Installed new motors, not working! :( Hi, I recently bought some new motors for my printer, NEMA17 2AMPs from ebay (Motors Ebay Page - if you want to have a look at the specs) and today got them all attached and plugged in only to find that I can't get them to work properly. The problem is: whenever I try to move any of the motors they do one good move and then start clicking and skipping for any subsequent moves. This keeps happening until the printer is reset. The other thing is that the motor drivers, A4988 Stepper Motor Drivers (Drivers ebay page - again, if you wanna see specs) are getting extremely hot quite quickly... Have tried: Removing belts in case they were too tight - same problem Adjusting the potentiometers to many different levels - at lower levels they moved less, at higher levels they moved more but still same clicking and skipping. Flipping plugs - No change, other than direction Personally I'm not super savvy with electronics so I don't really know what I'm looking for however I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be an issue with the drivers, although I have seen people using the same drivers for larger motors so... Using a RAMPS 1.4 on an Arduino Mega 2560. Happy to answer any other questions or try anything to test it. Thanks, Chris. https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560629#msg-560629 Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:50:13 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,569458#msg-569458 Re: Installed new motors, not working! :( https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,569458#msg-569458 Abraxass Reprappers Mon, 12 Oct 2015 05:32:18 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,561122#msg-561122 Re: Installed new motors, not working! :( https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,561122#msg-561122 dc42 Reprappers Mon, 21 Sep 2015 10:51:57 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,561089#msg-561089 Re: Installed new motors, not working! :( https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,561089#msg-561089
Guys, it's not because the motors are rated 2A
you can't make them work with allegro drivers.
I ran 17HS8401 motors with some A4988,
since two years now and
neither the drivers or the motors get too hot.
The 17HS8401 are rated 1.8A btw.
Just set the drivers on the proper voltage and this will be ok.
For 2A rated motors, just set the output voltage to 0.85v.

++JM]]> J-Max Reprappers Mon, 21 Sep 2015 09:40:38 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560749#msg-560749 Re: Installed new motors, not working! :( https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560749#msg-560749
Quote

Those little drivers can't handle 2A. If they got "extremely hot very quickly" you may have destroyed them. Look into higher current rated drivers such as this.
I agree. A4988 drivers can only handle about 1 amp, with proper cooling somewhere around 1.5 amps can be attained. Try changing your drivers to drv8825. They can handle 2 amps without cooling easily.]]> gmckee Reprappers Sun, 20 Sep 2015 14:22:11 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560699#msg-560699 Re: Installed new motors, not working! :( https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560699#msg-560699 this.]]> the_digital_dentist Reprappers Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:15:10 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560695#msg-560695 Re: Installed new motors, not working! :( https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560695#msg-560695
Set the drivers to 0.85v.

++JM]]> J-Max Reprappers Sun, 20 Sep 2015 11:51:52 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560629#msg-560629 Installed new motors, not working! :( https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?4,560629,560629#msg-560629
I recently bought some new motors for my printer, NEMA17 2AMPs from ebay (Motors Ebay Page - if you want to have a look at the specs) and today got them all attached and plugged in only to find that I can't get them to work properly. The problem is: whenever I try to move any of the motors they do one good move and then start clicking and skipping for any subsequent moves. This keeps happening until the printer is reset. The other thing is that the motor drivers, A4988 Stepper Motor Drivers (Drivers ebay page - again, if you wanna see specs) are getting extremely hot quite quickly...

Have tried: Removing belts in case they were too tight - same problem
Adjusting the potentiometers to many different levels - at lower levels they moved less, at higher levels they moved more but still same clicking and skipping.
Flipping plugs - No change, other than direction

Personally I'm not super savvy with electronics so I don't really know what I'm looking for however I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be an issue with the drivers, although I have seen people using the same drivers for larger motors so...
Using a RAMPS 1.4 on an Arduino Mega 2560.

Happy to answer any other questions or try anything to test it.

Thanks,

Chris.]]> Abraxass Reprappers Sun, 20 Sep 2015 08:09:37 -0400