A4983 based StepStick - poor motor performance

Hi all,

I just purchased several StepSticks based on the A4983 driver and hooked one up to a stepper that I have. When running the motor with my Arduino for testing the motor does not run smoothly at all.

I really don't have any idea how to go about troubleshooting what the exact problem is so that I can figure out a fix for the problem.

A little more information, I'm using NEMA 17 sized motors (not that that should make a huge difference) that are 6 wire bipolar rated at 2A / coil. I connected only the two ends of each coil to the StepStick and left the center taps not connected. I'm using an old PC power supply with the motor powered from the +12V rail and the rest of the electronics powered from the +5V rail.

My Arduino sketch is really simple, it just runs the motor in one direction at a constant speed.

TIA for any and all help! I'll also gladly accept links to good "for dummies" type sites to help me out. (I do have a degree in electrical engineering but I've been in pure software for about 18years, so things are very rusty!)

Did you adjust the trimpots on the StepSticks? See [reprap.org]

There are also reports on unreliable StepSticks. Like only 2 of 4 actually working. So you might want to try more than one.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Thanks Traumflug!

I tried the procedure and no luck. It just won't settle in. :-(

I'll try one of the other boards to see if that helps.

Do they have jumpers for microstepping?

Jumpers for microstepping are not part of Pololu/StepStick boards. They have the pins where jumpers can be connected, though, and about all RepRap electronics provide these.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Yes but the poster seemed to indicate he wasnt using reprap electronics but a homebrew circuit. I was thinking perhaps some accommodation could be made for microstepping to smooth it out.