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Arduino upgrade and now stepper motors will not engage...

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Heisenberg, Jan 22, 2016.

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  1. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    Hello everyone,

    I recently purchased a new Arduino MEGA 2560 and installed it. It is connected to my computer and I can control everything except for the stepper motors. When I try to manually control them, they make a high-pitched humming sound, but there is no movement. I have double-checked the wiring and everything is correct. Is there a setting that I would need to change for the new board? Thanks for any help in advance!
     
    #1 Heisenberg, Jan 22, 2016
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Check the stepper drivers.

    They look like this:

    pololu.jpg

    And sit on the RAMPS card. Should be one each for X, Y, Z and extruder. Each here:

    RAMPS.png


    They made need to be tuned.
     
    #2 mark tomlinson, Jan 22, 2016
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  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It could also be a bad stepper, but that is less likely.
     
    #3 mark tomlinson, Jan 22, 2016
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  4. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    Hey Mark, it has been a while...hope you have been well! I just checked the wiring again and it was correct...tried a couple variations as well and nothing helped. How do I tune the motors? Is this standard when upgrading/replacing a board because that is all that has changed.
     
    #4 Heisenberg, Jan 22, 2016
  5. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    #5 WheresWaldo, Jan 22, 2016
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  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Excellent! Thanks.

    It is not a 'standard, but I have found that changing any of the hardware can cause you to need to do it.
    Arudino/Ramps/Stepper driver.... if you fiddle with those you might need to do a tune on the stepper drivers.

    I will say it is unusual to need to tune all of them.
     
    #6 mark tomlinson, Jan 22, 2016
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  7. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    I have watched the video and tried tuning the stepper boards manually by adjusting the screw. The volume or intensity of the hum increases or decreases with the adjustment accordingly, but there is still no movement. So far I have turned each board up 3/4 of a turn...should I go more? I just do not want to risk damaging the board. Any suggestions on where I should go from here? Also, I do not currently have a tester that will check DC Amps...do I absolutely need one?
     
    #7 Heisenberg, Jan 25, 2016
  8. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    I can get mine to hum and not actually move if the speed I am trying to move the motor is just too fast. That is not likely your issue but can you move around the motors and see if the humming stops?

    With RAMPS boards you can do it with a simple volt meter. Microvolts x 2 is the amps provided, With the Robo electronics I cannot go much past 700 uV before it stops working, so just under 1.4 A. I have all of mine as close to 600uV as possible given the POT value, so about 1.2 A.
     
    #8 WheresWaldo, Jan 25, 2016
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  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Mine will hum (or make a noise, but not move) if the current is too low.
    You can't really go 'too high' at least short-term with the Stepper drivers so crank it up until they move.
    Sure, long-term if the current is too high then the steppers will run hot, but at this stage you just want to make sure the steppers are working.
     
    #9 mark tomlinson, Jan 25, 2016
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  10. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    --> I will do some more testing with my volt meter and see what I come up with, thanks!

    --> Thanks, I did not know if that would damage them or not. I will continue to turn them up and see if I can get them to engage and then fine-tune them later if they are responsive.
     
    #10 Heisenberg, Jan 25, 2016
  11. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    Hello again! I have cranked the stepper boards up as well as lowered them. Currently I am reading 1VDC on each of the boards when I read from the adjustment screw to the ground pin. The motors still have the high-pitched hum, but do show some movement initially, but will not complete the move. Let me know if you have any ideas or see where I have messed up and should re-visit, thanks!
     
    #11 Heisenberg, Jan 27, 2016
  12. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    Are you absolutely sure that the steps are configured properly in the firmware?

    Also, how are the jumper pins underneath the drivers configured?
     
    #12 daniel871, Jan 27, 2016
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  13. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    I have not changed the steps for the motors and everything is connected in the same manner that it was before. Would I typically have to adjust the steps for a new board? The printer has been running fine until I replaced the arduino and I have uploaded the (config.h) file that I have been working with for a long time. I agree with you that it could be a setting issue, but how/why can they change if nothing else does? Both the old arduino and the new are set up the same way, I thought it should be an easy upgrade...should have known better, lol!

    As far as the pins, I am unsure of which ones you mean, but the pin order for the motor plug is (2B 2A 1B 1A).

    Btw...I finally got a voltmeter that would read DC amps and all of the stepper boards and they are all currently at 1.2A
     
    #13 Heisenberg, Jan 27, 2016
  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I think the pins he is referring to are on the RAMPS board (the expansion card that is plugged into the Arduino).
    If you didn't change the RAMPS it should still be fine.
     
    #14 mark tomlinson, Jan 27, 2016
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  15. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    Okay, the pins are all in the exact same order, I thought that could be the case as well and double-checked everything before I bothered on the forum...I really is a simple swap of components since I got an LCD display, did not think I would have any issue with it working afterwards.
     
    #15 Heisenberg, Jan 28, 2016
  16. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Working backwards is usually the steppers plugged into the ramps backwards, that is why I asked about left/right forward/backward. Since they are simple dupont header connectors and not a keyed plug it is easy to get them installed opposite the way they may have been originally. It doesn't hurt the motor or electronics to plug them in backwards, so you can unplug the motors and flip the connectors then reinsert them on the RAMPS. Unless I am reading your description incorrectly.
     
    #16 WheresWaldo, Jan 28, 2016
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  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    and, just to complicate things, the pin header wire colors do not align the same way when they are plugged in correctly.
     
    #17 mark tomlinson, Jan 28, 2016
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  18. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    I took pictures of the way everything was connected initially just to make sure that I have all the wire leads plugged in correctly...I have already tried to reverse a couple of them just to see if that was the case and it produced the same results...so you mean turning the RAMPS boards around themselves or just the stepper wire plugs? I am getting ready to install the old board again just to see if I can get that to work again at least to narrow down the issue.

    I did notice that a couple of the wires did not align with the others...I also thought that was a confusing way to do it. I tried the old RAMPS on the new MEGA and I got the same outcome. I am going to keep changing components to see if I can get that to work...if you guys think of anything else I am game to try anything since I am running out of options.
     
    #18 Heisenberg, Jan 28, 2016
  19. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Reversing the stepper motor plugs where they connect to the RAMPS will reverse the motion of the stepper motor.

    If a stepper is moving then it is likely the RAMP/Arduino/Pololu cards are working.
    watch each one when you command it to move 10mm (for example) and if it moves the wrong way reverse the plug on the RAMPS. I would not bother trying to home all until you are certain that the steppers are moving correctly.
     
    #19 mark tomlinson, Jan 28, 2016
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  20. Heisenberg

    Heisenberg Member

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    Okay...so I re-built the original MEGA and now it is connected and responding to manual inputs. All motions are correct and precise...any ideas why a new board and not the RAMPS would be the cause of this? The only thing I have not narrowed down is it was the new MEGA or the power distribution board I am decently confident that it must be in the arduino (Arduino was made in Italy if it matters)...probably not going to find out right now as long as it is running...hopefully my new display will work and I can print of an SD card soon!
     
    #20 Heisenberg, Jan 28, 2016
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