How to troubleshoot a DRV8833 motor driver module problem?

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I am trying to control a DC Motor with a DRV8833. To be precise, I have this module from MJKDZ (which, I believe, is not the original one from TI).

I measure the voltage on the input pins, they are as expected, but the output pins have 0 V. My input pins have those values:

GND :  0 V (connected to ground)
VCC : +5 V (from a battery power)
IN1 : HIGH (+3.7 V from an ESP32).
IN2 : LOW  (0 V)
IN3 : not connected
IN4 : not connected

Every output pin has 0V (including “ULT”, which may indicate a fault condition). All grounds (ESP32, battery, etc) are connected.

I am wondering how I can “debug” what’s going wrong.

Do you think I may have overheated it while soldering the pin sockets (I learned soldering when I was a kid from my father probably like many of you, but I didn’t do it for a while and now I am terrible at it)? Or could it be an over-current issue?

So, just to be sure that the issue is really on this particular module, could I try connecting an even simpler circuit like this (basically excluding things related to ESP32):

GND :  0 V (connected to ground)
VCC : +5 V from regular power
IN1 : +5 V from regular power (HIGH)
IN2 :  0 V (connected to ground) (LOW)
IN3 : not connected
IN4 : not connected

and expect the potential difference between OUT1 and OUT2 to be 5 V ?motor-controllershareedit  follow  flag asked 12 hours agoOnur Celebi1111 bronze badge New contributor

• 1It looks like You burned it somehow – fifi_22 11 hours ago
• 1Have you connected the “EEP” pin to anything? I’m assuming that this pin corresponds to the DRV8833’s SLEEP pin (in the same way that ‘ULT’ probably corresponds to FAULT). According to the DRV8833 datasheet that pin has an internal pull-down, which will disable the device if left unconnected. – brhans 9 hours ago
• 1A key problem here is that you are not asking about the chip itself, but rather about a mystery module, and so leaving key details of the chip connection unspecified. We might also ask if the module is correctly manufactured with the chip well aligned and soldered; we could even ask if the chip installed is actually a DRV8833 at all. – Chris Stratton 9 hours ago
• @Onur Celebi, Welcome and nice to meet you. And let me see. Your question is “How to debug a DRV8833?. Let me introduce myself. I have many hours playing with a similar motor driver called L298N, and I think it is the best for poor hobbyist like. But then I heard people saying that DRV8833 is even better. I don’t believe if there is any thing better than L298N. So I am going to prove it wrong. First thing first is to read the friendly manual. Then I would see if I can help you debugging the thing. See you later. – tlfong01 5 hours ago   
• A couple of moths ago I played with L298N and made a summary. I also included some references on DRV8833. Comparing DC motor drivers – EESE, 2020jul16 electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/510755/…. Part C – PWM H-bridge Motor Driver References: (13.14) TaoBao DRV8837 DC Motor Driver Module 1.8A Dual Half Bridge – ¥8 (13.15) TaoBao DRV8833 DC Motor Driver (Replacing TB6612FNG) – ¥9 (13.16) AliEXpresss DRV8837 DC Motor Module Dual 1.8A – US$15 (13.17) Adafruit DRV8871 (45V 3.6A) DC Motor Driver Breakout – tlfong01 4 hours ago    
• You might like to let me know which of the four DRV8833 in my references list is identical or looks the same as yours, so I can try to tailor my answer to your specific driver board. I can also search my junk box for any DRV8833 and upload it in my prospective answer, to make our live answer chatting easier. – tlfong01 4 hours ago   
• Ha sorry, I forgot that you actually included a link to your DRV8833 module. So I will try to answer tailored to your module MJKDZ DRV8833 Motor Driver Module ardushop.ro/en/home/799-modul-driver-motoare-drv8833.html – tlfong01 4 hours ago   
• I think I have collected enough data to start answering your question. I will be going a bit slow, because I have no experience at all in DRV8833, though my good experience in L298N should help me go faster. – tlfong01 4 hours ago   

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1 Answer

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Question

How to debug my DRV8833 motor driver module?

Details of problem

1. All module output pins (including the fault status pin) measures 0V.
2. Voltage source (battery), have be MCU (ESP32) have been commonly grounded.
3. Module pins were soldered by a not very experienced hobbyist. 🙂

Answer

Introduction

(1) This is a live answer in Agile (sort of chatting over) development methodology style, to solve a debugging/troubleshooting problem.

The OP and all readers are welcome to interrupt this not yet completed answer any time to ask questions to clarify things, suggest ways to improve the answer, and point out any mistakes.

Short Answer

(1) To debug the motor driver, first thing first to read the following:

(a) Product sheet of the assembled breakout module to get a rough idea of the power requirements and function of the pin outs (which might be different from the chip datasheet.

(b) Datasheet of the chip, to get a rough idea of what external components are used to assemble the module.

(c) Schematic of the module.

To make the OP’s question more specific, (a) to (c) above is appended to his question.

/ to continue, …

Long Answer

to continue, …

References

(1) DRV8833 Module Driver Module – Ardushop €1.28 (This is the OP’s driver module)

(2) DRV8833 Dual H-Bridge Motor Driver – TI 2011/2015 (The datasheet of DRV8833 by TI)

(3) Adafruit DRV8833 DC/Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board Overview -Lady Ada

Appendices

Contents

1. A – AdaFruit DRV8833 Notes
2. B – TaoBao DRV8833 Notes

Appendix A – DRV8833 Overveiw by Lada Ada

Adafruit DRV8833 DC/Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board Overview -Lady Ada

Spin two DC motors or step one bi-polar or uni-polar stepper with up to 1.2A per channel using the DRV8833.

1. With DRV8833, you get 2 full H-bridges.
2. This chip is better for low voltage uses (can run from 2.7V up to 10.8V motor power) and has built in current limiting capability.
3. You set it up for 1A current limiting so you don’t get more than 2A per chip, but you can also disable the current limiting, or change it to a different limit!
4. The DRV8833 breakout has a polarity protection FET on motor voltage input.
5. Each breakout chip contains two full H-bridges (four half H-bridges). That means you can drive two DC motors bi-directionally, or one stepper motor.
6. Make sure they’re good for about 1.2 Amp or less of current, since that’s the limit of this chip. They do handle a peak of 2A but that’s just for a short amount of time, if you turn off the current limiting.
7. What we like most about this particular driver is that it comes with built in kick-back diodes internally so you dont have to worry about the inductive kick damaging your project or driver!
8. You also don’t have to worry as much about burning out the chip with overdriving since there is current limiting.
9. There’s two digital inputs per H-bridge (one for each half of the bridge), you can PWM one of the inputs to control motor speed.
10. Runs at 2.7V-10.8V logic/motor power.
11. The motor voltage is the same as the logic voltage, but logic voltage from 2.7V or greater will work so no need to worry if you are powering the motors from 9V and using 3.3V logic.
12. For higher voltages, check out the TB6612. For much higher voltages and currents check out the DRV8871!

Lada Ada

Appendix B – TaoBao/AliExpress DRV8833 Motor Driver Testing Notes

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