Re: [MendelMax] Problem Testing Stepper Motors using RAMPS 1.4

[Sean Mitchell]

First, remember to never plug in/unplug the motors while the board is energized.  You can cook your drivers that way.

Second, if you are testing your RAMPS for the first time, I always recommend the test firmware first: 

http://reprap.org/wiki/File:RAMPS14_test.zip

This just moves the motors and turns the heaters on and off endlessly.  The problem is, most of the firmwares have protections built in, so if your hot end temp can't be reliably sensed (hot end thermistor not plugged in, wrong type, etc), the board shuts down and goes into an "Fix it!" state and appears dead.

Second, I had a similar problem with a friend who was using repetierhost and marlin firmware - the commands we gave in repetierhost would just sit at "2 commands in queue" ... "3 commands in queue" ... etc.  We never actually figured out what the cause was, but I think it was something along the lines of the error codes from marlin were not displayed correctly in repetierhost.  Connection said it was working, but the commands would just queue up.

For starters, try pronterface.  If you want to use repetierhost, I would also recommend using repetierfirmware, they work together.  Some of the options from repetierhost are not available if you are not using the repetier firmware.

On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 8:28 AM, Paul <paulne...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of building my first 3D printer, which will be a MendelMax 1.5.  I'm waiting for the plastic parts to arrive, but have the electronics, so I've been trying to just get the stepper motors to work using Repetier host.  Unfortunately the motors don't respond to any of the manual commands in the software.  For instance, if I plug a motor into the X header, and click the +100 along X, then "run job", nothing happens.  In fact, when I plug a motor into any of the headers (except Z), it doesn't seem energized.  Vref is set to 0.4V for now (although I tried up to 0.6V for testing).  I'm using Marlin and the motherboard is set to 33 in the config.h file.  It seems to compile fine using Arduino R23, and loads to the microcontroller.  I'm even able to connect using Repetier Host.  

One thing I'm not sure about:

When connecting the motor to the header, the pairs of leads that measure low resistance are connected to 2B/2A and 1A/1B, respectively.  Is this correct?

Here's my setup:

Arduino 2560 R3

RAMPS 1.4, and Pololu drivers.  

Stepper motors:17HS8401 1.8 deg, 1.8A.

12V Power supply

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

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Sean Mitchell
50668 Köln
Germany

echo "zvgp...@tznvy.pbz" | tr '[a-m][n-z][A-M][N-Z]' '[n-z][a-m][N-Z][A-M]'

[Paul]

Thanks for the reply.  So in order to avoid board shut-down using the RAMPS test firmware, do I need to hook up the hot end?  Is there an easy way to disable this check in the firmware so I can just check the motors?  I'll try to get Pronterface up and running and see if that works.

[Paul]

Good news - the motors work just fine with the RAMPS test firmware :).  Thanks a ton, Sean!  Now to get Marlin to work with Pronterface, then Repetier Host.

[JohnD]

Also be aware that "production" firmware expects to see endstops, and depending on how it's configured may refuse to move the motors as well.  Or move them a single step, or only one direction! :-)