General 3D Printing Thread


 
Yeah I pulled all the drivers off and looked to see if there was solder missing or bridged nothing. The board looks pretty clean.
No I have a Gadgets3d board. didn't know about maker farm when I started the project a year ago.
I have emailed Gadgets3d so we will see if they do anything.
 
NickAuxier said:
Yeah I pulled all the drivers off and looked to see if there was solder missing or bridged nothing. The board looks pretty clean.
No I have a Gadgets3d board. didn't know about maker farm when I started the project a year ago.
I have emailed Gadgets3d so we will see if they do anything.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, a year ago, it was like pulling teeth for me waiting a week to get mine up and running.... Not sure if anyone will give you support (replacement parts) after a years time has passed, but it's worth a try I guess. Or like you said, you can always get another RAMPS board to try. Hope you get it worked out soon, good luck....
 
Nick,

Hmmm.

So the wiring for the Y-axis is known good since you drove the Y-axis using the X-axis electronics.

Worst-case scenario here (maybe the last thing you should try).

Let's for a second assume that your Y_MIN pin is blown. Let's try swapping to your Y_MAX pin to get this up and running.

Open the arduino IDE and then open your MARLIN file. Navigate to your pins.h file and hit Ctrl+F and search for 'RAMPS'

Under the RAMPS section you'll see this block of info:

#define Y_STEP_PIN 60
#define Y_DIR_PIN 61
#define Y_ENABLE_PIN 56
#define Y_MIN_PIN 14
#define Y_MAX_PIN 15

Make it look like this:

#define Y_STEP_PIN 60
#define Y_DIR_PIN 61
#define Y_ENABLE_PIN 56
#define Y_MIN_PIN 15 //14
#define Y_MAX_PIN 14 //15

Save, compile and upload to you mega. Now swap you Y_MIN endstop to your Y_MAX endstop.

Does the same behavior persist?

If so then you need to look at your firmware. (Do this first)

There is only a small section that you need to copy from your configuration.h file. Mine looks like this:

//===========================================================================
//=============================Mechanical Settings===========================
//===========================================================================

// Uncomment the following line to enable CoreXY kinematics
// #define COREXY

// corse Endstop Settings
#define ENDSTOPPULLUPS // Comment this out (using // at the start of the line) to disable the endstop pullup resistors

#ifndef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
// fine Enstop settings: Individual Pullups. will be ignord if ENDSTOPPULLUPS is defined
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
//#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

#ifdef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

// The pullups are needed if you directly connect a mechanical endswitch between the signal and ground pins.
const bool X_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
const bool Y_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
const bool Z_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
//#define DISABLE_MAX_ENDSTOPS

// For Inverting Stepper Enable Pins (Active Low) use 0, Non Inverting (Active High) use 1
#define X_ENABLE_ON 0
#define Y_ENABLE_ON 0
#define Z_ENABLE_ON 0
#define E_ENABLE_ON 0 // For all extruders

// Disables axis when it's not being used.
#define DISABLE_X false
#define DISABLE_Y false
#define DISABLE_Z true
#define DISABLE_E false // For all extruders

#define INVERT_X_DIR true // for Mendel set to false, for Orca set to true
#define INVERT_Y_DIR true // for Mendel set to true, for Orca set to false
#define INVERT_Z_DIR false // for Mendel set to false, for Orca set to true
#define INVERT_E0_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false
#define INVERT_E1_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false
#define INVERT_E2_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false

// ENDSTOP SETTINGS:
// Sets direction of endstops when homing; 1=MAX, -1=MIN
#define X_HOME_DIR -1
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1
#define Z_HOME_DIR -1

#define min_software_endstops true //If true, axis won't move to coordinates less than HOME_POS.
#define max_software_endstops true //If true, axis won't move to coordinates greater than the defined lengths below.
// Travel limits after homing
#define X_MAX_POS 200
#define X_MIN_POS 0
#define Y_MAX_POS 200
#define Y_MIN_POS 0
#define Z_MAX_POS 125
#define Z_MIN_POS 0

#define X_MAX_LENGTH (X_MAX_POS - X_MIN_POS)
#define Y_MAX_LENGTH (Y_MAX_POS - Y_MIN_POS)
#define Z_MAX_LENGTH (Z_MAX_POS - Z_MIN_POS)

// The position of the homing switches
//#define MANUAL_HOME_POSITIONS // If defined, manualy programed locations will be used
//#define BED_CENTER_AT_0_0 // If defined the center of the bed is defined as (0,0)

//Manual homing switch locations:
#define MANUAL_X_HOME_POS 0
#define MANUAL_Y_HOME_POS 0
#define MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS 0

If you could post a video on youtube so we can see the behavior that would be great. Most of the time a picture or video can be worth a thousand words.
 
