CNC Router Machine - Z axis stopped working

Hey All,

My Z axis has stopped moving.

Stepper controller LED turns red from green when I try to use Z axis...

What would the most likely fault be - stepper motor dead ? :confused:

Worked fine yesterday.

X & Y work just fine.

Thanks

David

Hi Fletch - Give all the wires a wiggle they do come loose sometimes. Then swap the motor plug to another drive if possible and see if same fault occurs. That will tell you if the motor is the issue or the driver side. After that things get complex. Peter

Seems the motor bolt has come loose or wasn't done up right? see image

Perfect advise Pete ! I plugged it into my Y controller and it worked fine... Seems Z Microstep Driver M542-05 is faulty.

Now to find a new one locally.,

Thanks for your help :cheers:

Cheers

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fletch123

Perfect advise Pete ! I plugged it into my Y controller and it worked fine... Seems Z Microstep Driver M542-05 is faulty.

Now to find a new one locally.,

Thanks for your help :cheers:

Cheers

Dave

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Dave, if you get stuck, I have a few Longs Motors DM542A drivers here in Brisbane as I upgraded my machine to validate an engineering model a mate created. The drivers are similar spec to yours, nothing wrong with them. Send me a PM. I can ship anywhere.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rodw

Dave, if you get stuck, I have a few Longs Motors DM542A drivers here in Brisbane as I upgraded my machine to validate an engineering model a mate created. The drivers are similar spec to yours, nothing wrong with them. Send me a PM. I can ship anywhere.

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Cheers Rod, I ordered a couple from China the other day, they just shipped via DHL so I shoudl have them soonish.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fletch123

Perfect advise Pete ! I plugged it into my Y controller and it worked fine... Seems Z Microstep Driver M542-05 is faulty.

Now to find a new one locally.,

Thanks for your help :cheers:

Cheers

Dave

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Just be aware Dave , that all you have done is prove the Z Axis motor ISN'T faulty. You haven't actually proven the Drive is the problem.
You might be lucky...we will see.

More testing would be required. If you can, try swapping the control signals to the drive , ie swap Z with X or Y. Same fault or different?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sterob

Just be aware Dave , that all you have done is prove the Z Axis motor ISN'T faulty. You haven't actually proven the Drive is the problem.
You might be lucky...we will see.

More testing would be required. If you can, try swapping the control signals to the drive , ie swap Z with X or Y. Same fault or different?

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Thanks for your advise Sterob -

Yep, that's exactly what I did. I swapped the control signal from the Z axis into the Y axis and it worked. Moved it back and it didn't. Fairly confident I should be set replacing the Z Microstep Driver.

I'll post results here when the replacement unit arrives.

Cheers

Dave

My replacement board arrived today, 10 minutes swap over and Z axis is working perfectly again

Cheers

Dave