The fact that both drivers turn their motors in only one direction suggests that the microcontroller output signal is dead, which means you need a new controller board.
At the risk of pushing you out of your comfort zone, you can measure the DIR signal at the stepper driver pin with a multimeter. The pins are labeled on the side of the PCB you can’t see without unplugging them, but that’s the best way to locate the DIR and GND pins.
If the microcontroller output is dead, the voltage on the DIR pin won’t change, regardless of which direction the motor is supposed to move.
Although I (now) doubt it will help, you can replace the stepper drivers:
Here is what I don’t understand by switching the wires. I’m getting the opposite direction so clearly the motors are fine and the board can send both signals. So it seems to me that the Y axis is off somehow. Also, it’s a bit confusing as to why when you switch why to into one, it switches the direction.
One other question/comment clearly there are only three drivers on the board, but there are four ports for X, two Ys, and a Z axis. So theoretically, the center driver should be sending the same/identical signals to both Y1 and Y2 correct? So the simple fact that moving Y1 over to Y2 slot reverse the direction of travel tells you something is wrong with the board. If it were correct, it should replicate the error and move only one direction. Ohhhhh wait, maybe you said this and I missed it. But since the motors face each other, each motor receives opposite instructions effectively so they go in the same direction. So by reversing the wires nothing has really changed
Well, i tried moving the driver over and still only one direction which leads me to believe the board is sending only 1 signal for both directions. I guess the only other option is to re-flash the board
Found these 2 threads. Seems like it’s a pin assignment issue from the flash. The 1st thread lead to the 2nd which is where they discuss this. I am not sure how to figure that out for my specific board tho
A stepper motor turns in the direction dictated by the magnetic fields in the stator. When you reverse the wires, you reverse the fields, so the motor turns in the other direction. The stepper driver is completely unaware that you’ve changed the wiring, so it’s behaving exactly as before.
Earlier you noted:
the left plug is X and the next is Y1 and then Y2 and the final is Z
The four white 4-pin headers along the top are the stepper motor outputs, fed from the three stepper motor drivers.
The other connectors are likely limit / home switch inputs.
At this point, it seems you have a machine that has not worked before, has been “upgraded” in ways we do not know, and perhaps has firmware with an invalid hardware / pin configuration.
I initially thought the symptoms pointed to a hardware fault, but the number of variables has exploded to the point where I doubt that’s the case.
I must defer to other folks around here with more experience coaching folks up the learning curve you’re facing.
Clark, Yo might want to make sure that the XYZ pins on the controller are in the same position as this picture. also make sure that you have GRBL 1.1f flashed to the controller
Not sure it matters, but I plugged Y1 into the X slot and tried it and it moved in both directions. So to me it seems that the Y is not sending the correct signal
it is certainly worth a try . Just backup your grbl code first lol. It could only be two things your firmware with the pin outs that have changed or the jumpers on the controller
I guess the picture is a good enough backup right? So do I just switch the values in LaserGRBL and click write? Just learning Lightburn so not sure how to do it there
