Time to connect all the stepper motors to their relay boards. One issue I ran into was with the Y-stage stepper motor wires moving with the X-stage. It looks like the wires would get caught under the X-stage as it moves back and forth. So, using a bent paperclip, I made a wire holder to raise the wires out of the way as the X-stage moves back and forth.
The relay board (green board, upper right) will accept a signal from the plastruder board & energise one of two relays that then allows a much greater current to go to the plastruder. The relay next to the plastruder relay will eventually be used to power the automated build platform. Soldering together and mounting the board was uneventful. However, when it came to connecting the power, the remaining power supply connector would not reach! No re-arrangement seemed to help. What to do?
Fortunately, I happened to have a power supply extending cable that I salvaged from a dead PC from years back. I'll admit that my habit of salvaging useful looking parts from dead equipment rarely pays off. However, when it does, it's nice.When it came to making the ribbon cables connecting the motherboard to the stepper controller boards, I divided the provided rainbow wire into equal 3rds so all cables are interchangeable with each other. I also noticed the connectors I was provided with have no strain reliefs. So, I'll need to be extra careful not to wiggle those wires too much! I also discovered that spinning the stepper motors causes indicator lights to illuminate on the stepper motor controller boards even though I haven't applied any power yet. I take this to be a good sign.
