Stepper wiring

[Pearl]

Hey guys, I saw this thread got some good response, so I figured I would try my luck on this site. i like the forum layout thus far


I have what I believe is a bipolar stepper motor. It has 6 wires. I cant seem to find the datasheet on it, but I am going to keep looking.

The wire colors are:
red
red/white stripe
Green
Green/White Stripe
White
Black

Knowing the wire color, would it be wise of me to make an educated guess on the wiring w/o seeing the datasheet?


Anyhow, I have a microcontroller that is powered off of my computer USB and my stepper motor must be powered off of 12Volts. I am using a car battery for the 12V

I am just wondering how I should handle the grounds for the 2 power sources, and what is the general theory behind the answer. I have built the top diagram I found on the arduino website.

Thanks for your help. I just dont want to blow anything up

 

[Pearl]

WOOHOO. Got it to work off of my arduino power. Im kinda surprised 5Volts worked on the 12V stepper, but w/e. I still would like to know how to do it with the 12 Volt car battery. More torque ftw

 

[mneary]

A 12V stepper will generally work fine with 5V, just don't expect rated speed or torque.

 

[3lectrokid]

you need to use transistors connected to your arduino.