stepper motors will only move in one direction? (Page 2 of 3)

Oops I mean your limit switches right now are X is back rear, and Y is rear sinc your bed is actually the Y. So when a home command is sent from RH your machine moves X to the right and Y to the front?

One thing to make sure you understand is that gcode was written for CNC and that it assumes all commands are in regards to the tool head. Not the bed, or anything else. So for your style of printer an X move right should move the head right, an X move left should move the head left. How ever what gets tricky is your Y. A Y move forward should actually move the bed back and a Y move backward should actually move the bed forward. As far as logic is concerned the bed is stationary just like it would be on a CNC machine. The only thing that can move is the head.

All the movements are correct in RH  just endstops are working opposite.  x keeps going right unless I manually hit the endstop. and z endstop also opposite.

ok let me try real quick

I apologize, I know this is getting on your nerves and my questions probably do not help. I am just trying to get a visual of how the machine moves right now and how the endstops are arranged.

Just one more quick test, move all axis to the middle except Z we will ignore Z right now. Now home X and then Home Y and tell me which way they move. Do they move towards or away from the endstops. I ask because in your firmware XYZ home are set to -1 which should be minimum. But if they are moving away from the stops then your motor directions are reversed and need to be inverted. Those three settings you asked about originally need to be swapped. Then in RH under machine settings there is an option to swap the controls so you get the expected movement.

Well got to get to bed now. I will check back tomorrow. thanks for your help so far.

Ok, then we might be getting somewhere. Go through the config.h and make sure the settings throughout the endstop section for X are the same as Y since Y works. The movement for a home command should be the same for both as the motors should turn in the same direction. If the X still moves away from the switch  on home then change the following:

// Inverting axis direction
#define INVERT_X_DIR false
#define INVERT_Y_DIR true
#define INVERT_Z_DIR true

To this:

// Inverting axis direction
#define INVERT_X_DIR true
#define INVERT_Y_DIR true
#define INVERT_Z_DIR true

Just ignore what direction they move in relation to RH right now. All we want to do now is to get the logic to move in the expected direction when a HOME command is issued for each or all axis. There is a setting in RH to change the button behavior we will deal with later.

Are you unplugging the motors at the motor or at the Ramps?  If a motor is unplugged and difficult to turn, usually that means that a coil pair (2 of the wires for a common coil) is shorted.  Double-check all of the wiring harnesses.

Also, are the two Z-motors connected to the Ramps board individually or wired together in one plug connector?

I remember when I set up my twin Z motors for the first time I had awful performance when I plugged them in to the 2 separate pin sets on the board...I ended up wiring both motors to one plug and pin set and it worked wonders.  I think I had to adjust the vref up a bit, but they've been smooth ever since.

I followed the wiring diagram at the following site...just scroll down a bit:

http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3_Rework_ … and_wiring

The vref refers to the adjustment trimpot on the stepper chip.  You can adjust it using a multimeter or or just by "feel and sound".  Once you are plugged in and powered up, command the Z axis to move by about 50mm and then adjust the vref so both motors are running smoothly without whining.  See this link:

http://reprap.org/wiki/Pololu_stepper_driver_board

If you can, use a non-metallic(ceramic) screwdriver...if you don't have one, a standard jeweler's screwdriver will do, but you need to be VERY CAREFUL to let the screwdriver tip touch nothing else but the trimpot dial or you will fry the stepper chip.

Now it is a matter of leveling the bed,  printing some test prints, and toying with your settings until you are happy with them!

How do you home z axis?  I hit home but it goes till it hit the endstop at the glass bed. Is that correct?