I’ve blown up my mainboard from my k8200. I have a spare k8400 MB: does this one work on the 8200? And which firmware should i use? Is it possible to still use the 8200-LCD? Do i have to make some adjustments to the firmware?
I don’t know about the LCD.
However consider that the the steppers are different then the K8400 the filament size and the nozzle are different and the extruder is different. you will need to change the firmware for all of these. There maybe more but at this time I don’t know. What you are trying to do is not impossible but will take some work. before you try to get the LCD to work you connect it to a computer and try to work out the other things.
Alright. So it is possible. What i can find about the boards they are similar to each other, only the new board is a bit more ‘stylish’. Wouldn’t it work with uploading the K8200-firmware to it? Than all the specs you are naming are set right, or am i wrong at this one?
It is certainly worth a try to upload the K8200 firmware into the Vertex controller. You would only really have problems if they changed any Arduino pin assignments.
The display controller can also probably still be used, but you will probably have to do some custom wiring to get it hooked up. I have documented the pinouts on the forum when I was connecting the LCD to a RAMPS board, so you might start there to figure out how to map that onto the Vertex board.
I have a Vertex controller board around here that I had gotten for possible use on my dual extruder K8200, so I would be interested to hear how this works out for you.
I have searched for some schematics of the 8200 and the 8400: they look similar to me so it should work with the right firmware on the board right?
Just make sure the voltage and ground pins are the same.
If the others are different I don’t think it will hurt and thing.
Another place you might want to dig for information.
The K8200 is modeled after the 3Drag.
In the link below they set it up for dual extruder using the K8400 MB
You should be able to find the firmware for it. I don’t know if they address the display but the use the same steppers except the extruder.
https://store.open-electronics.org/Double_extruder_3DRAG
Thanks! That would help me, maybe it’s possible to modificate the firmware for just one extruder…
If you compare the dual extruder to the singe extruder for the K8400 this would give you a clue. unfortunately I can not help with this because I don’t have the time (dealing with other issues). the Doctor has always been a big help to others you might as him.
If you can’t figure out the firmware a quick way to take out the other extruder is to mount a 200K resistor over the port for the thermistor. this will fool the firmware in to thinking there is a thermistor attach and at room temp.
I do hope this serves as a starting point.
If I’m home from work I’ll give it a try. Maybe it’s a good idea to let that Doctor watch all over, as a sort of afterwatch. Do you know his nickname? Couldn’t find it just looking for ‘Doctor’.
sad to see the link to the italian website isn’t working anymore…
You will have to do some digging.
The Doctor commented on this thread
Dr_Vegetable
Nice guy and has a lot of knowledge.
I just compared my 8400 controller with an 8200 controller. Without even plugging anything in, I am already confident you will be able to use the 8400 (Vertex) controller on your K8200 without any problems.
It also looks like the 18-pin connector labelled CN-1 on the Vertex controller is the same pinout as the original display connector for the 8201 LCD controller. So you should be able to connect your display without any changes.
I would give it a shot and see what catches on fire. (Just kidding, mostly…)
IMPORTANT: Be sure to follow the instructions for flashing the Vertex firmware. As Wrong_Way mentioned, the Vertex controller can turn on heaters during firmware flash if you don’t follow the correct procedure.
I just tried attaching a VM8201 to the CN-1 connector and powered up the board. The controller already came from the factory pre-programmed with dual-extruder Vertex firmware with VM8201 control already enabled.
Tried to upload the K8200-firmware. Still not working properly. Arduino says the upload went well, and it’s no problem to connect in Repetier. The LCD (K8201) still isn’t working. Also the homing of all the four axis isn’t working correct: it looks they are moving +10 when hit the home-button. The extruder wants to heat, the bed still won’t. Can’t figure out what’s going wrong here. Maybe I gonna try the MB on my vertex to see if it’s working…
I had to adjust the contrast on my LCD after connecting it to the Vertex controller. The contrast is adjusted by turning the small potentiometer on the top side of the display. Before I did that, I could barely see that the LCD was working.
All i can see are two lines of blocks on the first and third line. On my other mainboard the LCD is working fine…
I get two lines of blocks only for the first ~ 1 second during power-up. After that, the Vertex logo begins to scroll across the display.
If you push the RESET button on the LCD, does the controller reboot? (Mine gives two flashes of the green LED when I reset.)
Yes it reboots. I’ve waited several seconds before turning the power off again. The lines stay and won’t go…
Ok, so the LCD is probably wired correctly.
Are you using a version of Arduino IDE that is 1.0.x? Newer versions have libraries that won’t work with the K8200 firmware image.
Yes, used Arduino 1.0.6. Uploaded firmware before and always worked fine.