No voltage to stepper motors 2-25-2025
It took a little longer to receive my board than I expected. But, it looks like maybe you guys were in the middle of getting the new boards in stock. Then the post office lost it in a snow storm and it sat in Kansas City for a week. I finally received it and installed it. It was a very simple install.
THE PROBLEM...The board will not activate my stepper motors. When I press HOME in Lightburn the LED lights up on the new board but nothing happens. I reinstalled my old board and as soon as I hit the power button it went HOME and functioned correctly. Is there some settings in the firmware that could be causing this, or is it a bad board. I have emailed support but have not had a response. I have just become disabled and had to throw away 25 yrs experence in the HVAC trade and am trying to start a Laser Engraving business to replace my income before I go bankrupt. I can't even get started learning much less selling until I cam make this thing work. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP
Hi, are you able to provide some more specific details?
Like whether the motor are locked or not? The led trouble shoot statuses. Maybe some photos of the wiring and installation?
Pls let me know and I will help you further. In the meantime you might have a look at the troubleshooting pages to see if you can add more information. If you have a multi meter then you can measure the voltage on the step sticks. O volt might indicate a set fuse on the board (F1). This is a resetting fuse so a step sticks could be defect. Anyway I hope you have some information for us back to investigate. Thanks Paul
Hello,
I am new to lasers, I do have a multi meter.
So when I send it to home the motors are not lock up. I have read through all the troubleshooting pages. I just purchased the board and not sure how to check which firmware I am running. Pictures are on the way.
Here are 3 photos.
Uploaded files:
[VER:1.1f.20211209:]
[OEM:Awesome.tech . MiniGerbil_MG3:]
[SER:MG3_0003.Date:2021209:]
[OPT:VMZL,15,250]
ALARM:9
Homing fail. Could not find limit switch within search distance. Defined as 1.5 * max_travel on search and 5 * pulloff on locate phases.
ok
Grbl 1.1f ['$' for help]
[MSG:'$H'|'$X' to unlock
Led 1 - solid green
Led 2 and 4 - off
Led 3 - solid red
Led 5 - lights up red when I press home. Motors are not locked up
Led 6 - off
Led 7 - solid green
Led 8 - solid green
Led 9 and 10 - on but when I press the limit switches they shut off.
I am not sure how to test the stepstick. I see the post on stepstick jumpers, but it is on the v2 / v2.1. Can you please tell me how to do this?
Ok from the led statuses I can see that the board does get 5vdc and 24vdc. The limit switches do work as well. You're connected so all is well except that the motors are not locked. This means that the motors aren't getting any current. There are two possible causes: 1. One or both Step sticks are broken. Take one out an try again. Still no luck swap them out and try the other. It one axis moves then one step stick is broken. 2. The motors are cross wired. If that is the case then they will make a zooming or rattle sound. Swap two wires but taking out the recepticle pin in the female connector. Use a small screwdriver to push in the prong while pulling out the wire.
Also measure if the 24VDC arrives at the stepstick. Vmot and gnd are the labels on the step sticks. The 24VDC is fused with a reset able fuse so if nothing is measured at the step sticks vmot pin then the fuse has been activated. It will reset in time. Best is then to replace the step sticks. Pls let me know what you found. Cheers Paul
Hey Paul, it looks like I have a bad stepstick. When both stepsticks are installed, both axis are free. When I remove the bad stepstick one axis is locked, the other free. When I press home it goes home. When I move that stepstick to the other slot the other axis also locks and goes home.
That's good news, the step stick has to be replaced. Just send an email to our support and they will get a replacement stepstick sent to you. If you are on a hurry you can buy one locally as well. They are very cheap,a round usd 2 to 3 bucks.
Let us know how it went and if you have made any engravings for ppl.
Cheers Paul