Are they supposed to sound like this?

[cyclestart]

What are steppers supposed to sound like? Yep, a true noob question

Mine are currently duct taped to a desk. The sound they make while running certain programs is sort of a cross between a pipe organ and a theremin (that thing often heard in old sci-fi movies) . Is this normal?

The steppers are 425oz-in, Xylotex "ready kit" plug-n-play set-up
The program is a spiral running at 20in/min
The config is 1600 (micro)steps/rev, 5 revs/in

Is it possible to upload a mp3 file here? I have a sample under 500KB but it comes up as "invalid format" when trying to post as attachment. Zipping it would be a nuisance all around.

The same sound running Mach3 or emc2.

[pminmo]

Zip it and post it.

[cyclestart]

Hope this zip works for you as my windows machine is not on the net. If not I'll host the mp3 and post a link.

The cheap microphone doesn't do it justice, it sounds a bit more eerie in person. Have I created a new form of musical expression?

One thought. Could this be caused by having the wires routed to close together?

[.xXACEXx.]

thats a pretty neat sound,i was playing it and thinking "its like music
,sounds good"but it depends on who you are i guess,as it was playing my wife was just looking at me shaking her head,with a strang look on her face...

[Torchhead]

Somebody (with way to much time on their hands) actually wrote a musical composition that played on steppers!. It was posted at one time over on CCED list.

It's the grinding sound (like gears grinding) of lost steps you don't want to hear (:-)

tomCAUDLE
www.CandCNC.com
BOB's
Digital THCs
DXFTool Software
Complete Electronic Packages
Stepper & Servo Systems
Hand Controllers

[pminmo]

Sound's like the chopper frequency of the drivers are very much in the audable range. It's not a fault type of issue.

[under-dog]

sounds pretty good. I love hearing that sound. My 4 year old daughter insisted there was a fire truck outside the first tim she heard them.
That wooda wooda woo sound you get when you 3D countour raster

[cyclestart]

Thanks for the reassurance guys!

My first steppers so wasn't sure what to expect. Now that I know it's not a problem it's kind of entertaining


btw Torchhead, will probably contact you soon. Jeff at xylotex recommended your breakout board for my project.

[rustamd]

what microsteps do you have drives set at?

Becouse the 1600 sounds wrong to me.

If your screw is 5 TPI and

a: 1/8 microstep: you should have your steps set at 8000
b: 1/2 microstep: you should have your steps set at 2000
c: no microsteping: you should have your steps set at 1000

Not sure where you get 1600...?

[cyclestart]

what microsteps do you have drives set at?

If your screw is 5 TPI and

a: 1/8 microstep: you should have your steps set at 8000

Not sure where you get 1600...?

The sheet that came from xylotex states

The drive is shipped in 1/8 step / full step mode (microstepping)

The motors are 1.8 degrees/full step,, so the one rev should be 1600 microsteps?
1600 X 5tpi = 8000 which I entered in steps/unit.
Think we're saying the same thing just stated from a different angle? Keep in mind this is new territory for me.

Are you trying to confuse this newbie?

edit-> the way I stated it (steps/rev) is not the usual convention probably.

[rustamd]

Do not confuse 1.8° steps with 1/8 microsteps. Two different things.


1.8° is one step
360° = full rotation
360°/1.8°=200 steps per revolotion

The equetion for finding out steps per inch is

(steps per revolution) x (µsteps) x (screw TPI)

Plug your numbers in and you get:

200 x 8 x 5 = 8000

Hope you get same thing