This is a pretty strange problem, but I'll try to explain as best I can. I'm sure that the root of the problem is my solder job, but I'm just curious if I can actually salvage the Pololu driver or if I need to use a new one. Everything seems good at first when I connect to the printer and test each Pololu driver. One driver has issues, however. A few (maybe 10?) seconds after a successful test, it will start making this pulsing noise. It's not actually turning the motor, but if I touch the motor I can feel it shake on every other pulse. The pulsing is perfectly even from what I can tell, slightly over 2 pulses per second. This pulsing will continue until take away power from the arduino. If I do a test after the pulsing begins, the motor only moves on every other pulse (the same pulse where I could feel shaking earlier). In fact, I did a full print of a shot glass last night using this "halfway working" driver on the Z-axis. It looks like it is about half as tall as it should be, but it extruded the full amount of plastic so it's very dense/smooshed vertically. Anyone ever had/heard of this problem before? At one point during soldering I accidentally touched the iron (very briefly) to a component on the board, so I'm assuming that's the problem, but I can't help but wonder if it might be caused by something fixable. I'm not very electronically savvy, but I thought that generally when electronics fail they fail catastrophically, not halfway like this. https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86951#msg-86951 Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:08:30 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,110266#msg-110266 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,110266#msg-110266 I'd thought I add my solution to a slightly different problem with similar symptoms:

Case:
When i first connected my motors it started turning but not consistently and stopped turning
and started vibrating. This was on RAMPS electronics with makerbot stepper motors.

Solution:
Big case of RTFM
I connected the steppers to the RAMPS assuming that the two loops of the motors needed to
be connected to A & B.
With the numbering of the ramps:
I did this:
1A -> loop1
1B -> loop2
2B -> loop2
2A -> loop1

This is the correct wiring:

1A -> loop1
1B -> loop1
2B -> loop2
2A -> loop2

Really obvious when you think about it but it had me baffled for at least a few hours.

Best Regards

Evert]]> evilb RAMPS Electronics Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:06:44 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,110207#msg-110207 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,110207#msg-110207 I am running a arduino mega 2560 ramps 1.4 and the marlin fw]]> jerminator RAMPS Electronics Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:22:32 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,87072#msg-87072 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,87072#msg-87072 nophead RAMPS Electronics Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:19:56 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,87041#msg-87041 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,87041#msg-87041 oz RAMPS Electronics Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:09:13 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86974#msg-86974 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86974#msg-86974 I didn't check for heat, but I assume that must have been the problem. I just went and turned the potentiometer about a full turn counter-clockwise and tested it. It wasn't getting enough power, so I turned it a half-turn back and BINGO! No more problems. I'm shocked that my ghetto soldering actually worked.
Thanks again guys! I've never been disappointed when I turn to the RepRap forums for help.]]> unicoder RAMPS Electronics Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:15:28 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86964#msg-86964 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86964#msg-86964
If so turning the current down will stop it overheating provided you get enough torque.]]> nophead RAMPS Electronics Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:29:06 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86954#msg-86954 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86954#msg-86954 unicoder RAMPS Electronics Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:46:52 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86952#msg-86952 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86952#msg-86952 Sublime RAMPS Electronics Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:19:57 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86951#msg-86951 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?219,86951,86951#msg-86951
Everything seems good at first when I connect to the printer and test each Pololu driver. One driver has issues, however. A few (maybe 10?) seconds after a successful test, it will start making this pulsing noise. It's not actually turning the motor, but if I touch the motor I can feel it shake on every other pulse. The pulsing is perfectly even from what I can tell, slightly over 2 pulses per second. This pulsing will continue until take away power from the arduino. If I do a test after the pulsing begins, the motor only moves on every other pulse (the same pulse where I could feel shaking earlier). In fact, I did a full print of a shot glass last night using this "halfway working" driver on the Z-axis. It looks like it is about half as tall as it should be, but it extruded the full amount of plastic so it's very dense/smooshed vertically.

Anyone ever had/heard of this problem before? At one point during soldering I accidentally touched the iron (very briefly) to a component on the board, so I'm assuming that's the problem, but I can't help but wonder if it might be caused by something fixable. I'm not very electronically savvy, but I thought that generally when electronics fail they fail catastrophically, not halfway like this.]]> unicoder RAMPS Electronics Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:10:16 -0400