Bad motor?

[Cmac139]

I'm putting together my 4X4 Saturn 2. I have the Nema34 Plug and Play electronics and motors. Things are going well and I'm at the point of having it come to life having downloaded Mach 3 and importing the xml file from CNCRouterParts to get me in the ballpark. The X and Y axis are cruising along without issue. The Z is another situation.

When I first tested the axis it would move briefly and then seize and whine. I recognized this from my previous desktop machine to be an overload on the motor (missing steps). I played with the motor settings a bit changing the acceleration and speed but it did not help. Now, no matter what setting I use the motor only whines and does not turn.

I've switched the connections (powered a y motor with the z cable) and it moves. I've also attached the motor to the y cable and it again whines without turning. I did not use any outrageous settings, only going as high as the Y & X settings. Now, it is not possible to spin the motor by hand while the other three do so easily.

I have the rails greased and can turn the ballscrew on the Z by hand when the motor is not connected.

Is it possible to have burned up a motor? My previous experience with Nema 23 motors tells me this is not likely in the very short usage but I'll ask the experts. Any advice on where to go with this?

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[difalkner]

Welcome to the CNC Zone! Is your Z motor the same size and specs as the X and Y motors?

David

[mattcnc123]

may be it is from soft limits.

turn it off

[ger21]

What are your velocity and acceleration settings for the Z axis?

With the power off, but the motor connected to the screw, can you turn it by hand?

Try swapping the motor with the X or Y motor.

[Cmac139]

Thanks for jumping in guys.

The motor is identical to the other 3.
I’ve switched the motors and the suspect acts the same while the swapped motor turns.
I,be used settings along range, from 30ipm to 300ipm with accel rates from short to long, still won’t turn, only whine.


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[Cmac139]

Also, with the motor unplugged, it will not turn.


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[Jim Dawson]

Sounds like the motor is bad. The rotor is stuck.

[Cmac139]

Nate, is this something you can help me out with?


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[DDgitfiddle]

Steppers are not that difficult to disassemble. If you can't get this covered under any sort of warranty, it would be worth taking it apart to see if one of the bearings is bad. You should be able to replace it fairly easily. It is also possible that some sort of debris is locking up the rotor. It is also possible that there is a shorted coil, which would be hard to fix. It won't cost you anything to look, and might save you a little money if it is an easy fix.

-Robert

[Al_The_Man]

Apparently steppers are more prone to demagnetization than the average servo when disassembled, Mariss at Gecko found this apparently, I have never had this problem with modern servo's.
Al.

[Cmac139]

Steppers are not that difficult to disassemble. If you can't get this covered under any sort of warranty, it would be worth taking it apart to see if one of the bearings is bad. You should be able to replace it fairly easily. It is also possible that some sort of debris is locking up the rotor. It is also possible that there is a shorted coil, which would be hard to fix. It won't cost you anything to look, and might save you a little money if it is an easy fix.

-Robert

I’m hoping that since this was the first time out on the machine that there would be some kind of warranty. I’ll wait to hear from Nate and see how I’m to go about this. I’ve heard of several different issues with steppers but never involving one of this size. I’m used to NEMA 23’s so although I Would assume the same maladies exist between the two, I’m not comfortable enough to positively state a problem or a fix.

I greatly appreciate the input and thoughts! I’m learning every step (see what I did there) of the way.


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[Ntl]

First off I’ve never run my steppers since my controller isn’t finished. But the mechanic in me would ask if you have pulled the stepper from the z axis assembly and tried to run the motor with no load on it? If it works, have you tried to move the z axis with no motor attached? If you can’t spin the ballscrew by hand it’s messed up. If the motor with no load doesn’t turn it’s either a problem with the motor the wiring the driver or the controller. You just need to isolate the problem. Mind you I haven’t finished my cnc machine and have never run one. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way this is how I would diagnose the problem.

Dan

[wmgeorge]

Brand new motor and you can't turn the shaft by hand? The other motors you can. Has the motor ever been dropped so the shaft would have been hit? Otherwise my guess is one or more bad bearings. Time to get it replaced under warranty.

[Cmac139]

I wish I could upload videos here: the motor was taken out of the package and installed on the machine. No dropping or force otherwise applied to the motor. There is no visible indication of the motor being damaged. I cannot turn the shaft when it’s completely disconnected from the machine/electronics. I can place all three of the other motors on the Z axis and they all turn the ballscrew. Regardless of where I put the suspect motor (X, Y, or Z) it screams when I send a signal for it to move.


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[Jim Dawson]

I have seen this one time in a new motor, in use for a couple of days before it failed, except in my case the motor would turn by hand freely in one direction and would lock up at about 1/8 of a turn in the other direction. Like it had a one way bearing in it. The vendor replaced the motor under warranty, and I did not go into the motor to figure out what the problem was, I suspect a bad bearing.

[Cmac139]

Contacted CNCRouteparts and they advised the motor would be swapped out under warranty. Received a call from Nate last night and he confirmed same. Should be in the mail today!


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[Cmac139]

Following up: I tried to contact Nate via phone and email on Friday and Monday. Reached out to the folks at CNCRouterparts and they replied immediately on Tuesday 09/25. They advised that they would get in touch with Nate and warranty the motor. On Thursday 09/27 I received a call from Nate advising the motor would be warranted and would be in the mail on 09/28. I received the new motor on 10/04. Plugged it in and it spins like expected. BACK IN BUSINESS! I was asked to return the bad motor and it was immediately boxed up and delivered to the post office. Now, onto getting Mach 4 configure so I can control this beast!

Thanks for the help folks!


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