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RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works

Posted by Gerain 
RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 04:31AM
Hello Reprapers,
I have a very strange issue. Yesterday I assembled my Prusa i3 and wanted to test if everything works. After uploading firmware and connecting my PC to printer with prontoface software I was able to move only Y axis. X,Z and extruder were idle. No sound no movement - nothing.

I went to IRC and with help of others reprapers i started troubleshooting.

Checked all end stops they worked fine.
I adjusted Vref on stepper drivers so it was all the same as on the Y axis. I know that it might me a bit different on Z axis but X and extruder should work.
I thought I should see if there was an issue with my stepper motors so I swapped X and Y cable and when I was moving Y axis X axis motor was moving. I also tried connecting extruder and it worked on Y axis slot for cables on RAMPS board so I ruled out that my stepper motors were faulty.
Next thing I checked was my stepper drivers. I swapped them around and again the when driver was in Y axis slot on RAMPS board it was working but all other were idle. So I ruled faulty driver option out.
Last thing that I checked was high position and low position voltage on drivers and here is where it gets odd. On all drivers high postition is 5V as expected but on X axis driver it was 4.42v and low was 0 on all of them apart from X axis it stayed the same. I had a spare driver so I swapped it around and it gave me the same result
I checked soldering on ramps board and it all looked good. But the question is where can I get such a voltage drop from and also can it cause my issue?
I am puzzled and do not know what to do. I ordered new RAMPS board but it will take some time until it will get here so I thought I try to fix it myself with community help.
Please help
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 04:58AM
You could flash the "ramps-test" and see, if the problem persists. That would indicate a hardware error.

If the ramps test works flawless, you should check your firmware setting if they inhibit stepper movement.

Extruder only runs, when hotend temp is above the extruder_min temp ( when prevent_dangerous_extrusion is enabled )
XYZ-steppers only run, when they are homed correctly or software_min/max_endstops are set to false
( you might have configured y-endstop correct, but not the others ?)

-Olaf
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 05:31AM
Thanks for a hint Olaf.
I will try and do the test and diferent setting see what will happen and will get back with the results.
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 07:55AM
Olaf thanks for the hint again! I ran remps test and all axis moved. I think i need to look into firmware setup.
Where do you think i made mistake?
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 08:09AM
I do not know what i did but it is alive! Thank you very much for the help!
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 10:14AM
All working fine but Z is not changing direction.
Can someone help me on this? It always moves down even when i send comand to go up.
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 02:22PM
You might have a problem with the "dir" pin of the z-driver. Check both boards for shorts or badly soldered contacts.
If nothing else helps, you can use the second extruder port for the z-axis. ( just change pin numbers in "pins_ramps_13.h" )
-Olaf

#define Z_STEP_PIN         36  //  was 46
#define Z_DIR_PIN          34  //  was 48
#define Z_ENABLE_PIN       30  //  was 62
#define Z_MIN_PIN          18
#define Z_MAX_PIN          19

#define E0_STEP_PIN        26
#define E0_DIR_PIN         28
#define E0_ENABLE_PIN      24

#define E1_STEP_PIN        46  //  was 36
#define E1_DIR_PIN         48  //  was 34
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN      62  //  was 30
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 17, 2015 02:50PM
Thank you Olaf for your help.
It was bad connection at the end. The problem was that my RAMPS wasn't fully connected to Arduino and it was not connecting some pins after some adjustments i manged to connect everything and now it is working perfect!
Thanks again
-Gerain
Re: RAMPS 1.4 problem with stepper motors only Y axis works
October 18, 2015 09:28PM
Hello, I am currently building an OB1.4 printer and have had it completed for over a month now but have had the same issues the Gerain was describing. I will try this too and hope it works!!
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