Disable motors for manual adjustment of z height

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I’ve just done an upgrade to new motors and dm556 drivers. I know I can disengage motors successfully for manually adjusting my z axis by connecting (through switch) ENA+ to 5v output on arduino. I just want to be ultra careful and not do any damage. Can anybody advise on this?

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I suspect a lot of us are curious about why you are manually adjusting your Z axis?

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Hi Mark, I prefer manual adjustment using a knob on the acme screw when running multiple jobs but using different thickness timber. I only do this between cutting jobs so it doesn’t affect my positioning. Its actually easier to have a feel of the bit going onto a paper shim than using jogging or a probe. I realize some people prefer the jog method but I actually find this quicker and more efficient. Like I said I was doing this for years with the old configuration of gshield drivers, arduino and original xcarve motors. Even though I never had any trouble doing this in the past I thought checking on the future safety of my new components made this was a good question to ask after all this time. In this video DM556 Open Loop Stepper Motor Driver Review for CNC Machines. - YouTube you can see that he mentions disabling motors when using the DM556 driver.

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send command $1=0 to disable stepper lock.
then perform the manual knob turning
then send command $1=255 to re-lock the steppers.

OR build a switch into the 4 phase wiring and turn off the stepper, but if these are not all 4 switched simultaneously it can cause undesired movement.

OR if you’re up for a little arky sparky unplug the stepper while it’s live (damage may occur; this is satire not actual advice)

Alternatively there are “Lock/Unlock” buttons integrated into Easel when multi-bit carves are setup.

That said, I suggest getting a Z probe and not manually adjusting the Z, just a suggestion. you’re free to ignore it. YoraHome recently released a low-profile Z probe for the 3018 models with their minimal Z travel…

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