Arduino/Junk pile stepper motor survey

The purpose of this page is to record the wiring of junked stepper motors to arduino motor shields.

Stepper motors have 4 or more wires going into them. Not all motors with 4 or more wires are stepper motors. Typically these motors do not settle down and display a constant ohm value. Instead the resistance reading go to zero or infinity. Switching the polarity of the probes measuring resistance causes different resistance values.

Arduino Code

There are two adafruit motor shield versions, with different libraries:

The sparkfun monster motor shield only comes with an example, not a library.

Example Code for sparkfun monster motor shield customized for stepper motor

/*  MonsterMoto Shield Example Sketch
  To work with 6 wire stepper motor
  by John Stapko 10/29/14
 */
#define BRAKEVCC 0
#define CW   1
#define CCW  2
#define BRAKEGND 3
#define CS_THRESHOLD 100

/*  VNH2SP30 pin definitions
 xxx[0] controls '1' outputs
 xxx[1] controls '2' outputs */
int inApin[2] = {7, 4};  // INA: Clockwise input
int inBpin[2] = {8, 9}; // INB: Counter-clockwise input
int pwmpin[2] = {5, 6}; // PWM input
int cspin[2] = {2, 3}; // CS: Current sense ANALOG input
int enpin[2] = {0, 1}; // EN: Status of switches output (Analog pin)

int statpin = 13;

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  
  pinMode(statpin, OUTPUT);

  // Initialize digital pins as outputs
  for (int i=0; i<2; i++)
  {
    pinMode(inApin[i], OUTPUT);
    pinMode(inBpin[i], OUTPUT);
    pinMode(pwmpin[i], OUTPUT);
  }
  // Initialize braked
  for (int i=0; i<2; i++)
  {
    digitalWrite(inApin[i], LOW);
    digitalWrite(inBpin[i], LOW);
  }
  // motorGo(0, CW, 1023);
  // motorGo(1, CCW, 1023);
}

void loop()
{
  motorGo(0, CW, 1023);
      delay(10);
  motorGo(0, CW, 0);
  delay(100);
  
   motorGo(1, CCW, 1023);
   delay(10);
  motorGo(1, CCW, 0);
  delay(10);
  
  motorGo(0, CCW, 1023);
  delay(10);
  motorGo(0, CCW, 0);
   delay(10);
   
  motorGo(1, CW, 1023);
  delay(10);
  motorGo(1, CW, 0);
  delay(10);
  
 motorGo(0, CW, 1023);
      delay(10);
  motorGo(0, CW, 0);
  delay(10);
  
  
  
  if ((analogRead(cspin[0]) < CS_THRESHOLD) && (analogRead(cspin[1]) < CS_THRESHOLD))
    digitalWrite(statpin, HIGH);
}

void motorOff(int motor)
{
  // Initialize braked
  for (int i=0; i<2; i++)
  {
    digitalWrite(inApin[i], LOW);
    digitalWrite(inBpin[i], LOW);
  }
  analogWrite(pwmpin[motor], 0);
}

/* motorGo() will set a motor going in a specific direction
 the motor will continue going in that direction, at that speed
 until told to do otherwise.
 
 motor: this should be either 0 or 1, will selet which of the two
 motors to be controlled
 
 direct: Should be between 0 and 3, with the following result
 0: Brake to VCC
 1: Clockwise
 2: CounterClockwise
 3: Brake to GND
 
 pwm: should be a value between ? and 1023, higher the number, the faster
 it'll go
 */
void motorGo(uint8_t motor, uint8_t direct, uint8_t pwm)
{
  if (motor <= 1)
  {
    if (direct <=4)
    {
      // Set inA[motor]
      if (direct <=1)
        digitalWrite(inApin[motor], HIGH);
      else
        digitalWrite(inApin[motor], LOW);

      // Set inB[motor]
      if ((direct==0)||(direct==2))
        digitalWrite(inBpin[motor], HIGH);
      else
        digitalWrite(inBpin[motor], LOW);

      analogWrite(pwmpin[motor], pwm);
    }
  }
}

Next Steps

Attach motor shield to larger power source .. 9-12volts .. perhaps up to 1.5amps. See how motor strength improves and how chips on motor shield heat up.
Get spark fun motor shields working .. suppose to handle more power
Count teeth on the gears to see if there are standards that can be leveraged
Research PC power supply specifications to see if they are going to be useful
Figure out how fast the motors can rotate .. some seem pretty slow .. this may be due to the stepper motor program or sketch.

Individual Motor Details

Pairs	Motor Description	Motor Thumb
orange/blue, purple/red	4 wire 10 ohm Colored solid wires were attached Mitsumi M355SP-9T C6747-60005 B2703
orange/yellow, brown/black	4 wire 12 ohm Mitsumi M42SP-5 24 Volt 7.5 degree step RH7-1197 TC5X07
brown/red, blue/yellow white ground	5 wire 4,5 ohm Mitsumi 55SPM25D4NA 24 Volt 7.5 degree step
brown/red, white/green black ground	5 wire 75 ohm ASTROSYN Minebea Tandon 17PS-C007-04 966000-001
yellow/orange, green/gray brown ground	5 wire 15 ohm NMB Minebea Electronics PM55L-048-HP69 C2164-60045 TC1Z72C
blue/yellow, gray/purple all red and black tied together for ground	8 wire 42 ohm Colored solid wires were attached 990411206001 MB 11 0579
black/brown, yellow/orange red wires both to ground	6 wire 40 ohm ASTROSYN 17BB-H255-03 12V 0.3A T8207 4 phase 07AA8003
black/blue, orange/yellow white wires both to ground	6 wire 50 ohm ASTROSYN 23BB-H028-12 24 volt 4 phase 54485376
orange/yellow, brown/black	4 wire 13 ohm no markings on it this might be Canon RH-1173 -01
orange/yellow, brown/black	4 wire Mitsumi M49SP-3K LF L6HAYYYK0025

← Four wire stepper test

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