I found this motor in my box of parts in a bag labeled "stepper".

The number printed on the top of the motor is 960398-002 07 with a mark that looks like "fa" inside a circle. On the back side, it reads 4315.

It has 8 wires.

Searching google, I get very little information but nothing to confirm that it is actually a stepper motor.

Can you identify it? Should I just assume that it is an 8-wire stepper and approach it accordingly or is there a better way?
Note: I don't have much knowledge or experience yet so it won't take a lot for answers to go over my head.

Thanks!

 

Test the continuity between each conductor and record the resistance readings.
Max.

 

Hello,

Have you seen this thread?
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/stepper-motor-driver.50605/
It mentions the same numbers.

I found this text : IBM 960398-002 CAPSTAN MOTOR Minnesota Compute...
on this page: http://www.computertradingpost.com/archives/CTP_Archive_255.htm

Bertus

 

Could be a four coil stepper motor, best way is to measure the resistance of the windings for continuity between each other.

 

The results I'm getting from measuring continuity and resistance don't make sense to me. Probably I am doing something wrong and will try it again.

There is continuity but no resistance between the red, black and green wires.
There is continuity but no resistance between the purple and grey wires.

That's all I found.

Someone else out there on the internet found these readings for this motor:

 

Hello,

Have you seen this thread?
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/stepper-motor-driver.50605/
It mentions the same numbers.

I found this text : IBM 960398-002 CAPSTAN MOTOR Minnesota Compute...
on this page: http://www.computertradingpost.com/archives/CTP_Archive_255.htm

Bertus

Yes, I saw that thread. It's the same motor, I'm quite certain, but there doesn't see to be any conclusion.

For the Capstan motor, I see it mentioned a couple of times but I don't know what to do with that information.

There's another conversation out there from someone with the same motor (same place I found the resistances) where they conclude that it's probably a 9v "brushless" motor but the links don't exist any more.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-152728.html

 

By continuity and no resistance I assume you mean zero ohms?
No resistance can mean Infinity (open).
Max.

 

Sorry, yes. Zero ohms.

 

I checked again and I am finding continuity on all same wires shown with numbers greater than 0 in the table above. But I'm still only finding 0 ohms resistance.

Edit: OK, yes I was doing something wrong. I get the same readings as above for the ~3 low ohm readings. I'm still not getting a reading for the grey wire so I can't confirm the ~800 ohm readings.

 

Try turning the output shaft with you fingers. Does it seem to 'cog', like there is a ratchet type movement inside it? It might be a stepper if it does. The 'cogging' is due to the individual magnetic poles in a stepper.

 

Yes, there are around 23 'steps'.

 

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/B1CC4C64ABBC7D3C86257BC70017B9E2

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/0AEE7B9AD4B3E04186256ACE005D833B?OpenDocument

 

Hmm.

If you have eight coil wires, then it is highly recommended you find the exact pinout for the motor.​

 

Could be you have a six wire motor and a tach signal pair.

Your strange readings on the gray wire gave me the idea

 

It's possible that the strange readings on the grey wire are down to my inexperience with the multimeter. Or possibly a loose connection. When I have some time, I'll unscrew the case and see what I can find inside.

 

It's possible that the strange readings on the grey wire are down to my inexperience with the multimeter. Or possibly a loose connection. When I have some time, I'll unscrew the case and see what I can find inside.

The motor case? If you do that don't expect it to ever work correctly again. They are fitted at the factory and don't take well to "repairs" that open the casing.

 

OK, thanks for the warning. I'll leave that as a last resort.