Ramps 1.4 stepper testing

Hello all I built a 3d printer and I going to control it with an arduino mega and ramps 1.4. I tried to connect one of the motors and one driver to test it but I can't get the motor to move. Using an led on the stepper wires I verified what wires go to each coil so the wiring is right. I have a 12 v 20 a power supply connected. I uploaded marlin without issues. My first question is can I make the motor work without connecting everything? I didn't know if the end switch wires, the thermistor wires or anything else has to be hooked up in order for the board to work. The other thing is when I plug the ramps board in the light flashes green for a few seconds and then turns off but the videos I have seen show 2 orange lights flashing constantly on the ramps.

I think you also need the relevant end stop micro switch plugged in to the correct place on the RAMPS board to make the circuit for the motor, I believe it will not run if it thinks the micro switch has been activated (i.e. activated means open circuit, which is the same as not being connected).

Only the hotend thermistor needs to be plugged in for the board to run (otherwise it mintemps), the green light flashes only for a moment, the orange lights indicate power for D9-D11 and if you invert the endstop logic in the firmware (or connect the GND and signal pins with a jumper) it will circumvent what vince was talking about.

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Thanks guys I will try when I get home. I program cncmills for a living but 3d printing is new to me. Can someone please look at my extruder and tell me which one is the thermistor and which one is the heater.

That's a strange looking set up probably Chinese where did you buy it might not even have a thermistor and might have a thermocouple is there any information with it if it has a thermocouple you going to have to modify it to have 100 K thermistor

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2014 06:23PM by cnc dick.

The heater is the 2 red wires

I bought it on eBay. I emailed the seller. I saw that there was a setting for thermistors and thermocouples. If mine has a thermocouple can I still use it?

Here is a link to the eBay page. But they have both thermistors and thermocouple so I'm not sure which one I have.
[m.ebay.com]

Does anyone know the answer to my last question? Thank you

The metal braided wire is usually a sign of a thermocouple and not a thermistor.

The RAMPS board uses thermistor inputs, because thermistors are cheaper and more common in RepRap projects. A K-type thermocouple can have higher temperature ranges, and is arguably more accurate...and more expensive. I believe that there is an add-on board for RAMPS that will take thermocouple inputs, and has one of the two thermocouple adapter chips (AD-595 being one of them). In the long run, you might be better off just removing the thermocouple and gluing a traditional (and known!) thermistor into the hole.....