Cost weeks of frustration and left me with a broken machine
For 6 Pack External Driver CNC Controller
Tried to use this on a 4axis cnc and it was a complete disaster. I am not a PLC expert so I ordered the ESP32 card that was supposed to come with preloaded config file and even went to the trouble of creating a wiring diagram to show all of the components and connections so I could be as close to plug and play as possible. What a waste of time. When the board came the config file was basically the same example file that I could have easily downloaded for free from the FluidNC github and Mr. Dring informed that he didn't set up the config files to that level and directed me to WIKI for configuration and setup. The documentation for the board is extensive but so horribly written that it is almost unusable unless you are a PLC expert or C++ code writer who already knows what all of the variable labels are for with multiple paths to rabbit holes for you to waste your time trying to figure just exactly what they are trying to convey and how it might relate to the config file settings that you are trying to fill in. It took several days but I finally managed to connect all the dots. Then the real trouble started. I am using ST-M5045 drivers that require a common positive and a sunk source for proper operation. After a short discussion about the config file being setup in the opposite fashion and providing the setup diagram from the user's manual, Mr. Dring informed me that it didn't matter because his controller could source or sink the control signals and that I should ignore the provided specs for the drivers because either option would work with his board. Since the controller only came with common grounds at the connection terminals for the driver outputs, I opted to follow his advice since it would make for a cleaner easier installation over trying to source multiple cards from a single connection from the small screw terminal connector. I have to give Mr. Dring credit for responsive, and answering questions in a timely manner, but he tends toward being rude, obnoxious and condescending, making communications unpleasant, leaving the impression that as a customer who needs assistance you are just an inconvenience that he begrudgingly tolerates, and you should stop wasting his valuable time. As I said it took several days to get through the setup and configuration process, but i finally managed to slog my way through and start the test and tune phase of the process. After a few minor bumps in the road like misconfigured switches and homing settings I only needed to invert the direction settings to account for the fact that I am using a fixed gantry with a moving table so the g-code sender could properly apply the commands for proper movement. Aside from needing minor adjustments to tune my steps per mm I thought I was there and even managed to run several of my NC files successfully but started having trouble accessing the web UI after I had changed the direction output to low. It would either take a long time to load or just hang up during startup, so I opened a thread in the help section to try to identify and rectify the problem. I am not an applications engineer, I don't design circuits, I am also not a software engineer, I don't write code, but I am a senior systems engineer who writes systems requirements and assigns system specifications in meeting those requirements followed by integration and testing to ensure proper systems operation and specification compliance and I am very good at it. I quickly honed in on the most likely probable cause being an overcurrent condition and relayed my thoughts to Mr. Dring who promptly dismissed my advice, claiming that the problem was probably due to the noisy drivers I was using and recommended that I review his WIKI on Controller Design Guidelines. It wasn't long after that the ESP32 board died and went to heaven but not before destroying one of my homing switches in the process. I replaced the bad ESP32 with one of my spares and managed to get the board to respond but from that point on it was all downhill. Long story short I spent over a week dealing with Mr. Dring who constantly insisted that the problem must be related to something that I had done and following his bad advice until every channel on the 6 pack was dead. After all of that he finally broke down and actually looked at the schematics I had provided when I asked him how much current the driver boards were drawing and he finally admitted that it was close to the max the outputs could sustain and that was likely an overcurrent situation involved in the failures. Even after all of this I was willing to give it another go and went so far as to order new driver boards so I could get up and running after spending weeks making cables installing the board and slogging through the documentation and replacing damaged components. When I asked Mr. Dring if I could expect a replacement since it was his recommendation to source the driver outputs instead of sinking them according to the driver specs his reply to me was an offer for a refund and the following statement "I don't think this controller is right for you, I suggest you find a different controller and firmware". Well Mr. Dring Maybe everyone should heed your advice. The six pack is a good idea and with a few tweaks might even make a decent controller, and if you are fluent in PLC programming, you might not have any problems, but if you are the average user looking to plug something in and get to work making the things you want and do have problems at least know what to expect as a customer.
Here is a link to our discussions on Discord that I would recommend reading before laying down your money.
https://discord.com/channels/780079161460916227/1136635413587558552
Update...Less than 24 hours after posting this review it appears that Mr. Dring has deleted the above referenced thread from discord. Well done sir...Way to show the world that you are a stand-up guy willing to own his mistakes.... NOT
Rebuttal to Mr. Drings response: I wasn't frustrated Mr. Dring. Integration and testing is what I do for a living and I enjoy the challenge. I think you just refused to ship a new board out of spite for being proven wrong in the end. As for your other comments and claims, I guess it's easy to misrepresent the facts after you have deleted the evidence. Where's that thread? And finally I think your opening statement speaks volumes about this situation....It's not about caring for the customer who has forked over their hard earned cash, it's all about you.
Response from Bart Dring | Aug. 14, 2023
This order was very frustrating for me (seller) as well. I gave many hours of support over many days. Much of the support was explaining how to use the equipment he purchased in China and how things like opto isolators worked. There was also a lot time spent helping him with wiring. It took over 20 email messages just to help him enter the order for 2 items.
My policy on creating a configuration is clear. I will create a custom configuration for your machine that covers the I/O for all the motors, switch, spindles, accessories, etc. The final tuning of speeds, accelerations, max travel, etc needs to be done by the user on the machine.
In the end the the controller got damaged. Rather than assess blame or argue, I refunded the entire order including modules that did not break. I did not want to replace the equipment, because I felt that it was likely that the same experience would be repeated at my expense, my time and further frustrations for him.
This is the first 6 pack style controller out I have had to refund. At this time I have shipped over 600.
