Stepper Motors - Your Resource for Stepper Motor Information and Purchasing

The goal of the Stepper Motors website is to provide you with information on Stepper Motor Technology that is informative and useful in your education about Stepper Motors.  This site is all about Stepper Motors, no other motor technology is discussed here, but if you need to compare Stepper Motor technology with other motor technologies, there are comparison pages and links to those other technologies as well.

What are Stepper Motors?
First of all, there are many names for a Stepper motor.  They are commonly referred to as Stepper motors, Stepper motors, tin can motors, pm motor, hybrid Steppers, and sometimes wrongly, servo motors.  The most common Stepper types are listed below.

Types of Stepper Motors
As you can see in the table below, there are many different type of Stepper motors.  There are many type of Stepper Motors, but they all work off of the same principle.  Look in the how Stepper motors work section for more details.

Hybrid Stepper Motors	This is the original Stepper motor.  It is still widely used today.  Due to it's low rotor inertia, it can actually run at higher speeds and more torque than the high torque motors listed in the row below.  The cost of this motor is slightly lower than the high torque motors.
Hybrid High Torque Stepper Motors	This is the most common type of Stepper motor.  They have a square lamination structure that allows them to have a higher power density then round body style.  This Stepper motor construction has the highest torque density of all Stepper motors.
Permanent Magnet Stepper Motors	This is the least expensive Stepper motor available.  They are also know as 'tin can' Stepper motors.  They have lower torque to go along with the lower cost.  The loads are also considerably less then the hybrid Stepper motors.
Permanent Magnet Stepper Motors with Spur Gearbox	This is the least expensive geared Stepper motor available.  They are also know as 'tin can' Stepper motors or geared Steppers.  They have lower torque to go along with the lower cost.  The loads are also considerably less then the hybrid Stepper gearmotors.
Hybrid Stepper Motors with Spur Gearbox	These motors can range in sizes from NEMA 17 to NEMA 34.  Sometimes this Stepper motor and spur gearbox is call a gearmotor.
Linear Actuators	These motors can range in sizes from 8mm in diameter up to NEMA 34.  Sometimes this Stepper motor and spur gearbox is call a gearmotor.
Variable Reluctance

What is this NEMA size all about?
The NEMA size is specified by the National Electrical Manufacturer's Association (NEMA) that specifies standard screw holes, threads and positions of the mounting flange of the Stepper motor.  Here is a chart of the typical Stepper motor sizes

Stepper Motors Technical Guide
A great resource that goes over the finer details of the technology in how Stepper motors work is this Introduction and Guide to the Stepper Motors

Stepper Motors Glossary of Terms
Click Here for a Stepper Motor Glossary of Terms

Stepper Motors Special Features
Common special or custom features of Stepper motors include shaft modifications, connectors, wire length, conduit boxes or terminal boxes, molded cables, and shielded cables.

How Much Do Stepper Motors Cost?
Everyone always wants to know roughly how much a Stepper motor will cost.  Some Stepper motor manufactures now list the technical information and prices for the Stepper motors on their websites.  There are over 100,000 different Stepper motors to choose from.  You can get a good idea of the Stepper motor costs by a small list of the different sizes.  Here is a sampling of products with the lowest prices from manufacturers that list their products and prices on their website.  You can also follow the links in the table to the website.

Ingress Protection Ratings (IP Ratings)
A Stepper Motor usually has an IP rating of IP54.  Basically this is for office environments and in industrial machinery.  If the motor is going to be used outside or in a harsh machine environment, then a higher rating is required.  Manufacturers will make these modifications in the Stepper motor to increase it's IP Rating:  Shaft Seals, Epoxy Coatings, O-Ring Seals.

Standard Wire Color Codes
It would be nice if all manufacturers stuck to a standard set of wire color coded.  Unfortunately, they don't all communicate with one another and there are many different 'standards' or 'not-so-standards'.  Here is a list of different manufactures and their wire color codes.

Stepper Motors Guide
A great resource that goes over the finer details of the technology in how Stepper motors work is this Introduction and Guide to Stepper Motors

Introduction to Stepper Motors
A great resource that goes over the finer details of the technology in how Stepper motors work is this Stepper Motor Introduction.

We hope that you found this site to be a useful resource on Stepper motors.  You are free to link to this site without permission.  Content on this site can be used by permission only.  If you would like to Contact Us, please do so by email at submit@Steppermotors.net.

great resource that goes over the finer details of the technology in how Stepper motors work is this Introduction and Guide to the Stepper Motors