V-Spooler Easy Motor Drive

IMPORTANT The provided links below are for REFERENCE.  It's your job to make sure they are the correct items.  The stepper motor I used as mentioned below is a creality 4240 that I had laying around.  If you buy one from Aliexpress, it may or may not use the same electrical settings.  The amazon link below is a creality stepper 4240, that's your best bet.

ALSO IMPORTANT  With the release of 1.0 of the V-Spooler, the creator changes the axle/engagement dimenision of the spooler, there is a second profile here with the updated parts you will need if using v1.0 of the V-Spooler.

The motor drive options for the V-Spooler that are out there are great, but for me they are a bit more than I am interested in spending. I wanted something that was lower cost, and in fact, had a few parts laying around like a creality stepper motor, cable, and 40mm fan that I had laying around. There are also a couple nice options folks have come up with to quiet the V-Spooler down, should check them out here on Makerworld.

Disclaimer #1: I’m not a mechanical designer, but this seems to work well so far.

I bought the following, and there are links for it from Amazon, or AliExpress, depending on how fast you want the parts and how much you want to pay.

Disclaimer #2: As mentioned, I used a Creality 42-40 Stepper Motor that I had, a cable I had, and 40mm fan I had. The links below are for reference, there are a lot of alternatives. I didn’t use/purchase anything other than the DC Stepper Motor Driver with Control Module and the 12vdc power supply (though the power supply was bought a while ago for my filament dryer)

Total from Amazon: ~$61 USD

Total from AliExpress: ~$35 USD
(and it’s likely the exact same stuff from Amazon)

DC Stepper Motor Driver with Integrated Control Module

$26 on Amazon

DC Stepper Motor Driver with Controller Integrated Board DC 5~30V 4A Forward/Reverse Pulse Speed Angle Control Module Programmable PLC Serial Communication SMC02 Drive All-in-One for 42 57 Motor: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

$17 on AliExpress
Drive Integrated 42 57 Stepper Motor Driver Controller Forward Reverse Control Driver Angle Pulse Speed PLC Serial Communication - AliExpress

Stepper Motor Cable (cut the non-motor end connector off to wire it)

$9 on Amazon

Amazon.com: 3Pcs 3D Printer Stepper Motor Cables Lead Wire HX2.54 4 Pin to 6 Pin, Stepper Motor Wires 1.5M for Ender 3, Ender 3 V2, Ender 3 Pro, Ender 5 Pro 3D Printer Nema 17 Stepper Motor, : Industrial & Scientific

$1.69 on AliExpress

4240 Creality Stepper Motor (Nema 17)

$12.00 on amazon

https://a.co/d/ea7iTWw

40mm 12vdc Fan

$9 on Amazon (4 pack)

Amazon.com: MakerFocus 4pcs 3D Printer Fan 12V, 40mm 12 Volt Fan 0.08A DC Mini Quiet Cooling Fan 40X40X10mm with 28cm Cable for 3D Printer, DVR and Other Small Appliances Series Repair Replacement : Electronics

$1.37 on AliExpress

New 4010 Fan 40MM 4CM 40*40*10mm Fan For South and North Bridge Chip Graphics Card Cooling Fan DC5V 12V 24V 2pin 3pin - AliExpress

120vac to 12vdc power supply

$9 on Amazon

Amazon.com: Arkare 12V 3A Power Supply Adapter 36W ac/dc Charger AC 100V-240V to DC 12Volt 3amp Power Cord 12V 2.5A 2A 1.5A 1A 800mA 500mA for Security Camera BT Speaker GPS Webcam Microphone Receiver with 10TIPS : Electronics

AliExpress

There are countless. Just be sure it’s 12vdc, 3amp, and has flying leads (red/black) to connect to the Stepper Motor Driver/Controller.

Other parts used were: M3 barrel head hex screws and heat sets. None of the screws are longer than 10mm, most were 5mm.

Pictures

• There are two versions of each piece, one with chamfers on the holes and one without.
   

Design & Cooling

The fan drives air upwards at an angle around the stepper motor and out through the bottom where the air passes by the electronics on its way out the back.

Wiring

12vdc power to the back of the DC Motor Controller, also connect the red/black lead from the FAN to the same screw down connector/terminal.

The connections from the DC Motor controller to the motor

The following diagram outlines the connections. Note that the cables might not perfectly line up but it’s important that A+ is to A+, etc. If you’re not sure, look it up before connecting and powering up the system.

Remixed Drive Axle & Motor Drive Gear

I printed everything but the drive axle and drive gear with PLA. That said, PLA will NOT be able to handle the torque, maybe PLA+, but I printed with PETG and it’s more than strong enough to withstand the stress/torque of the stepper motor.

Note: Depending on your printer settings, you may have to slightly increase the size of the drive axle (1%) to accommodate variances in printing. It should already have enough clearance for the drive gear to float a little in the axle, but not overmuch causing slop or wear.

If you’ve already printed and assembled the V-Spooler, you’ll need to do a little disassembly around this piece to use the new drive axle.

I used a heatset on the screw hole in the drive gear (attaches to motor shaft). You will also want to put a heatset in the end of the drive axle as described in the original V-Spooler instructions.

Drive Axle remixed from V-Spooler Remixable Parts by Fyrby Additive | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Settings on DC Motor Controller

Subdivision set to 4 or the stepper motor may vibrate and make excessive noise. This might vary depending on the stepper motor make, but this creality was clean with 4. I would expect this to be common among Nema 17 stepper motors, but I’m no expert so some experimentation might be needed if 4 doesn’t work for you.

Amp setting rotary selector, I left this at the default.

I think that is everything, any questions, don't hesitate to ask.