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Sep 2017
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Sep 2017
Sep 2017
AllosTech
Sep '17

Hello - I have a Prusa I3 from Reprap guru and I cannot get any of the motors to actuate. Talking to support their only response seems to be “have you tried disabling the server?”…

They did send me out a new RAMPS board which didn’t help. What makes this frustrating is I sent them pictures after installing the new RAMPS board before I powered it up to make sure the wiring was right. They responded with “yeah looks good” - when it still didn’t work I sent more pictures and they replied with “actually that wiring is wrong”. Even after having the correct wiring - it doesn’t work.

I can issue move commands through Repetier Host and it looks successful - but nothing happens. LCD menu has an option to move the extruder on the different axises and nothing. I did flash with the latest firmware from their site. I tried to take voltage readings and it seems fine/normal but support won’t tell me what the voltages should be or a wiring diagram.

The heated bed does work.

Should I replace the Arduino board next?

CollectorCNC
Sep '17

What drivers are you using? A4988 or drv8825

what is the amp rating of your steppers?

what is your vref set to on the drivers?

PeteD
Sep '17

I agree with CollectorCNC, you should be looking at your stepper drivers for the most likely cause of failure. They are very delicate and can easily be fried by very small static discharges. When the new RAMPS board was sent you you, did you receive new stepper drivers as well? Were they already plugged in or did you install them separately? Kind of a dumb question, but have you confirmed the stepper drivers are plugged into the board with the correct orientation?

roko11
Sep '17

In the upper right does it show " # commands waiting" when you try to move?

what does M119 show for estop status?(for X,Y,Z moves)L=unpressed,H=pressed

stepper driver orientation is critical, do you have a pic you could show? If you have them backwards they will probably be toast on powerup.

you can google a RAMPS diagram looking at the site it says that it comes with build instructions?

AllosTech
Sep '17

I did not receive new steppers - just the RAMPS board. Which seemed rather strange to me. When testing the voltages they were fine and verified with support. Support also verified they were installed correctly. I will upload some pictures shortly.

PeteD
Sep '17

I’ve had blown stepper drivers where the Vref voltage could still be measured and adjusted. It all depends on how the silicon chip blew. If you have an oscilloscope, you can try probing the stepper wires and sending movement commands to see if you are getting any kind of signal.

Edit: I removed my suggestion of using a logic analyzer. Most of those can’t handle voltages greater than 5V, and your steppers should be 12V or 24V.