Hi
I have made a curtain project - using Nodemcu ESP-12F, Nema17, DRV8825
I am supplying power using 12v car battery charged via solar panel
I get a feeling that it is draining the battery, as it is powered on all the time. How I can say this is - Nema is struggling to rotate.
I can publish code if needed.
How to identify the root cause - code or my circuit?
Hard to say. What's the spec on the stepper? Nema 17 only specifies the dimensions of the faceplate. That said, that's the form factor of the little steppers often found in 3D printers, which might struggle with a heavy curtain mechanism - how is it running if it's disconnected from the curtain?
As to running the battery down, can you just enable the driver when you want to run the motor?
wildbill:
Hard to say. What's the spec on the stepper? Nema 17 only specifies the dimensions of the faceplate. That said, that's the form factor of the little steppers often found in 3D printers, which might struggle with a heavy curtain mechanism - how is it running if it's disconnected from the curtain?As to running the battery down, can you just enable the driver when you want to run the motor?
Ok. I will check enable/disable driver.
Are you suggesting that, if the driver is enabled, will it keep consuming the battery?
or is it NodeMcu that is consuming?
Usage wise, I open or close twice or so.
It's the stepper that's taking the majority of the power I suspect, so if you can turn the coils off using the driver enable, it'll help keep your battery alive. I assume with a curtain system that it doesn't matter if the stepper can freewheel.
A geared DC motor equipped with end switches would be more energy efficient. Your stepper consumes energy all the time it is enabled but a DC motor only consumes energy when it is rotating.
If disabling the driver works Your home.
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