Stepper motor locked up?

[CJGerard]

So i was playing with my printer this morning and all of the sudden it started losing location. I moved all the end stop wires away from the motors and checked the belts. I noticed that the carriage on the x axis was significantly harder to move than either z or y so i loosened up the belts and then the carriage. all this managed to do was make the problem worse. i removed the belt and was unable to spin the stepper motor by hand in the machine (its tight in there i could only use one finger). So then i pulled the motor out and even though i can move it, it is still really hard to move.

So my questions are
Is just a case of having a bad motor?
Did i incorrectly adjust something on the machine to cause this? if so what could i have done wrong?
Can i fix it or should i get a new motor? if i have to get a new motor can i buy just one or do i have to replace all of them?

[Eaglezsoar]

So i was playing with my printer this morning and all of the sudden it started losing location. I moved all the end stop wires away from the motors and checked the belts. I noticed that the carriage on the x axis was significantly harder to move than either z or y so i loosened up the belts and then the carriage. all this managed to do was make the problem worse. i removed the belt and was unable to spin the stepper motor by hand in the machine (its tight in there i could only use one finger). So then i pulled the motor out and even though i can move it, it is still really hard to move.

So my questions are
Is just a case of having a bad motor?
Did i incorrectly adjust something on the machine to cause this? if so what could i have done wrong?
Can i fix it or should i get a new motor? if i have to get a new motor can i buy just one or do i have to replace all of them?

I doubt if it was anything you did, things break. I am wondering about one thing, if you unplug the motor from the Rambo card
is it still hard to turn by hand? Unplug all sources of power before disconnecting the motor from the Rambo card. If after being
disconnected, it is still hard to turn the stepper motor is probably bad. If it is not hard to turn when unplugged from the Rambo
then you have other issues we will discuss. If you find the motor is bad, although not absolutely necessary I feel it is best for
all the motors to be the same type so you can just contact SeeMeCNC and give them the motor number and get one from them.
You do not have to replace them all. The reason I want you to unplug the motor is because if the motor is being shorted or powered
from the Rambo it would be hard to turn. Let us know what you find out.

[CJGerard]

Yes it is hard to turn when unplugged from the rambo and gets even harder (almost completely locks up) to turn if you switch directions.

With that being said i'm wandering if i should swap it with the extruder motor and continue playing with my printer until i get a new motor. The motor seems like it will work if used only in one direction. I believe my prints started messing up not because of how hard the motor was to turn but because the motor was locking up while switching directions.

[Eaglezsoar]

Yes it is hard to turn when unplugged from the rambo and gets even harder (almost completely locks up) to turn if you switch directions.

With that being said i'm wandering if i should swap it with the extruder motor and continue playing with my printer until i get a new motor. The motor seems like it will work if used only in one direction. I believe my prints started messing up not because of how hard the motor was to turn but because the motor was locking up while switching directions.

I would not do what you have in mind. Using a defective motor is going to increase the current requirements and although the current is limited by circuitry, I would not use that motor.
Just my opinion.

[CJGerard]

Part of me agrees with you and part of me just said screw it. The part of me that said "screw it" won and i swapped out the motors. The good news is that now I definitely know that it was the motor. The bad news is i still cant print. It was worth a shot anyway. Looks like its gonna be a another couple of weeks before i get to play with my printer again.