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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Help/Repair/Maintenance → what voltages for stepper motors?
Im reading conflicting info about this. SD tech help sugests 1v for each axis, but I'm reading here that it should be between.3 and .6.....can someone please clarify? Also the trimpots on my SD mobo wont even adjust to 1v....they max out at .6.
Im confused.
The printer is STARTED, right ? Command some moves on steppers then measure again.
Yes,it was powered on and connected to pc. I tried just now to move the motors thru the software, and it won't do anything at all. Like its bricked. I restarted solidprint software and same thing. It connects and will heat, but no movement commands. I'm really frustrated. Voltage of x and y are both reading .77v at max trimpot turn. I didn't adjust it. (was .6v when i turned it off last night.)
Idk what's going on.
Step one....
Take a break and walk away for a while. Make sure everything is off and disconnected first.
Step two....
Move all axis against their respective end stops by hand.
Plug everything back in and connect up to the printer.
Step Three...re-evaluate step one and report back 
We are here to help.
Step one....
Take a break and walk away for a while. Make sure everything is off and disconnected first.Step two....
Move all axis against their respective end stops by hand.
Plug everything back in and connect up to the printer.Step Three...re-evaluate step one and report back
We are here to help.
I did; it's all the same :-(
So I see lots of checking voltages, you didn't by chance short something out?
So what does it read with the pots fully lowered? All I see is maxed listed and they should never be at max. In fact they should never be beyond half way.
So what does it read with the pots fully lowered? All I see is maxed listed and they should never be at max. In fact they should never be beyond half way.
The min are zero.
The voltage varies in between readings and can't reach 1 v.
I placed a ticket with SD support. I'm hoping to send it back. There seems to be a serious problem and i suspect the mobo
Thx for the responses
You dont want 1 volt. I am pretty sure several of us have told you that is too high. The average on most printers is
.350 to about .500.
You dont want 1 volt. I am pretty sure several of us have told you that is too high. The average on most printers is
.350 to about .500.
Just measured my Solidoodle, it's 0.17V
carl_m1968 wrote:You dont want 1 volt. I am pretty sure several of us have told you that is too high. The average on most printers is
.350 to about .500.Just measured my Solidoodle, it's 0.17V
So that is even lower, much lower than 1 volt which is recommended by SD according to the OP.
carl_m1968 wrote:You dont want 1 volt. I am pretty sure several of us have told you that is too high. The average on most printers is
.350 to about .500.Just measured my Solidoodle, it's 0.17V
So that is even lower, much lower than 1 volt which is recommended by SD according to the OP.
1 volt would give you so much moire you'd be printing blobs, Solidoodle is simply wrong.
Also, adjusting VREF using the voltages is very time consuming and unnecessary. Just tune them until they stop skipping.
Well in Any case the Printer is bricked now
Just the motherboard is bricked. I honestly wouldn't bother with another SD board, they are about $180. A RAMPS set up wont cost you much at all, but it will require a bit of learning to set up. Let us know if you are interested in that route. SD will not send you a board for free so be prepared.
all of my pots are at 1v except e which is at .250v or pretty damn close.
all of my pots are at 1v except e which is at .250v or pretty damn close.
Running your motors at that current will burn them out earlier than they should.
The extruder requires the most torque so it should be the highest of all of them. Then your axis drivers should be about half of your extruder.
My axis drivers are at .250 and my extruder is at .400 and they run very quite and just barely warm to the touch even after 12 hours of printing.
1 volt means you are feeding your motor 1 amp of current and they will use it and push themselves much harder then they need to.
I adjust mine down to the point where they just buzz and not move. I then go up .025 volts. Run them and see if they move the full axis. If they do fine, if they stall then I go up another .025 until they can move the full axis with no stalls. Then I do a print to make sure they don't stall or skip steps. That usually makes me go up one more .025 and that is where they stay.
Ok Thorarinn, please tell us exactly what printer you have. We can establish who/what is wrong when we know what is right. 
You mention "SD mobo", there are a few generations to choose from!!
If you've increased Vref to max and tried to run motors, it is possible you have overheated your stepper IC's and killed them. This is unfortunate. Was there a reason to adjust the Vref initially? Was this tuning the printer up, or was there a fault already?
The typical Vref will be different depending on your board and motors, and can be worked out easily enough given enough information. More information than we currently have. Please disregard the large collection of values you've already been provided with (.3-.6V, 1V, .350V-.500V, 0.17V, 0.250V, 0.400V at current count... Any one of those could be right or even more likely wrong. GUYS, THIS IS CONFUSING!!).
Similarly as wardjr and carl suggest, I'm a fan of adjusting by ear too - the Vref = x.xxV thing really is just a starting point, often near enough is good enough. I doesn't take into consideration variation in motors and the mechanical system. Try that when you've got it working again. 
Heheh is makes perfect sense. Just add all the listed values together, divide by 8 and you get your perfect golden voltage for all printers... Sure wish it was that easy...
I don't know grob, are you sure we know what we're talking about here
well, no harm in trying it. I adjusted per solidoodles page, but the info here has been invaluable, ill give that a shot tomorrow. maybe it will help.
It really does depend on the board, the stepper drivers, and the motors... What works on one setup will more than likely be way off for another.
for my #2 SD4 with the stock Rev E Printrboard it is in the 1.0v range for X, Y, & Z - but they are tuned by ear/feel from that point to work as efficiently as possible without skipping, or overheating.
#1 SD4 is running a Rumba and thus is VERY different...
the 2 Folgertech kits (Prusa & Kossel) both run Ramps with 4988 stepper drivers, and yet are both just a bit different from each other because of how they operate.
It really does depend on the board, the stepper drivers, and the motors... What works on one setup will more than likely be way off for another.
for my #2 SD4 with the stock Rev E Printrboard it is in the 1.0v range for X, Y, & Z - but they are tuned by ear/feel from that point to work as efficiently as possible without skipping, or overheating.
#1 SD4 is running a Rumba and thus is VERY different...
the 2 Folgertech kits (Prusa & Kossel) both run Ramps with 4988 stepper drivers, and yet are both just a bit different from each other because of how they operate.
+1, that's what I'm talking about.
X i was able to turn down quite a bit, from 1v to .36 however Y i only got down to about .75 i did not touch Z or E seems to be printing fine. Y seemed to bind up at kind of random though. below that point. edit, had to increase the X voltage.
So does anyone know why solidoodle would recommends approximately 1V?
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Help/Repair/Maintenance → what voltages for stepper motors?
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