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Solved extruder stepper motor isn't working

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by 208Steve, Jul 10, 2017.

  1. 208Steve

    208Steve New Member

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    my extruder motor isn't extruding at all it just seems to vibrate like there is something holding it in place but the hobbed bolt turns freely. when the stepper motor is hooked up to the x axis it moves freely. I have switched out the stepper driver with one of the others and it still does the same thing any help would be appreciated.
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Make sure the gears for the extruder can easily turn by hand. If the gears are not binding then either the stepper driver does need to be tuned up a little (or replaced) or the RAMPS is bad. There is more force/current needed to drive the extruder than say the Z axis...
     
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  3. 208Steve

    208Steve New Member

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    yeah i can turn it by hand and I've replace the stepper driver i was going to post that this started happening after the wire came apart from the stepper motor on the extruder and I replaced the wire and that's when the problem started. I do have a replacement ramps that i could use if it would fix the problem
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I'd replace the wiring harness too then.
    If you ended up with a high-resistance connection that is your problem.
     
  5. 208Steve

    208Steve New Member

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    so just the wire going to the stepper motor or all the wires and is there a wire you would recommend? thanks for all the help
     
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Geof likes this.
  7. 208Steve

    208Steve New Member

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    that's a link for a whole new stepper motor. Is it better to replace the whole stepper motor then and see if that fixes my problem?
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Can't hurt :) However if you tested that stepper on another harness/driver then you know the stepper itself is fine.
    When you tested that stepper on another axis ...Did you move the stepper motor only or did you move the wire harness too?

    You may just have a defective harness.
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #9 mark tomlinson, Jul 10, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2017
  10. 208Steve

    208Steve New Member

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    i moved the stepper first and then the wire to another stepper and i couldn't get it to work. is there any particular way that the wires need to be hooked up or is it just plug and play because i have a set of wires just like the ones you linked I'll try switching them out and see if that fixes my problem
     
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    First link I posted to the stepper has a diagram on the bottom left of the pictures that shows the wire colors versus the wire phase (A+/- and B+/-).
     
  12. 208Steve

    208Steve New Member

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    alright well i switched the x wire over to the extruder stepper and the extruder is working so it is just the wire. Is it just the connector going in the stepper that needs to be switched over then?
     
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I have no idea where that wire is damaged (it could be in either connector and any of the 4 wires).
    You should replace the entire thing from the RAMPS to the stepper motor.
     
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