wiring up and getting it started

[mat_au]

so the build is finished, now to get it started. i had problems with the anduno but got that fixed. hooked it all up to test and well it moved and made some funny noises so i stopped. the z motor is making a buzzing sound and i cant get any movement from the steppers at all. is there a wrong way to wire steppers? i checked the coils and wired them to the cnc shield as in first coil to the 1st and 2nd pins and the 2nd coil to the 3rd and 4th pins.

im using grbl controller and i can send g code but nothing happens on the stepper end. have i stuffed the cnc sheild? or the steppers? and how do i know if i have?

[Tsunami2747]

Hi Mat,
I see you have built a machine too, I built an Openbuild Ox and I also had problems with the z axis. I used a Chinese 4 axis controller board on mine and had to do some electronic fault finding to get things sorted. Turned out to be poor solder joints on the controller chips, and now is all good.
Sounds like you have wired up the motors ok. Do you have access to an oscilloscope to check if you are getting the right signals to the steppers?
I don't have any experience with the cnc shield but I do have a couple of arduino boards I have been playing with.
What type of machine have you built?

[snowyskiesau]

mat_au: What sort of drivers are you using for the stepper? If 4988 then you need to set the reference voltage or current to suit the motors. A low current could be the cause of te growling. Also double check your motor wiring to make sure that the coil pairs are correctly connected.
A few details of your machine might help with the troubleshooting.

[mat_au]

ive built an open builds ox. found the first problem was a faulty cnc sheild now that is fixed thank god. only problem i have now is getting the slave y motor going, on the cnc shield it has a driver just for the slave that you can clone off what ever axis you want, but i cant get that going. the stepper works when i put it on another stepper driver, so its not the stepper or the wiring. just more trouble shooting and forum searching at this stage

[snowyskiesau]

The protoneer site has the configuration set up for the cnc shield. There are a set of jumpers just above the power connector where you can select to slave the A axis from either the X,Y or Z axis. You do have to make sure that one of the Y axis steppers has the wires on one coil pair reversed.

[mat_au]

all sorted now it was a faulty stepper driver all fixed and working. now to work out the steps per mm thing