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Hi there,

I’m semi-new to 3D Printing and have so far only used the Anet v1.0 Main Board.

I have just bought a Tronxy x5s which i plan to put together soon but when i went to get the files for flashing Marlin to it i found that it doesn’t have a boot loader and requires other hardware to flash it the first time. This is mostly fine but i can’t find any clear information on exactly what hardware i need to do this and a full step by step guide with such hardware.

If anyone can provide links to the exact hardware required to be compatible with flashing this board and guide me through the steps it would be greatly appreciated.

I plan to (Hopefully) replace the main board entirely at some point in the near future. I have no idea about main boards for 3D printers. Can anyone recommend to me a good quality main board which has a boot loader pre-installed and is compatible with Marlin please?

I also want to upgrade the heat bed by sticking one of those orange silicone heat mats to the bottom of it and then cover that with insulation. The largest i can find at a decent price is 300x300 but the tronxy x5s build plate is 330x330. will the 300x300 mat be ok for this job?

Heat mat & Insulation:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07G46Q5P3/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A16WQB9CJ3FN6Z&psc=1

Thanks in advance to any help provided in this matter.

~Jess~

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You can use MKS GEN-L board which has bootloader installed. I believe it will work with the LCD you have on X5S.

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Great, thanks for the response!

Just had a look at the board and looks much better than what it came with and my old Anet v1.0 board.

I notice these have the headers for stepper drivers though, my assumption here is that there are no onboard stepper drivers at all and require a set before being able to use.

Would this be a good set to go togeather?:

Main Board:

Stepper Drivers:

LCD:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aibecy-Display-Controller-Arduino-Accessory/dp/B06XXFTC4W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1547583297&sr=8-2&keywords=LCD12864

I like the old LCD from my Anet a6 and it says they are compatible?

Unless you can recommend a better LCD or even the tronxy is better than the anet one?

What is the difference between the DRV8825 and the A4988 stepper drivers, and which are best?

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I will just use A4988. Drv8825 supports 1/32 microstepping instead of 1/16 on A4988. In terms of noise, not much of differences. I think the Tronxy 12864 LCD on Tronxy X5S is a Reprap Discount Graphics Controller, so it should work with MKS GEN-L. Anet graphics controller uses different pinout, so it might not work directly.

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But is the Drv8825 actually better? :stuck_out_tongue:

And ahhh ok, i will stick with the tronxy LCD for now then and see if i like it, if not i can always take the LCD from my anet and test it or look for an alternative.

Thanks again, greatly appreciate the help ^.^

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I don’t print anything tiny, so I can’t tell the difference. From I read, Drv8825 might have problems skipping if 24v is provided. I used them on x and y axis of my Anet A8. For me, Drv8825 did not provide any more values than A4988.

I can’t pull the triggers on TMC2208, because they are more expensive and my CR-10/Ender3/Tarantula is much much quieter than A8. I am sure the Tronxy X5S probably much quieter than your A6.

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One more thing. If you decide to try Drv8825, you might need to adjust ref voltage to under .5v. Otherwise, your motor might be running hot.

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Ah ha, very good to know, ty. So im guessing TMC2208 is smaller steps like 1/64 or 1/256?

My standard nozzle is a .4 but i have .25 and .15 i plan to use as well and in the future plan to get even a .1. i also print all the way down to .05 layer heights when doing small very smooth highly detailed prints.

I might get both the A4899 and Drv8825’s since they aren’t very expensive then i can try both.

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I never used the TMC2208, but they have special way to drive the motor not just fine microstepping from I can read. If you are planning to print in higher resolution, Drv8825 might help. For my application, I won’t use less than .4mm. Good luck!

10

Great to know, thanks again! :slight_smile:

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Sorry to be a noob but… i just noticed that the MKS Gen L 1.0 board we deicded on only has 1 Z-Axis motor plug. And the Tronxy x5s uses dual Z-Axis motors to drive the 2 lead screws. Is there a way one can rig up two Z motors, or do i need to find another board? (If there is any possible performance loss risk in any method of adding 2 Z motors to the 1 board then i’d deffinatel like to find a different board that is designed for it).

Thanks :slight_smile:

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One A4899 or Drv8825 can drive two stepper motors, so you just need to make an adapter. You can run them parallel or in series like this one(https://www.ebay.com/itm/192721514609). See the article, https://www.circuitspecialists.com/blog/connecting-stepper-motor-windings-in-series-or-parallel/. I have tried both, and they are all work great. Since z-axis does not need a lot of torque, I did not adjust the ref voltage.

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This flexible heater builder tool allows you to configure a silicone rubber heater up to 24" (609.6mm) X 18" (457.2mm) so it shouldn’t be any problem to configure a 330x330mm.

silicone_heater_builder
silicone_heater_builder1161×728 109 KB

Here’s the link…
https://farnam-custom.com/custom/silicone-rubber-heaters