Before you post . . .

[BrianV]

The two most common issues with stepper motors are “One stepper motor is not working/behaving” and “No motor movement”. Both of these are addressed quite thoroughly in the FAQs (visible to HobbyCNC Customers only). Please check them first!
FAQ: Missing steps – motor not behaving properly
FAQ: No motor movement
FAQ: Stepper motor wire colors and connections to HobbyCNC Boards

[wayne adams]

How do I hookup two opposing drive motors on the X axes

[BrianV]

The word “Opposing” has me confused.
Do you mean one spinning CW and the other CCW, or (more commonly) do you want to “mirror” two steppers for a single axis (both spin the same direction and number of steps in sync).
this is a great question that I do get asked from time-to-time, I’ll need to add it to the FAQs.
Here’s the deal, you CAN NOT put two stepper motors onto one driver chip.
Here’s how it’s done – for the sake of this discussion, let’s say you have two motors driving your Y-axis gantry:

• Connect one stepper motor to the “Y” axis output
• Connect the second motor to the “A” axis output (one motor, one driver chip)
• Your CAM software should allow you to define what pins are the step-and-direction for each axis. Configure the Y axis step and direction to BOTH the Y and A inputs.
• If you want that second motor to spin the opposite direction, then, in your CAM software where you just assigned the Y outputs to the Y and A axis, select the option to invert one of the direction signals.

And that’s that!

[Edit: change to “Y-axis ganty”]

BrianV

[Author]

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