stepper moving in one direction only

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mcbr549
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stepper moving in one direction only

Post by mcbr549 »

I'm sorry to bother everyone with this, but I'm stumped! I just installed a new Acorn board. Photo's attached. No matter what I do, all steppers will only move in one direction no matter if you push plus or minus.

I checked the wires from the acorn board to the stepper drivers (DM542). I have 5 volts going to the + pins on the driver and verified that it is 5 volts. I checked the wiring from the steppers and they are right according to the schematics that came with the steppers.
Report attached.
I took 3 photos, excuse the wiring mess as I have not attempted to clean it up yet.

I downloaded the DM series driver, set the drivers at 3200 and max amp settings.

I'm sure I've missed something simple. Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike
Attachments
IMG_0224.jpg
IMG_0223.jpg
IMG_0222.jpg
report_B83DF60BBF3E-0410259344_2025-06-26_22-21-24.zip
(1015.4 KiB) Downloaded 1 time


tblough
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Re: stepper moving in one direction only

Post by tblough »

Steppers should be connected to the DB25 connector and not to the Acorn headers. The headers are for 12V servos, and not 5V logic stepper drivers. If you will tell us the brand and model numbers of your drives and steppers, we can direct you to the correct Centroid schematic to follow.
Cheers,

Tom
Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.
I have CDO. It's like OCD, but the letters are where they should be.


mcbr549
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:38 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
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CNC Control System Serial Number: none
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Spring, Texas
Contact:

Re: stepper moving in one direction only

Post by mcbr549 »

Stepper Online 570 oz/in NEMA 23
DM 542 driver


suntravel
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Re: stepper moving in one direction only

Post by suntravel »

You can use this for your drivers:

https://www.centroidcnc.com/dealersuppo ... 975.r3.pdf

Uwe
Last edited by suntravel on Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.


CentroidFrog
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Re: stepper moving in one direction only

Post by CentroidFrog »

As tblough said, steppers are connected to the DB25 and not to the open collectors.
This is covered in the Acorn install manual on page 34:
https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_di ... df#page=35
I would recommend following the Acorn install manual.

Related reading:
ALL Acorn documentation: viewtopic.php?f=60&t=3397
Want to post your own question?
Check this out first: http://centroidcncforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=1043
Acorn CNC tech tips: viewforum.php?f=63


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