Easy To Build Stepper Controller from Recycled Materials

Step 8 Conect and Test Motor

Now you need to connect the motor to the controller. First, connect the common wire (refer to your motor's datasheet) to the wire that you soldered to positive. Connecting the next four wires is a matter of trial and error. Connect them all and then change their order if your motor is taking two steps forward and one step back or something similar.

To test it, connect your 12 volt 300ma dc adapter into your barrel jack. Then, connect your DB25 port into your computer. Open the attached program in TurboCNC to test your motor wire connections. When you are done testing and changing your connection you should have a fully working axis.

To test the scale of your machine, attach a marker to your machine and run the test program. Measure the line. If yours is 1 inch long, or close to it, then your machine is good to go. If it is off, check your math. If you have made it this far, congratulations, the hardest part is done.

Comments

[natsud1]

hello i am in need of your help i cant seem to get your test.cnc to do anything. i believe i have all the settings correct as you stated but my motor doesnt do anything its not locked up or anything its a M42SP-7 stepper motor it seems that all the outputs are always onso i can test each individual output and the motor will step with all of them but it will not turn if i hook them all up to motor . how do i make my motor turn continously? pls advise thank you

[gatts]

I found that turboCNC doesnt work with windows 7, that could be the problem, looking for software that supports phase for W7... any ideas???

[murray484]

Very few CNC programs run on windows. This is because windows tends to throw off the precise timing required to run a cnc machine. Mach 3 is one of the only programs that will run on windows and it does not support phase drive. This is why I chose turboCNC. You can still run it by booting into DOS.

[murray484]

Are you sure that you have the motor's wires connected in the correct order? You usually have to try switching the wires systematically until you get the motor to turn. Also, what program are you using to control it?

[natsud1]

ok i got it to work i had everything right it was the stupid db25 cord i had i finally tested continuity from one side to the other but the cord changed the pins around on the other end so number 2 was 15 ,3 was like 13 4 was 12 and 5 was 1 or somethin any way i cut the stupid cord into and just soldered the wires to my circuit . after that the program worked and my wiring to the motor turned out to be right i was thinking it was because i have an xp computer not win98 i just made a dos mode floppy but i think maybe you should mention that you have to have the right kind of cord because that was my last ditch effort to get it to work thanks for such a great instructable and for replying

[pfred2]

Instead of chopping up a printer cable you could have used an old riser cable out of a PC too. That is what I do. I'd love to embed the image inline but of course this website is broken so here is a link to the picture:

http://www.instructables.com/file/FZ0WAKRGT19NJTB/?size=ORIGINAL

From the page:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Parallel-Port-Break-Out-Board-BOB/step3/Whyd-You-Make-it-This-Way/


Which should have been in my image library but having looked through it a half of a dozen times I'm a bit tired of that now. So those links will have to suffice. Fire the webmaster! Or more fitting in this case, web disaster.

The riser cable is of course the flat gray ribbon cable plugged into the printer cable.

[Computothought]

Parallel cables are a dime a dozen and nothing I know of uses them anymore. I do have some working spares just in case. . As a starter to an interface, parallel cables can not be beat. The riser is a good idea, but the average person will probably not do that (i.e desoldering).