1 Topic by davej254

  • davej254
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  • Registered: 2014-06-01
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Topic: RAMPS 1.4 board problems

Afternoon Guys, having a bit of a problem with the ramps setup and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction.

The current set up I have is a RAMPS 1.4 board with an arduino 2560 board using 5 stepper drivers A4988 all running from a 12V 500W ATX power supply.  I have fully connected the board with end stops/extruders/heated bed etc.

For steppers I am using a wantai motor 42BYGHW609 (nema 17) (average voltage 3.4V, average current 1.7A)

All is connected and working fine apart from the steppers (heaters, end stops etc).  All I am getting from the stepper is a high pitched squeak and juddering movement backward and forward a few mm.  Through looking on the internet I am thinking the steppers are not getting enough voltage, so I have adjusted the voltage of the potentiometers on the stepper drivers to their max and I am only getting 0.14V.  According to the internet I should be getting between 3.6V-4.5V range from the stepper drivers.  I am measuring between the center of the pot and the ground pin.

I have tried different firmware (sprinter and marlin) and still getting the same readings from all of the stepper drivers.

Has anyone got any ideas?

2 Reply by wardjr

  • wardjr
  • wardjr
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Re: RAMPS 1.4 board problems

No great ideas here... But I do know you don't want those VREF's dialed all the way up.  Also adjusting those when they are hot can be near impossible.  Cool (power down) for a bit then call for movement while slowly turning the pot till you get smooth motion.

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3 Reply by Hazer

  • Hazer
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  • Registered: 2013-07-19
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Re: RAMPS 1.4 board problems

One common mistake people make when wiring up these components is the stepper motor wiring. If one of the A and B pole connections is backwards, the motor just 'stutters' in place. If they wire the A and B crossed, well, weird things happen.

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