Z stepper motor problem

[cropwell]

Hi Terry, This sounds exactly the same as the problem I had. Mine turned out to be a broken cable in the Z. It was making contact every now and then. Have you test driven the Z axis from another socket ?

These problems can be a bugger to find. My Z axis had a preponderance to go downwards and the job it happened first on was ruined and the cutter went on to gouge the bed afore I could get to the 'Oh Shite' button.

In the end I made a join with a connector that was fixed to the Z axis so there was no movement of the wires coming out of the stepper. My 3D printer has gone through 2 stepper cables on the only axis where the cable moves significantly. The breaks were internal in the wires and first time difficult to find. Second time I just replaced the cable at the first sign of failure.

Best of luck with your fault finding.

Cheers,

Rob

[wrighty]

Hi Rob,
Thank you so much for your reply, I will try to get time to have a play around with it again this afternoon. I did swap the Y to the Z socket on the controller and all was good, so I know it’s not the controller. I will let you know how I get on mate. Them Chinese are s**t’s lol. They kept saying they couldn’t understand my email’s, so I made a video, uploaded it to YouTube for them. They then said they couldn’t open the video. Yesterday I lost my rag with them a bit and said give me an £80.00 refund and I’ll fix it myself. They understood that lol. Got an £80.00 refund this morning lol. Wish I’d said £100.00 now. Anyway mate, I will let you know how thing go. Thanks again, Terry.

[wrighty]

Hi Rob,
I have pinned it down to the cable. Tried the motor on the y cable, and working fine. Have you any idea wherte's the best place to get the 4 core cable and can you get them made to order. I would like screened cable if possible. I might even change all three if I can.
Thanks, Terry.

[cropwell]

I doubt if you can get pre-wired cables, there are too many options of connectors, wire size and length. You need to get flexible cable (perhaps someone will supply the type - I think it is CY) anyway CPC sell it by the metre, just get one hefty enough to take your stepper current. They also have connectors.

Now's the time to sharpen up your soldering skills

Cheers,

Rob

[wrighty]

Thanks Rob,
Very much appreciated mate. I'll get the soldering iron out and knock the dust off lol. Will let you know how I get on mate. Thanks again, Terry.

[paulus.v]

Hi Terry, I've got Igus cables and cable chains and never had any issue. If I remember correctly my stepper cables are CF10.07.04 but I chose this model because I have very small bend radius chain.

[wrighty]

Hi Paulus,
Thank you for the info. I will have a look. To be honest I have no idea. I think I will do all 3 cables while I'm at it. Thanks again mate. really appreciate it. Terry.