Creltek RJ-45 Stepper Breakout v1.4

This breakout board provides four RJ-45 jacks, allowing you to use standard CAT6 Ethernet cable for wiring up to four stepper motors. Each jack provides 4 motor drive signals on specially selected differential pairs within the cable. This allows twice the drive current compared to conventional stepper wiring and cuts power loss by half, while reducing EMI and crosstalk within the cable. The result is a cleaner drive signal that causes less noise and heating in both your motors and your drive controller.

Special selection of pairs within the cable allows the use of standard CAT6 connectors and cable, which is low-cost, flexible, highly reliable, and readily available. It’s the perfect solution for your stepper motor wiring needs!

A typical installation will have the RJ-45 Breakout board mounted near your motion controller. From there you will run shielded CAT6 cable to the each of the motors in your 3D printer or CNC mill. The CAT6 cables may be connected to your motor wiring by either stripping the CAT6 cable and splicing the wires or using a small terminal block, or by using our optional surface-mount RJ-45 breakout boxes (see all product photos above).

The Creltek RJ-45 Breakout board is fully assembled and ready to use, and can even be panel-mounted if desired, for a truly professional installation!

Wiring

Shielded 24 AWG CAT6 or better Ethernet cable is strongly recommended. Quality cables are available from a variety of suppliers, but be aware that smaller gauge wire is sometimes found in lower quality cables. Some cables also utilize polymer-impregnated wiring, making the wires unsuitable for stripping.

Wiring color code and pairing information can be found in the datasheet. Be sure to use stranded CAT6 patch cable, as solid cable is not designed for flexibility and will break over time.

Options

Ferrite Cores

We offer high-quality ferrite cores as a purchase option. These help to reduce radiated EMI that can cause malfunctions in sensitive controllers and false triggers in nearby sensor wiring. They simply snap over the outsize of the cable, and are usually placed near the plug on the motion controller end.

Motor Wiring Breakout Boxes

We also offer surface-mount boxes with a single RJ-45 jack and punch-down termination blocks inside. These offer an easy way to connect motor wiring to the Ethernet cable without stripping or splicing, and may be mounted close to each stepper motor. They are made of ABS plastic. The base of the box is approximately 1 1/2" x 2 1/8" (38mm x 54mm), and they are approximately 1 1/4" (31 mm) thick. Please see al product photos above.

Related Products

Be sure to check out our other motion control products: Creltek Limit Sensors, the Creltek RJ-11 Sensor Breakout Board, and our other awesome Creltek products on Tindie!