Muhaha! I fixed that heatbed's wagon. I added ~5 feet of nichrome wire to the bottom wired in parallel and now it pulls close to 9A. It gets a lot hotter than the PCB+Glass because I can burn myself on it. The glass would be hot, but not so hot I wouldn't mind touching it for a while. IR thermometer says the temperature readout is actually accurate so 90C is ~195F. I still need to do some basic leveling and print a new Y endstop because the pillow blocks don't contact the switch.

I also figured out what was causing my Y axis to bind up! The reference voltage for the motor driver was 0.310V and apparently that was just too much current for the motor. It never got really hot so I assumed it was OK, but even from a fresh cool start it would crap out trying to go above 180mm/s. I lowered it to 0.150V and it works perfectly at 200mm/s (2500 accel). I jacked it back up to 0.200V just to be safe (X=0.250, Z=0.250, E=0.175). I'm really pleased because it was a real letdown to do so much work and end up with the bed still jamming up.

I found a neat trick to help tune the voltage, which seemed to require 3 hands. A jumper wire (the kind you use on proto boards) fits right in the ref hole, so I just poked it in there, and had the ground stuck in the molex connector of the power supply which left both hands free to adjust the pot.

Finally, I think the MakerFarm firmware uses thermistor 6 for the EPCOS 100k. This table is not accurate, and type 1 is the recommended thermistor for an EPCOS 100k. Sort of explains why my temperatures were always so low compared to the community for printing ABS.
 
Bryan,

I have converted every axis to sintered bronze bushings and have not regretted it in the least. LM8/10UU's are just so bulky, not to mention noisy. Did you un-bind the self-adjusting bushings in the pillowblock before inserting the rod? That can help reduce binding immensely. Those bushing should be nearly frictionless. I hope you cleaned your rods of all oil before you put them on. And tweaking that third bushing can be tricky to get right.

Also, if you decide to convert other axes to bushings do your wallet a favor and get them from sdp-si. At $4.51 they're almost 25% less than the lulzbot price.

Or if you're supercheap like me you can print your own bushing holders up and insert some A 7Z44MPSD08MAF bushings. At $1.81 each they a steal.


That heated bed is interesting. I'm guessing you kaptoned the nichrome to the bottom of the bed?
 
Did I unbind the self adjusting bushings? Did I?! I don't even know what that means. I did wipe down the rods for several minutes to remove as much grime and lord-knows-what-else was on them before I assembled. I wouldn't say they're nearly frictionless at all though. I can slide the Y axis with one finger (if the stepper isn't attached) but it stops immediately when I stop pushing. The stepper doesn't seem to have any problem driving it though, considering it will move it at 200mm/s with only 0.375A.

That's a good resource for those bushings. I got a "4 pack" from lulzbot which is funny because now I have one left of which means if I want to do anything else I'll need more bushings!

Yeah I used kapon tape to hold the ~4.5ft of nichrome on. I already have a 5V nichrome wire on my PCB bed which was there just to put some current draw on the ATX power supply to bring the 12V line back up to 12V. I probably should have used a little longer length of wire because in retrospect, running 1/3rd the power through some wire taped to a board just seems like a sketchy solution. Soldering it to the heater contacts is also hilariously difficult. I ended up using two soldering irons at once and even then it's not a solid connection. It works though and heats the top surface to 200F (over 90C) in under 7 minutes. I can't wait to get home tonight to design and print a new Y endstop poker to see how flat it is.

Also I guess to release LinkMeter v10, but it is hard to get as excited about that.
 
Kyle Christensen said:
Man I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Post more pictures! :)
Click to expand...

The scary thing is I DO! LOL I was totally in the dark about 3D printers when I started and everything looked like chinese algebra to me... Just keep following these threads and working with your printer and it will all make sense eventually.....
 
Haha, I mean I have a general idea of what is going on but since I don't have a printer it's not as cool as seeing stuff. :)

I have determined that regardless of what printer you buy/build there's quite a bit of tinkering that needs to be done..
 
