X & Y Stepper drivers overheating while IDLE (so not yet homed)
I am running a V-Core 3 with RATOS2.0 on M8P with CM4 and 2209 (and EBB36) with latest Klipper and updated system. While yesterday the printer was functional, I powered down and this morning I restarted the printer. Now I noticed a clicking sound which I now believe was the steppers resetting due to overheating. I narrowed it down to the X & Y steppers overheating.
Stuff I have seen but can not explain:
-I checked that cables and the appear ok.
-If I disconnect both cables (Left and Right) from the steppers and reboot, the stepper of the left motor immediately overheats (I have a thermistor on the heatsink) and it goes to 80degr C so I switch off the printer.
-I take out the Left motor stepper (as I thought it might be defect). Right Stepper still in the board. When I connect the Right Motor to the Right stepper, The Motor actually Locks (no movement). When disconnecting the motor hire, the full gantry moves as normal.
-I have switched this Right motor stepper to the Left motor bay in the M8P (no motor wires connected) and it too overheats,...
I am a bit puzzled how to continue error finding...
Also, I have a Fan blowing over the M8P as I normally run the Performance settings, with steppers reaching temps in the range of high 30degr C. Above problem remains when I switch to the "Uncooled" setup.
Printer.cfg attached...
7 Replies
Things I have done already:
- Moved the Right- and Left steppers drivers and motors to M4 and M5 on the Manta Board. Problem not resolved
- Exchanged the whole Manta M8P with a spare unit (swaped the CM4 to the spare unit as well). Problem not resolved
- Put in 2 new Stepper drivers. Problem seemed resolved, however after full power down and reboot. Right Motor freezes on power up. Machine Home's X & Y but when I power down the motors (M84) the Right motor keeps humming and freezes up. Problem changed but not resolved.
Posted above thread yesterday in #ratos-support https://discord.com/channels/582187371529764864/1090919979743985775 and @miklschmidt believes it is not a RATOS issue but a hardware issue. I am pretty much at a loss where to go from here... Any Pointers in the right direction are appreciated..
@bttuniversity can you help Arthur above?
harsh-harlequin•2y ago
I noted that your run current for both of your steppers is 1.6A. That is a lot. I have not worked with RR machines at all but I looked at the stock configs and they max out at 1.1A which seems more reasonable..
tagging
Thanks for joining my problem-finding quest! 1.6 is th "Performance" settings offered by RATOS on the supplied 2209 steppers...Other power users (such as @miklschmidt are also running it... Do you think this could cause damage, and if so, what makes my setup differ from Mikl's setup?
Could you elaborate a bit? you comment is unclear for me.
yeah we all run our 2504AC's at 1.6 (that's the performance config). Those are 2.5A rated steppers.
Actively cooled drivers in that case
harsh-harlequin•2y ago
If any damage were to be caused, it would be due to overheating within a motor and the coils starting to short. In the case of the drivers, it would be a similar thing (overheating). Not sure if you were able to measure the running temps of the motors and the drivers?
I have (for that purpose) a thermistor on the cooling fin of a stepper driver and am running a Noctua 140mm PC case fan over the steppers. Temps are approx. 35 degrees on the performance setting (1.6AMP). I have not tried running 1.6A without a fan so do not know where temps would be if fan-cooling is off.
So back to the problem at hand: with a replaced Manta M8p, checked motor wires for shorts (no short-cirquits found) and replace steppers, what could be the cause of the right motor locking on startup (so already before finalising the booting process). I link the locking of the motor to the very hot stepper but i am not sure if that is correct? Is there a way to check if the motors are ok or if a stepper is fried?
@youtian_su @bttuniversity I am seeking some input on how my 2 stepper drivers could have failed in order to prevent a next occurance... I would like to go the performance settings (1.6A) but am a bit affraid that that has contributed to the issue. Would you care to share your thoughts on this?