As the title states please give us an option to disable stepper motors… the fact that this option isn’t available is ridiculous.
It would make life so much easier if quickly moving the axis by hand if needed.
I haven’t used my printer in a while and homing my printer after changing the filament thinking it may unlock the steppers I had forgot the nozzle has to cool down before homing the z axis so once the extruder had moved to the centre of the bed area I went to change the nozzle only to find the z axis then started to lower itself, I managed to quickly fit the new nozzle however it then hit the bed slightly to hard and let a nozzle shaped dent in the centre of my bed which is now going to effect my offset…
This and other issues because of this like simply wiping down the rails etc could be made so much quicker and easier if we simply had disable stepper motor option.
Since it is steppers (position is determined by counting the number of steps instead of “scales”), if you do that, you would have to re-home once you re-enabled since they system wouldn’t have a clue where it was after you manually moved it.
Yes i understood that at the time but its just a pain in the back side to do, I would much rather just press a deactivate steppers icon… Creality have implemented this really well I cant understand why Bambu haven’t, its such a simple and more convenient addition.
You’re supposed to have the printer powered down (and cooled off) to change a nozzle. Allegedly it can damage the electronics otherwise. And… maybe it can damage us too.
It has nothing to do with grounding. You need to understand that a stepper motor is a generator when powered externally aka moving the bed back and forth manually. If you move this bed fast enough it can generate enough electricity to damage the control board.
Right now I’m trying to lubricate the rails after I just got done lubing the z axis rods. Problem is I hit home so my print bed would move all the way up while I lubricated the z-axis rods (which turned on my stepper motors of course). Then when I tried to push the head around to lube the rails the steppers were locked/engaged.
However, I just thought of a work around - Why couldn’t I create a custom gcode…
Tada! I now have a custom gcode that allows me to turn off my steppers:
;===== machine: H2S =========================
M400
M73 P99
;===== reset machine status =================
M204 S10000
M630 S0 P0
G90
M17 D ; reset motor current to default
M960 S5 P1 ; turn on logo lamp
G90
M220 S100 ;Reset Feedrate
M221 S100 ;Reset Flowrate
M73.2 R1.0 ;Reset left time magnitude
G29.1 Z{+0.0} ; clear z-trim value first
M983.1 M1
M901 D4
M481 S0 ; turn off cutter pos comp
;===== reset machine status =================
M18 ; turn off all steppers ← ← ← ******* as simple as adding this line to the startup gcode *******
;===== machine: H2S =========================
I just select it from my USB print files and 10 seconds later they’re free!
I made a different script but that does the same thing but since I own an H2C (same on H2D), I just click « read nozzle info », the printer just makes a quick front and back travel and motors are disengaged. I find it quicker although I don’t think that H2S has that option in the menu.
I think newest firmwares will include an option directly in the menu to put all motors off.
This is an extract from latest P2S beta firmware: Added support for “Disable Motor” mode for XYZ axes to facilitate maintenance and repairs
The whole point of a “disable steppers” button is - like all other movement X/Y/Z/E buttons - to do things during maintenance operations between prints. Maybe folks that only grew up with a Bambu printer are just used to the lack of this option, but it means to turn off / stop holding the motors still, same as when a print is complete or just powered up. Holding the motors still also takes a not-insignificant amount of energy, causing them to get/stay warm. It’s surprising that this is almost a “lost art” with the market dominance of Bambu, yet lacking this fundamental function.
Case in point: I am working on a “cleaning” / cold pull operation, which involves loading filament. Loading filament causes the motion system to keep the motors active (bad design - should release motors when complete - it wasn’t even homed when it started!). Now you need to move the head. Nope. Stuck. Or, say we need to move Z axis. Freezes all motors.
A simple button that’s present in every other printer prior to the Bambu - “disable motors” (thus why we know it by name) - one button press, frees up the head to be moved.
None of this is in the context of active printing. It’s in the context of maintenance. You’d think “Maintenance Mode” would provide this, but no?
Side note: even Swapmod forgets to disable motors after printing is complete, leaving the motors activated/stuck after a job is done. It’s disappointing that people have forgotten the point and importance of “disable motors”.
Yes, Bambu… please put a Disable Motors button on the X/Y/Z page. A1 Mini here.
My issue is the opposite. When the print is done and the build plate (a1 series) is moved to the front of the printer. I want the motors locked. Trying to remove the print when the plate moves is a pita. I always go to control and move y. It then locks the motors.
I’ve just made a gcode stored on my USB key anytime I need to disable motors. Just replace the .3MF in following file with .gcode and store it on your key or SD card.
Otherwise on H2D/H2C (may be on X2D), just select “read left nozzle info” in extruder menu and it will read, park and disable motors
