Unresolved Extruder stepper being weird. Not RAMPS or motor itself?

So here is a weird one for you guys...

My extruder stepper tripped out. Won't move when I print over USB or when I print using my LCD controller. All other steppers/axis work fine. I plugged the stepper motor and cable into the X-axis just to rule out the motor/cable and it worked fine. So I suspected it to be the little stepper controllers on top of the RAMPS. Swapped them out. No luck. Called Robo3D support and they said they'd send me a new RAMPS. Swapped out entire RAMPS. No luck. Called back. Robo3D sent a new Arduino. Swapped out. No luck. I'm just flabbergasted. What could it be? If I switched out the Arduino AND the RAMPS, it can't be firmware, right? Why does the motor work when plugged into any other port except for the extruder port?

FWIW, it isn't my slicer because neither Simplify3D nor MC work. And not just when I send a print job; sending G1 E commands don't work either.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

And you swapped around the stepper drivers for E? Have you changed firmware prior to this happening? And when you plug the E stepper in, do you keep if off of the gearing so you just spin the motor? I know the motor works like you said, but is it getting enough current from the E stepper driver. Maybe check the current with a multimeter? Have you ever calibrated a stepper driver? If it's not the RAMPS or the arduino, then this would be something to check. Have you confirmed the wiring between is good? That would the the other thing I would be checking.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. These are some good questions. I haven't changed the firmware, no. I removed the gearing once prior but unfortunately, still didn't get any rotation whatsoever. Never calibrated the stepper. How would one go about doing that? Also, yes, I've confirmed the wiring is good. Robo3D tech confirmed how I had it wired was okay.

 

This video should show you more about stepper motors and their drivers. Goal at this point is to just learn enough so that you can get the current readings and not to make any adjustments. That way you can have an idea of where you are today. This may not be the solution to your issue. Not sure why a driver current would have changed without you making any other modifications prior to this. I just want to rule this out. Your case is an odd one and I am sure folks will have more ideas come tomorrow. Also hopefully Robo can continue to work with your issue as well to hopefully understand what the root issue is.

 

LOL, not a silly thing at all! I'd have felt really dumb if that's what it was, though. Haha. I'd been troubleshooting at temp, yes.

I figured it out! Kinda. Not really. I unplugged my LCD controller and re-plugged the stock ROBO USB header and voila! It works. I tried to plug the LCD back in and yet again, it stops working. What possibly could the LCD be doing to trip that up? Should I order new cables? A new entire unit? I guess that's a less minor problem. Just glad to have my printer back.

Thank you both for your suggestions!