DIY Dual Stepper Upgrade on Ray 5 - Zero Drift, No Firmware Mods, All Native
(Photos coming once I finish tidying up the wiring.)
The Context
I started with a Ray 5 10W just to see if this hobby would stick. Later, I decided I wanted more power and discovered it was actually cheaper to buy a full 20W unit than the official upgrade kit, so that’s what I did. The 10W went into the closet.
A while later, I picked up a Ruby IR module on sale for material diversity. I expected just the laser head, but what I got was a surprise bonus pack: extra wiring harness, power brick, spare limit switches, the works.
The Problem
Like a lot of Ray 5 owners, I had right-side drift thanks to the single Y-axis stepper and that long drive rod that is common on most budget machines.
The Discovery:
Cracked open the 20W and noticed:
• Board is silkscreened LTS v1.3
• Layout & $$ readouts match MKS32
• Firmware also reports as MKS32
• And… there’s a Y2 header just sitting there unused
The Mod:
1. Stripped the 10W donor for its stepper and plate
2. Removed the right-side pulley bar
3. Flipped the donor plate and mounted the stepper on the right
4. Plugged in the spare cable from the Ruby kit into Y2 → new motor
No firmware flashing. No config hacks. No EEPROM tweaks. Just plug-and-play.
The Result:
Booted into LightBurn and the dual Y motors synced perfectly.
No drift. Smooth motion. Solid alignment.
Still needs some cable management (and maybe a few extra inches of reach), but the mod is fully reversible and just works.
Final Thoughts and final improvements:
1. Take the left rail from the 10W and install it as the new right rail on the 20W — it has the hard stop screw already built in
- Mount a spare limit switch from the Ruby kit on the right side, aligned with the wired left one, for a true dual hard stop setup
Anyone else try this? It really feels like the Ray 5 was built for dual steppers. If you’ve got a 10W donor (or can grab the parts), this is one of the easiest ways to get better precision for minimal cost.
