I would like to maintain the motor in a hold mode for a very long time (>5Hr). So to keep the stepper motor in the hold mode, I stop sending any pulses on the step pin of the board. The current draw during the hold mode is 0.2A on the power supply end with 24V input. But the motor gets really warm after like 10 min. Is there any way to mitigate this issue of heating of motor?
Hello.
Yep. You can cool the motor (heatsink, fan, etc.) or use a lower current.
If you only want it to stay in place (not hold position strongly), you can use the A4988 disable line to disable the output FETs.
- Ryan
I would like to use it to hold at a given angle… So disabling would make it return to HOME position.
That was the reason to not give any step pulses and keep it that that known position for desired amount of time.
Will that DISABLE input hold the motor at the desired position or will it release the motor?
btw the driver board was very easy to step up and get going with the stepper motor!!
Thank you for your kind words.
Disabling it (making NOT ENABLE high) only disables the output FETs. It remembers what position it was at in the stepping table. If there are no external forces on the shaft that overcome the static friction/inertia of the shaft, the shaft will stay in place for any amount of time. In other words, it will not “hold” the position; it will “stay” at that position unless pushed from it by an outside force.
- Ryan