Mimaki JV3 pump motors and the wires

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I was looking at the wiring on the pumps and was wondering if anyone knew the function of each. I did a voltage test on them and the center 2 are on the same circuit (red and blue) are drawing 13.3 volts. The 2 on the outside are on the same circuit and draw the same. Just curious.

 

[MikePro]

to supply power to the motor that operates the mechanism/pump?

 

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I know the wires carry current to the motors. I'm wondering why there are 4 wires. I know 2 have to power the motor, but what are the other 2 for?

 

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Hey Mike,
I figured out what the 4 wire deal is. The motors used to drive the pumps are called stepper motors. They are able to run at different speeds in order to pull the ink strong or light. Pretty cool setup.

 

[PDD]

stepper motors

As an electronics person who works with steppers every day you are exactly correct!

You will find each pair of wires have conductivity in the are of a few ohms to a few tens of ohms (motor dependent) if the motor is good. Think of the motor as being made of two independent coils of wires; the four wire motor is the simplest and easy to check using an ohmmeter/resistance meter.

Each coil (motor winding) is powered independently by the stepper motor controller chip on the circuit board.The timing and sequence of the power pulse in each coil govern the rotation of the motor.

If the two coils ohm out fine then motor is 99 percent good. They are quite reliable, esp in this appication where timing is not a big issue, the pump mechanism simply need to go round and round..

Hope that helps.