Motor issues

So I've finally put most of my Tantillus together (everything except the LCD and rotary switch) and when I test the motors using Pronterface, all I get is a buzzing noise coming from the motors with a duration dependent on the distance I click in each direction (i.e. when I click -100 y, it buzzes for longer than if I click -10 y). Along with the buzzing, I notice that the XY gears shutter slightly momentarily at the beginning of each buzz duration and then nothing.

When I first ran into this problem I figured it was just a current issue like Tantillus mentions in the build guide and so I attempted to adjust the current on the stepper drivers to fix it. Unfortunately, no matter how I adjust the potentiometer, I always get the same response. I did notice that if I adjusted the potentiometer quite alot, the motors wouldn't do anything at all, no buzz, no movement.

I guess my question is, if I wired these motors up INCORRECTLY, would they be responding at all? I followed the wiring suggestions from this post [forums.reprap.org] to wire up my motors. Beyond that, I'm at a complete loss as to what I should do next to troubleshoot this.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

If the motors were wired wrong then they would just buzz and vibrate. To check try sliding the motors down so they are not engaged with the upper gear and test if they turn.

Next thing is the amount of friction the axis have. You should be able to move the axis around with ease if the motors are disengaged. If the motors are attached you should still be able to move the axis but they will take a bit of force to turn the motors since they act as generators while connected.

If there is a lot of friction be sure the hotend adapter is cut out of 1/8" / 3mm thick material. If you ended up with a 6mm hotend mount as being sold by a few people you will end up with all kind of issues.

Next if there is a lot of friction I would check the X/Y end bushings are well broken in or at least well lubed.

If the cables are not tight then the axis could be going out of square which will make them bind and not move.

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

Thanks for the quick response Sublime.

I suspect that the wiring might be incorrect then as they seem to just buzz and vibrate. Like I mentioned in the original post, I used the wiring suggested in a previous post to wire mine up, specifically using:

tony's wiring pinout
PIN1 / WHT = COMMON
PIN2 / ORG = B-
PIN3 / BLUE= B
PIN4 / YL = A-
PIN5 / RED = A
PIN6 / BLK = COMMON

wiring from motor to RAMPS
2B -> B- (PIN2)
2A -> B (PIN3)
1A -> A- (PIN4)
1B -> A (PIN5)

I relied completely on color when I spliced the connections (which in hindsight might have been a bad idea) and cut to a nub the white and black wires (which in hindsight might have been a REALLY bad idea ). Since all the motors are exhibiting this behavior I'm gonna rule out my poor soldering skills as the culprit (at least for the time being). I recall, Sublime, that you mentioned either in a forum post or in the build directions that the connector orientation to the RAMPS board could go either way without issue. Is that true or am I imagining that?

I had the same problem initially. My connectors were ABA-B- and I had to switch them around to AA-BB-. I used a multimeter to test which wires were which.

The plugs on the Ramps can go either way. It just reverses the motor movement.

The easiest way to get them correct is to take a multimeter and test to check which pairs of wires out of the four you have left have continuity. Then you will have two pairs of wires, one for each coil and you would then connect one pair to the first two terminals for that motor on the RAMPS and the other pair to the third and forth terminals on the RAMPS board.

Also it could be something as simple as trying to make the motors turn too quickly which results in lost steps (or vibrating) and trying a slower speed may solve it.

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

Just an update...

I was able to figure out my wiring issues using Sublimes suggestion of employing a multimeter to find the pairs and now the motors are functioning like they should. Yay! I think I'm finally ready for a test print...

i have motor problem when start printing. Motors are running fine when individual motors are run using pronterface, but when try to print something motors start making noise and not moving.
Thx