Irregularity in stepper motor

[Finn67]

Hi,

I am powering two Nema 17 stepper motors with an arduino through a4988 driver.

What i am encountering is a lot of irregularity in the movement of the motor. When initially run the code usually one motor is moving as intended. But the other one will be lagging or clunky. After a while they can sometimes both end up this way. When they do not move smoothly but instead seem to jitter while moving from one position to the other.

Are there any common occurrences that could cause this? Maybe a grounding issue? I have tried to highlight in the image the sources of power being supplied to the circuit. Both drivers are being powered by sperate wall supplies.

Nema 17

Data-Sheet-Stepper-Motor-Support.pdf

Power supply:
Input Voltage: 100-240V AC 50/60Hz
Output Voltage: 12V DC
Output current: up to 5A
Output Power: 60W Max

[DaveX]

Stepper too big for the power supplies?

Mistuned A4988s?

Poor connections?

Relying on breadboard for power circuitry?

[Finn67]

Power supply is adequate. 12v 5amp & connections have been double checked

A4988, mistuned in what sense?

Relying on breadboard for power circuitry?

And what exactly do you mean by this?

Thanks

[MicroBahner]

@Finn67

Are there any common occurrences that could cause this?

There are many. And usually a breadbord is a poor connection for stepper motors.
You need to provide much more informaton:
Post technical specs of your motors and your PSU's and a schematic. And post your sketch ( in code tags ).
And what I can see from the image, that the bulk capacitors at the Vmot pins of the drivers are missing.

Maybe it is a good idea to read

How to get the best out of this forum

See also FAQ - Arduino Forum for general rules on forum behaviour and etiquette. Hello, Welcome to the Arduino Forum. This guide explains how to get the best out of this forum. Please read and follow the instructions below. Being new here you might think this is having rules for the sake of rules, but that is not the case. If you don’t follow the guidelines all that happens is there is a long exchange of posts while we try to get you to tell us what we need in order to help you, which is fru…

[jremington]

Breadboards are for temporary experiments with low power logic circuitry, and cannot handle motor currents. The track tend to burn.

Either solder the motor wires to the motor driver output pins, or use screw terminals if provided.

Make sure the power is off when rearranging connections. Disconnecting a motor from the driver will instantly destroy the driver, if it is powered up.

[Finn67]

Thanks I will work on a schematic now and update.

What rating of capacitor should be used at the Vmot terminal? Should this be connected between Vmot and Ground?

[Finn67]

Either solder the motor wires to the motor driver output pins, or use screw terminals if provided.

Wold you recommend using an solderable breadboard for this?

[jremington]

You can use a protoboard like the following, but the point is to avoid solderless breadboards.

Adafruit Perma-Proto Half-sized Breadboard PCB - 3 Pack!

[johnerrington]

How to make a schematic you can post.

When you submit a question on the forum you will usually need to add a schematic (circuit diagram). The tutorial that follows will explain some ways to create a useful image; however lets start by explaining how to add the image to your post. Its easy. Having created the image all you need to do is : Save the image somewhere convenient - maybe your desktop Start your post, and place the cursor (insertion point) where you want the image to be shown; [upload image to forum] 3: click th…

[MicroBahner]

@Finn67

What rating of capacitor should be used at the Vmot terminal?

Depends on your motor and the current flow. I would recommend at least 100µF, more is better.

@Finn67

Should this be connected between Vmot and Ground?

Yes.

[Finn67]

Cheers,

I've now edited my post to contain a schematic

[tzunami]

I'm about to start the same project, waiting on my stepper drivers to come in. Chip shortage sucks. I even have the same Nema 17 motors as you @Finn67

Let me ask you what kind of Motor Shield are you using?

[Finn67]

Let me ask you what kind of Motor Shield are you using?

I'm not using a motor shield. I'm just connecting the Arduino outputs into the A4988 motor driver.

[essejcds]

Is there a reason that you are not using a CNC shield?

[Finn67]

Is there a reason that you are not using a CNC shield?

Nope, I hadn't come across this before. I might look at getting one now in fact

[essejcds]

@Finn67

Nope, I hadn't come across this before. I might look at getting one now in fact

It will make your connections more reliable and has the capacitors included.

[amitf]

Are you using multiple male-female connector to increase the wire length. I think that's why your motor are not running properly. Since you have made too many loose connection between motor and the board

[amitf]

Are you using three power supply. One for Arduino and other two for motors?

[tzunami]

A4988 Stepper Motor Driver - Technical Specifications
Minimum operating voltage: 8 V.
Maximum operating voltage: 35 V.
Continuous current per phase: 1 A.
Maximum current per phase: 2 A.
Minimum logic voltage: 3 V.
Maximum logic voltage: 5.5 V.
Microstep resolutions: 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16.
Size: 0.6″ × 0.8″

Nema 17
Power supply:
Input Voltage: 100-240V AC 50/60Hz
Output Voltage: 12V DC
Output current: up to 5A
Output Power: 60W Max

I'm seeing here that the amps of the Nema 17 can go higher then the A4988 Stepper can support.
I think that is your problem.

Like I said I just started the same project
and made the same mistake with my motor driver... lol

That's why I had to order new ones and am waiting on them

[Finn67]

Are you using multiple male-female connector to increase the wire length. I think that's why your motor are not running properly. Since you have made too many loose connection between motor and the board

Yeah, there are a few male-female connected in a row. Would you suggest using one length of wire to improve connections

Are you using three power supply. One for Arduino and other two for motors?

Initially just two, one for the motors & one for Arduino. I added a separate power supplies to see if it would improve performance. But didn't have any luck.