MKS LV8729-OC External Stepper Motor Driver - UltraQuiet

If you love 3D Printing, and furthermore if you love taking your 3D Printing to the extreme, then you would have definitely thought about external stepper motor drivers before. However, with 3D Printing being a relatively new industry, there aren’t a lot of Stepper Drivers that are focused on 3D Printing, and many of the drivers we utilised in the past were actually designed for other applications, albeit quite similar, such as CNC machines. Fortunately though, as 3D Printing has been gaining popularity, brands like MakerBase are identifying a real gap in the market, and have begun designing specialised parts and components that are perfectly catered towards the 3D Printing industry, with the MKS LV8729-OC UltraQuiet External Stepper Motor Driver being a prime example of exactly that.

This MKS LV8729-OC Stepper Driver is made to offer relatively beefy driving capabilities for Stepper Motors in 3D Printing and other CNC applications, and has been designed in such a way that it offers near-silent operations even when driving motors at the full 1.5A current. It can be used with a wide range of 3D Printer setups by experienced users, but also works natively in conjunction with the ever-popular MKS Gen, MKS SBase and RAMPS1.4 Shield, making it not only an advanced external stepper driver, but also one that is relatively diverse and easy to use for those who know what they’re doing.

In addition to being an awesome driver module with ample power and near-silent driving operations, this module also features a good collection of protection features to keep it and the connected components safe from unexpected and unnecessary damage. This includes high speed opto-coupling that dramatically reduces chances of missed steps, as well as thermal and overcurrent protection to keep temperatures and currents within a safe range. However, it is important to realise that this module does not feature reverse-connection protection, so be sure that everything is plugged into their right places before giving this little beast the power it needs to operate.

Please Note: If you are planning on using this driver in conjunction with the RAMPS 1.4 Shield, it’s important to try keep the current below 1A, rather than the full 1.5A capability.

Understanding the Onboard Settings of the MKS LV8729-OC Driver:

As a final note worth considering, the LV8729-OC external stepper driver features onboard configuration switches, which can be changed while the power is down. The first two of these switches (labelled 1 and 2) are for selecting the Microstep settings, ranging from 13 to 128, allowing users to choose what kind of stepping precision they want.

The second set includes the next three pins (labelled 3, 4 and 5), and this is where you can define the current driving settings, and this ranges from a full 1.5A with all switches ON, down to a minor 0.4A when only switch 5 is left on.

Finally, the last switch (Labelled 6) defines the driving mode and pin choice of the driver module, with ON being “Common-Cathode Mode”, and OFF being “Differential Output Mode”, and your selection in this regard of course depends on what 3D Printer, controller board or other components you have, as well as which would work best for your particular setup.