Originally Posted by Mike F  Right, tried setting the amperage from the drives but found it difficult to get a steady reading on the meter. If I jogged the axis one way, I got something like -1.7A then jog it the other way and got +3.12A. These numbers were pretty repeatable so I took the highest and adjusted it to read more or less 3A.
Some of the drives were well under 3A so I am thinking that hot steppers is not an issue. However some fifteen minutes into the session and the motors started twitching and every time the centre, yellow LED on each of the drives blinked, it was accompanied by a motor twitch. After a very short period one of the yellow LEDs lit permanently and all drives were lost.
This is definitely looking like a drive issue not a stepper issue - the drives are simply overheating. What is the specification for the power supply? Is there something that should be changed if operating from 240v? Do I have to get a 110v transformer?
I notice that the breakout board has its own 240v - 12v transformer - would this still work OK if I was powering the whole lot from 110v?
Mike |
Hi Mike,
It sounds to me that something is over heating. When you say your steppers are getting hot, how hot is hot? They are probably rated to a max of around 80-100 degrees C (coil temperature NOT case temperature). I have stepper motors that get too hot to touch for more than a few seconds and when measuring the case are 60 degrees C so about their max. If you keep running them hotter than they should be they will start to permanently loose power.
Doesn’t the current to the drives vary depending on the load on the stepper motor? Have you tried touching the drives after they fault (power disconnected)? The case should be no more than just warm.
John