Sometimes (especially with the ones I use) you need to work the bushing in its collar to get it to 'self-align'. Typically, I stick the bushing into its printed holder and then slide it onto a 10mm rod. Then I work the bushing to loosen it up so it moves a little more freely in its collar. I've never used acetal bushings like yours, only sintered bronze. Those acetal ones may be very loose, which would be nice.

That's strange. They should be very slippery. If you slightly loosen all the nuts holding the pillow blocks on does it "free-up"? If so you may have a slight mis-alignment somewhere. These things are not as tolerant as LM8UU's, which sucks. But they last a lot longer and are easier on your smooth rods.
 
Kyle Christensen said:
Haha, I mean I have a general idea of what is going on but since I don't have a printer it's not as cool as seeing stuff. :)

I have determined that regardless of what printer you buy/build there's quite a bit of tinkering that needs to be done..
Click to expand...

That's pretty accurate, however, I don't know how well the new commercially available 3D printers that are starting to hit the shelf work, they sure are expensive though......
 
Kyle Christensen said:
Haha, I mean I have a general idea of what is going on but since I don't have a printer it's not as cool as seeing stuff. :)

I have determined that regardless of what printer you buy/build there's quite a bit of tinkering that needs to be done..
Click to expand...

The real problem is that once you get a printer and use it for a little while, you see its flaws. The next thing you know you're printing upgrade parts. Then you're designing your own parts because the 'upgrade' parts you downloaded from thingiverse suck or don't meet your needs.

It's a vicious cycle that leads you to ultimately building a machine from scratch.

And it doesn't end there. Now you need to add 'features', like z-probing the bed, custom heating and cooling, dual-extrusion, touchscreens, etc ad infinitum. Once you get a reprap it is never, ever finished.
 
M Miller said:
The real problem is that once you get a printer and use it for a little while, you see its flaws. The next thing you know you're printing upgrade parts. Then you're designing your own parts because the 'upgrade' parts you downloaded from thingiverse suck or don't meet your needs.

It's a vicious cycle that leads you to ultimately building a machine from scratch.

And it doesn't end there. Now you need to add 'features', like z-probing the bed, custom heating and cooling, dual-extrusion, touchscreens, etc ad infinitum. Once you get a reprap it is never, ever finished.
Click to expand...

So true! It is a vicious cycle buyer beware. Atleast I dont have to monitor my smoker anymore so i have more time for projects. :>
 
M Miller said:
Sometimes (especially with the ones I use) you need to work the bushing in its collar to get it to 'self-align'. Typically, I stick the bushing into its printed holder and then slide it onto a 10mm rod. Then I work the bushing to loosen it up so it moves a little more freely in its collar. I've never used acetal bushings like yours, only sintered bronze. Those acetal ones may be very loose, which would be nice.

That's strange. They should be very slippery. If you slightly loosen all the nuts holding the pillow blocks on does it "free-up"?
Click to expand...
Oh the self aligning part works fine, they stick wherever they are left but they aren't difficult to angle.

Even with just a bushing on a smooth rod (nothing attached to anything) they don't slide super-freely. It's almost like my rod is ever-so-slightly too big or deformed in one dimension that just provides enough friction to make them not footloose and fancy free. I'm not concerned about it any more because I'm not taking it apart again to get another few mm/s out of it. I see that MakerFarm now carries igus blocks as well. Of course they do, the week after I ordered something else from them!
 
Bryan Mayland said:
Of course they do, the week after I ordered something else from them!
Click to expand...

Every. Single. Time.

If there's one thing I hate it's not being able to single-source components, only to find out a week or two later that they now carry item x that I had to special order from a supplier y that has exorbitant shipping costs. :(
 
I don't know who is nuttier (in terms of passion and language, creating a sub-culture) at this point: competition barbecue judges or 3D printing hobbyists.
 
So after further investigation; my j-head jamming could be related to my filament being bad...saw posts elsewhere that MakerFarm black ABS might be the issue. Think I'll look to buy some natural ABS filament, now to search this thread for those sources.
 
Ultimachine.

JNeillIII said:
So after further investigation; my j-head jamming could be related to my filament being bad...saw posts elsewhere that MakerFarm black ABS might be the issue. Think I'll look to buy some natural ABS filament, now to search this thread for those sources.
Click to expand...
 
I have used MakerFarm orange and red filament and they were both really good, I got some blue from Amazon which didnt print nearly as well... Never tried black from MakerFarm though....
 
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