Build Your Own SLA/SLS

Hey everyone,

I have been trying to get my nema 23 running. It does not want to run smooth. It just squeels and does not move the shaft at all.

The trim on the Pot is set to .38 volts.
I have a 12V powersuply

I am using sprinter firmware
Hardware configured to 1/4 stepping
I have a .9 degree stepper motor.

Does anyone have time to skype?

I really need to sort this out in person. I have been trying to read on it for two weeks now tried everything.
I really want to get this thing going and have been stuck here for some time.

Thanks in advance,
carter

I can't get on skype, but I can throw some trouble shooting questions at you!

First off: I'd advise moving to 1/16 stepping. It will make the motor move much smoother and quieter. If you're using RAMPs, it should be a matter of just adding some jumpers.

Check to make sure that motor can turn when nothing is attached to it. If it can turn, something is wrong in your mechanical setup -- too much weight or friction.

If it still can't turn, slowly increase your trimpot. Nema 23's are big suckers, and take a lot of power to run. Use a plastic/ceramic screwdriver or disconnect power when you adjust to avoid shorting your boards. You may want to put a heatsink on your board to let you use even more power.

If that STILL doesn't work, grab a motor you know works, and plug that into the driver. It's possible your driver is fried, or (unlikely) the Nema 23 is broken.

Good luck!

Thanks,

What if I told you I could get my little nema 17 running, but when I button mash in Creation Workshop, it skips commands. Or when I ease off the button mashing, and continue to click consistently, I see the nema freezes up on some of the turns.

For example when I click Z-Axis up 10 units, I can hear my nema hymn hymn hymn but sometime it seizes up. I can hear it hymning at me so i know its getting the electronic signal for equal amounts of time.

Also, my motors are not hooked up to my z axis yet.

Thanks,
Carter

Hm. Do you think you could post a video of the motor's behavior? Two different things to test:

1) Pressing Z "+1" 10 times fast
2) Pressing Z "+10" 1 time

Make sure to put a little piece of tape on the shaft like a flag... otherwise it can be hard to see the rotation.

Right now I'm suspecting either thermal shutdown or wonky firmware. What drivers are you using?

Alright video incoming...

I murdered my arduino I think plugging it in and unplugging it so much.

Back ups going in.

I am using Sprinter Firware FYI configured to 115200 Bod Rate and the the steps/revolution defined at:
#define _AXIS_STEP_PER_UNIT {104.987, 104.987, 4545.4544, 1487}

other than those to things, I pretty much left ti all alone.

got it from Reprap > gitithub links

motors seizing up or intermittent moves , etc , is down to trying to move the motors faster than they are capable given the accelleration and velocity settings
your trying to use either in the firmware defaults or too high a feed rate etc
slow everything down ,and also recheck the microstepping is correct , for the stepper drives you are using

what are you using for a power supply ?