I unplug for example the motor while the driver is powered without damaging the driver?
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asked Jun 6, 2019 at 11:38
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$\begingroup$ The linked drivers protectors use flyback diodes, a very good article can be found here. It is fairly complicated to explain in other words (I'm no electrical engineer); someone with an electrical engineering background might be able to explain it more simple. You can also try posting the question on EE.SE. $\endgroup$– 0scar ♦Commented Jun 6, 2019 at 20:08
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To Protect, or Not to Protect
From the web site you reference:
The SilentStepStick Protector is an add-on module for StepStick and Pololu A4988 compatible stepper motor drivers. The board provides flyback diodes (freewheeling diodes) for the motor outputs, so that they are also protected against induction voltages in the unpowered state of the driver.
The v2 protector also contains a diode from the logic voltage (anode) to the motor voltage (cathode), so that the power supply order of all SilentStepSticks is always guaranteed.
Since I assume you've read this, please indulge some explanation of the electrical engineering.
Motors
Every motor has a part called the "rotor" that rotates, and a part called the "stator" that is stationary.
In the stepper motors usually used in 3D printers, the rotor is a permanent magnet and the stator consists of coils of wire. In normal operation, the current flowing through the coils creates a magnetic field. The rotor aligns itself with the field of the stator. To move, the stator field is shifted by changing the current in the coils, and the magnetic force causes the rotor to rotate to align the fields.
Generated Voltages
As Faraday discovered, a changing magnetic field induces a voltage in a wire. There are two ways that the magnetic field changes. The first is that the current changes or stops. That introduces little high voltage blips into the motor coils. The motor drivers are well prepared to handle this blips. The second is when the rotor is forced to turn by an outside force, such as sliding the bed. As these voltages are not related to action the motor driver is causing, some of the techniques used to handle the voltage spikes may not be as robust.
The protection boards you point to consist of diodes to limit the magnitude of the voltages that the coil can produce. This is redundant with the diodes and protections built into the driver chips, but it may offer stronger protection.
Benefits?
In this responder's opinion, you are unlikely to see a great benefit from these boards, but perhaps there are vulnerabilities I am unaware of. You are also unlikely to do any harm.
You asked specifically if, with the protectors installed, you could unplug the motor while it is passing current. The protectors may help with that, or they may not. Interrupt the connection creates a spark, and arcing through the air, that makes many high-frequency components which may not (or may) be effectively clamped by the diodes. For best results, you could add the protectors, and also avoid interrupting the motor current while powered.
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$\begingroup$ The community shows various result using these protectors. I always thought that print heads with a lot of mass (e.g. direct driver extruder mounted on carriage) benefit more as a high mass will not stop instantaneous causing flyback currents (motors become generators). $\endgroup$– 0scar ♦Commented Jun 6, 2019 at 20:45
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$\begingroup$ There is a maximum deceleration rate based on the torque the drivers can cause in the motors. This is related more to the strength of the magnetic fields then the motor acting as a generator. In particular, the drivers are controlling that by the currents they are passing through the coils. The movement of the rotor does induce a reverse voltage in the coils, the back-emf, which somewhat limits the maximum speed the stepper motor can attain, although the greater limit is the ability of the drivers to change the current in the coils fast enough. That ability is driven by the supply voltage. $\endgroup$– cmmCommented Jun 6, 2019 at 21:50