Just finished building, calibrating and loading the Velleman K8400: Vertex 3D Printer. Printed a test cube - worked pretty well - smooth operation. Loaded the Velleman key chain file and began the next print job - all jobs from the SD card. At about 38% completion the bed moved up until it contacted the print nozzle and seemed it was trying to go further. Stopped the print job and jogged the bed down, cleaned off the project and tried another test cube print. At about 46% completion the head began shifting to the right after each print command until it eventually got all the way and jammed to the right. Stopped the print job and moved the bed down, cleared the material. All manual controls working fine. Any ideas on what to check to fix this? Print job seems to start just fine every time.
I tried using the settings you suggested. (raby) print is better but the printer still loses its mind - the Z axis raised the Bed in the middle of the print. I have recorded the video. Will post later. The stepper motor driver boards get very hot (70-80°C) - maybe this is normal - don’t know. Cannot finish any print job yet. The printer head keeps running away in Y or Z direction.
If the stepper drivers are heating too much it means the motors have to struggle to move the axis. Did you make the test like suggested in the Wiki? (without belts the head must move from side to side when tilting the printer)? 90% of the issues come from a bad or poor alignment so it’s worth giving it another try.
[quote=“Comco”]Any ideas why the Bed (Z-axis) would all the sudden rise in the middle of the print job?[/quote]First time I’m seeing this. No clue. Anyway, you could check the reference voltage of the drivers (check a easier procedure in the [color=#408040]Wiki[/color]). Wrong voltage could also cause some erratic behaviour.
I have redone the alignment procedure as advised http://www.k8xxx-3dprinters.crimed.be/w/index.php?title=XY-Carriage_Alignment. There was slight adjustment on both axis. I got it to the point where it would free fall when tilted 45° in either direction. Trying another print now. The stepper motor drivers are still very hot(too hot to touch) but it is printing. Will report results.
One print job completed successfully. The next print job failed at about 90%. When the print job failed the head just wandered off to one side until it was past its limits. We were able to pause the print job - but could not resume. Total printing time about 2 hours. We were running without a fan blowing on the circuit board this time. Room temperature about 22°C.
In my printer I’ve glued small heat sinks on the drivers chips but I don’t have a fan blowing on the motherboard and I already have printed objects more than 10 hours without any problem.
Are you printing from the SD or from Repetier?
Update to my printers operation. Several prints have worked successfully but in all cases there needed to be a fan blowing on the motherboard, otherwise something overheats and the print head does not behave. One of the axis would begin to move incorrectly about half way into the print.
I have the same issue. I already have mounted additional cooling radiators on the step drivers, but still the print starts to do make trouble by moving the axis out of the normal spann, so that the step motors make horroble sound.
Once it was the z-axsis, the other time the y.
What do you exactly mean by “Update to my printers Operation”
Hey Goswin7 - just mean an update on how the printer is performing.
So we continue to have problems - each separate axis has has caused a problem on a print. Also today the X and Y axis simultaneously shifted out of position by 3 and 6 mm respectively 20 minutes into a 3 hour print job.
We continue to have random resets - shifting of axis problems even with the added Fan cooling to the Stepper Drivers. At this point I am thinking of contacting the manufacturer to see if we need a replacement part.
I think, my issue is related to the print from SD Card, as I did successfully finish now two prints by USB. I added now another cooling fan over the Mainboard, so that the stepper Drivers will be kept cool.
Keep on reporting, please.
