[venomx999]

I got the instruction from www.pminmo.com on this 3axis board.

Has anyone built a similar one ?
Here's my setup:



This is the author's:


But my problem is the board doesn't seem to control the motors, its dead.
I need help troubleshooting.

[abasir]

Hmmm,
I don't see the 'power' resistor and I don't see any power supply line going to the stepper common connection. IIRC, the driver board is to be used with 5/6 wires unipolar stepper motor.

[venomx999]

no there's on 4 wires.. and thats all the parts on the instructions...this board is different than what u used to have/seen

[abasir]

no there's on 4 wires.. and thats all the parts on the instructions...this board is different than what u used to have/seen

Read the instruction file. Extract below:
Current Limiting Resistors (IMPORTANT)
Anytime a power supply for the stepper motor is used that is greater than the rated voltage of the motor, current limiting resistors are required. This board does not contain room for current limiting resistors as they can be quite large sometimes.

Even if you're not using the limiting resistor, you still need to connect power to the stepper common wire. Looking at the datasheet, it appears that the stepper has 5 solder point but only 4 wires. May be it was driven bipolar by the original driver in the printer :frown:

I'll be in the chat room for next few minutes...

[venomx999]

hmm where do i connect ?

[abasir]

Beg to differ... the board is good simple design for starters. As with most DIY designs, the documentation is normally not up to the mark. Find the common wire or solder point on the stepper and you should be spinning with no problem

[venomx999]

lol so wait, connecting that to the board should supply the power to the motor as well.

The only time when you need extra power to the motor is when you make 3 different boards for each motor connecting to the PC connector piece. Then you would need the power wires to jump.

THis board eliminate all that.

[abasir]

Hope the image make some sense...

The ABCD connections are on your board, i.e., the 4 wires from your stepper. The + connection goes to your power supply (off board).

[lwill]

no there's on 4 wires.. and thats all the parts on the instructions...this board is different than what u used to have/seen

I think if there are only 4 wires on the stepper motor, then it may be bi-polar only. Or you have to open up the stepper and "operate" on it to add a common.

[abasir]

The solder points I referred to earlier... thus (may be) eliminating the 'operation'. BTW, it is highly NOT recommended to dissassemble any stepper motor for several reasons... You got a multimeter handy somewhere? If yes, measure the resistance between the solder points and let us have the readings... Also take note to which solder point are the wires attached.

[venomx999]

Here are the pics where the solder joints are: *Notice there are only 4joints.

I got a number 24.000 something when im measuring the pins @ 200k

[whateg01]

venomx999,

Your photos seem to be kinda out of focus, but it looks like there is a 5th and maybe a 6th terminal not in use. I would suspect that these would be the center-tap if used as a unipolar motor. I would not be surprised if the motor is in fact a 5 or 6 terminal motor, but only 4 have wires. This would be the case if the previous use for the motor required a bi-polar motor. The previous user might not have wanted an extra wire just hanging there.

If possible, measure the resistance from terminal to terminal, as previously suggested.

Dave

[venomx999]

lol if that were the case then I really want to scream

but anywho, I do have a unipolar motor in handy..it has 5wires. So which color wire do I insert into the slot on the board ?

THe wires are: Green, Yellow, Black, Blue, Orange (though im suspecting the black is only for ground...since there are still only 4joints on it 'these motors came from HP printers')

I got a number 24.000 something when im measuring the pins @ 200k

[whateg01]

Need more info.

I don't know if I can tell you how to connect the motor you have to the driver board you are using, but I doubt anybody can without a little more info. Model of motor would be very helpful. There is no standard for wire colors that I know of, so if you could provide the model number of the motor, somebody may be able to look it up and get you a schematic or wiring diagram.

Regarding the resistance you measured, which pins/wires was that measured between? Sorry if we ask a lot of questions, but there a lot of variables that must be considered to accurately answer your questions.

Dave

[venomx999]

lol there are 4 wires on the motor: 2 top, 2 bottom. It seems like there are two separate coil layers inside the casing. So I measured the top two and the bottom two. Crossing them will not show any resistance period.



"I should've gotten into a tech school instead of business - its a school of Piranha"

[pminmo]

The board is for unipolars only. The centertap of the motor for a 5 wire must be run through a current limiting resistor to the positive of the motor power supply. If its a 6 wire motor you have 2 options, connect the centertaps together so it runs like a 5 wire, or use two resistors one in each leg wthen to the positive of the power supply. If I were a betting person based on the pictures, I'd guess these are six wire motors, wired half coil bipolar.

[venomx999]

....A new board is about to be made then. This time its BI-F-ing-Polar.... lol I try to stay away from them BIPOLAR women...men, or anything that starts with BI
and guess where I ended ?....

Right back at the BIs

[pminmo]

....A new board is about to be made then. This time its BI-F-ing-Polar.... ?....

Why wouldn't you verify if infact it is a 6 wire motor, and if it is wire it unipolar? Take an ohm meter set on the lowest resistance scale, find out it three of the tabs ring some continuity for one coil, and the same for a second coil. If so, then find out which tab is the centertap. The centertap should have approximately half the resistance of the full coil resistance.

[venomx999]

No it is a 4wires-bipolar wired coil.

Only the pin adjacent to each other shows some conductivity.

[abasir]

Lesson 1 of DIY-CNC 101:

... Before building/buying a stepper motor driver, make sure you know what type of stepper motor you have or intent to use