[solved] DOA: Y+EXT1 Motors not moving / X Motor stutters

Vertex 3D Printer Vertex - Wiring and electronics
1

Hi there,

I have just purchased a VERTEX printer from CBC/Farnell.
Assembling went very well strictly following the instructions on manuals.velleman.eu.

After finishing, I updated the VERTEX to firmware Version 1.4 (one extruder) as described in your manual.

The next step suggested to run the auto-home function, which I did accordingly.

I noticed, that the Y motor doesn’t move until it’s endpoint and is also stuttering.
The X/Y carriage however moves smoothly with a bit of resistance, when I move it carefully by hand.
So it’s not a mechanical problem.

The X-Motor didn’t move at all during the auto-home process.

The Z-Motor seemed to work fine, though.

After that, I used the “Move axis” function to manually try to move the motors in 1mm steps and again,
the Y motor stuttered, X didn’t move at all, Z was fine.
Here I also discoverd, the EXT1 motor also does not move.

I then swapped the X and Y motor just to see, if it was a problem with the motors.
However, the motor that didn’t move before (formerly X) now stuttered and the other one now didn’t move.

Another thing I noticed when moving the axis using the “Move axis” function, the Y motor does only move in one direction.
If want to move it backwards, it doesn’t.

So my guess is, the mainboard is broken or there’s something wrong with the drivers.

As this is a brand new printer that has been switched on just one time, I would call this a DOA problem.

Could you give some advice on how to handle this?
Can you provide a spare mainboard + drivers kit?

Looking forward to your reply,

cheers, Michael

2

Hi,
Before assuming you have a faulty controller board, you should do a few more tests.

[quote=“msprick”]I noticed, that the Y motor doesn’t move until it’s endpoint and is also stuttering.
The X/Y carriage however moves smoothly with a bit of resistance, when I move it carefully by hand.
So it’s not a mechanical problem. [/quote]It probably is a mechanical problem as if you build your printer following the manual, the distance between the clamps is probably not correct (check the [color=#408040]Wiki [/color]about this).

[quote=“msprick”]Another thing I noticed when moving the axis using the “Move axis” function, the Y motor does only move in one direction. [/quote]This is normal as the Y axis never reached the Y end-stop and the controller doesn’t know its position.

[quote=“msprick”]Here I also discoverd, the EXT1 motor also does not move.[/quote]This is normal too. It only moves when the hot end temperature is higher than 170° ( to prevent cold extrusion).

First thing first : did you use the 1.0.6 version of Arduino (later versions usually load a corrupt firmware)?

As your Z axis is functional you can use its stepper driver with the X and Y axis to see if these axis move with a working driver (remove all the other drivers and perform an auto home to test the driver). If you get a working axis, check all the other drivers with this axis to know if they’re all functional.

Put aside the one(s) not working. You’ll check them later with [color=#408040]this [/color]procedure.

3

Hi and thanks for your reply.

I have followed the procedure and readjusted all the rods, belts and pulleys.
Indeed, the XY carriage didn’t slide by itself, when I tilted the printer to an angle of 45 degrees.
After adjusting the distance between the clamps, it now does…

Isn’t it probably worth it to put this advice in the manual as well?

Well, after putting everything back together, I did another auto-home procedure
and magically all axis moved into their positions now.

After adjusting the Z bed and end-stop, the nozzle is now 0.35mm away from the bed at all points.

Now, when I use the “Load filament” function to load my ABS, the EXT1 motor still doesn’t move.
The printhead heats up, but when the display says “feeding filament”, nothing happens except for short “click” noise at the ext1 motor.

Might this be a callibration issue with the driver board?
The link that you posted shows a picture of a multimeter that displays 0.921 V

Is that the reference voltage to go for? I’m asking because it’s not stated anywhere in the description - just on that picture.

Thanks,

Michael

4

[quote=“msprick”]Might this be a callibration issue with the driver board?
The link that you posted shows a picture of a multimeter that displays 0.921 V

Is that the reference voltage to go for? I’m asking because it’s not stated anywhere in the description - just on that picture.[/quote]

Yep my bad. I’ll add it in the Wiki. The value must be within 0.89 and 0.925V.

[quote=“msprick”]Now, when I use the “Load filament” function to load my ABS, the EXT1 motor still doesn’t move.
The printhead heats up, but when the display says “feeding filament”, nothing happens except for short “click” noise at the ext1 motor.[/quote]. The click noise means the extruder tries to turn but can’t feed the filament.

The cause can be :

  • Reference voltage of the stepper driver too low.
  • Filament stuck so the extruder is slipping on the same spot.
  • The hobbed bolt is not correctly fastened or bad positioned (or reversed) so the filament is not correctly settled in the serrated groove.
5

Hi raby,

thanks again for your advice.

I checked the reference voltage of all four drivers and they were more or less the same 0.920 - 0.924…

It still didn’t move so I had a closer look at the EXT1 driver and eventually noticed, that it had a tiny bit of solder (size of a hair) between two pins (EN + MO).
After removing the short, the Ext1 motor worked fine!!!

So it was actually a short circuit in one of the drivers and the distance between the XY carriage clamps, that caused all the trouble.

The printer has now successfully loaded the ABS filament and is now printing the first object.

Thanks a lot for your great help. I have to admit, I was really disappointed at first because I followed the building instructions thoroughly and was very accurate with all the measurings,
so I expected everything to work fine. However, there were a few bits that I didn’t know (i.e. how to really adjust the clamps).

All disappointment is now gone and the smell of the ABS is getting me high. :wink:

Thanks again,

cheers, michael

6

Glad you could work it out. Happy printing.

BTW ABS isn’t the easiest way to test your printer. Printing it without a heated bed is quite tricky (event with it).

A few tips :
Nozzle-bed distance : no more than 0.2 mm.
Print temperature : 225°
Flow : about 75-80%
Infill : the lowest possible and never over 40% (even with PLA, 60% infill max) or you’ll get warping and your object will get loose from the bed.
Retraction : 3mm & 150mm/s

Warning : when it sticks, it really sticks hard to the Buildtak and the object is almost impossible to remove (I’ve ruined my Builtak trying).

7

Hey there,

well, my first print was just a small washer and I was able to remove it from the buildtak without damaging it. I broke the washer though :wink: But it really sticked hard.
So I guess, if the object had more surface, it would not have been so “easy” to remove it.

Anyway, I have just ordered some PLA reels and will continue working my way into all the parameters using PLA.

However, I’m thinking about buying a heated bed as well. Are you happy with your MK3 (viewtopic.php?p=60285#p60285)?

Cheers, Michael

8

[quote=“msprick”]However, I’m thinking about buying a heated bed as well. Are you happy with your MK3 (viewtopic.php?p=60285#p60285)? [/quote]Yes it works fine. I also bought a bigger one from Marlak (http://forum.velleman.eu/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=14714 and it’s even better (Bigger surface).

[quote=“msprick”]Anyway, I have just ordered some PLA reels and will continue working my way into all the parameters using PLA.[/quote] The parameters are quite the same except for the temperature (195°).