Why are my steppers not moving?

284 views  April 9, 2023

Are the motors ready to move:

  • Do you have holding torque on the motors?
  • Are they powered OK?
  • Is there a motor/driver enable signal? Can you jump it?
  • Can you command the motors to move using other means? Like configuration software?

Are the step and direction signals getting to the motor?

  • Verify the pinout configuration.
  • Is there an OUTPUT ENABLE?  All the CNC4PC breakout boards have hardware enable and all the multifunction have also a Safety Charge Pump, which is a watchdog to enable the outputs only when the control software is in control.  All these boards have an LED that activates.  Usually there is a Step by Step instructions on setting up the board and on the last step we validate that the breakout board is indeed activated with the SCHP.
  • Trace the signals.  Keep in mind that the direction signal will change status when you command the motor to move in a different direction than what it was moving before.  It may be hard to test the step pin as it is a fast pulse stream, but if you invert the active high/low of the stop pin in the configuration, you will see it changing states.
  • Check for action on the step and direction pins on the control software, motion controller plugin, LEDs of the breakout board, and with a multimeter on the terminals of the breakout board, if possible pins of the motion controller, and terminals of the drivers.
  • Verify the microstepping and/or number of pulses you are sending, or step per pulse.  Newer drivers can have a crazy high resolution and require a lot of steps, or on the contrary, it may be possible that you are sending a crazy high fast pulse stream that the driver is not able to react to.

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