Stepper Motor Wiring Order and Color Order of Paired Coils
Stepper Motor Wiring Order and Color Order of Paired Coils

Stepper Motor Color Coding of Wires

For any stepper motor to be wired up properly, we’ll need to determine which wires are “pairs” or connected to the ends of each coil. These are usually referred to as coil “A” and coil “B”. The exact order of the pairs Black/Green or Green/Black of pins does not matter, but keeping the pairs together on the left, and red/blue with each other on the right is important.

To get the motor moving properly and in the right direction stepper motors must be wired up properly. It does matter which coil is which and what the polarity of the coils. While there is no universal standard for color code for stepper motors, many stepper motor manufactures keep their stepper wires in order with the motor coil pairs 

  • Black/Green is a motor coil 
  • Red/Blue is a motor coil

Although the wiring colors can not be trusted the order of wires is usually as follows:

Wiring Option 1

  • 1A – green
  • 1B – black
  • 2A – blue
  • 2B – red

Wiring Option 2

  • A + black
  • A – green
  • B + red
  • B – blue

Sometimes Option

  • A + black (red)
  • A – green (green)
  • B + red (yellow)
  • B – blue (blue)

Determine which wires are “pairs” or connected to the ends of each coil. The motor wire pairs are known as coil “A” and coil “B”. The exact order of the pairs does not matter. Only keeping the pairs together is important

On the left 

  • red/blue with each other 

on the right

  • black/green with each other

Identifying The Stepper Motor Phases – Coil Pairs

If the color code and motor wiring isn’t allowing motor movement, ignore the wire colors and look at the wire positions instead. Use a multimeter to test to see if continuity in the wiring of the stepper – both motors behaved the same in that there was zero resistance between blue and red , zero resistance green and black.

Here are two ways you can pair the stepper motor wires into phases:

  1. Using a multimeter, check for resistance. There should be a few ohms resistance between two wires that belong to the same phase, and no continuity between wires that belong to different phases.
  2. With the motor wires not connected to anything, spin the motor shaft. Short two of the wires together, then spin the shaft again. If it is much harder to spin than before, those two wires belong to the same phase. Otherwise, try again with a different pair of wires shorted together.

Use a multimeter to find the coils and wire appropriately. ohm test the stepper motors. A wire pair should have a slight resistance. If the resistance values are right. The XYZ motors are rated 4.2V 1.5A 2.8 Ohm +/-10%. The extruder motor is rated 2.6V 1A 2.6 Ohm +/-10%.

  1. Check for resistance. There should be a few ohms resistance between two wires that belong to the same phase, and no continuity between wires that belong to different phases.
  2. With the motor wires NOT connected, spin the motor shaft. Short two of the wires together, then spin the shaft again. If it is much harder to spin than before, those two wires belong to the same phase. Otherwise, try again with a different pair of wires shorted together.

Bipolar Motors

Bipolar motors have two separate coils:

Red/Green is one coil 

Blue/Yellow is the other coil. 

Use a multimeter to find the coils and wire appropriately. ohm test the stepper motors. A wire pair should have a slight resistance. If the resistance values are right. The XYZ motors are rated 4.2V 1.5A 2.8 Ohm +/-10%. The extruder motor is rated 2.6V 1A 2.6 Ohm +/-10%.

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