I completed assembly and wireing
I installed the driver and repetier 0.84
My PC manages to get contact with printer
In ‘manual mode’ handmatige besturing the following happens / doesNOT happen:
[list=]+Z 10mm arrow up: led flashes; NO movement UP[/list]
[ul]-Z 10mm arrow down: led flashes; NO movement DOWN[/ul]
[ul]z-HOME: led flashes; EXTRUDER MOVES up&down and takes up a position approx. 20mm above printbed. [/ul]
Same goes for X and Y Up / Down Arrows ; NO movement
X-HOME: BED MOVES left-right and takes up a position.
Y-HOME: led flashes; NO movement
== == ==
What to do, and where to start?
Please give me some hints and tips on how to troubleshoot this.
Thank you in advance,
Regards,
W.P. Ginfo
@@
I just noticed in the repetier software, the extruder and bed BOTH report a temperature of 763 C; Theoretically enough to melt / turn it cherry-red. Actual temp approx 19 C.
I read somewhere in this forum, the whole thing stops working when the temperature problem occurs. Any suggestions?
You probably have some wiring/ components problems : 763° ! there must be a short somewhere : what is the reading when you unplug the thermistors from the controller board? (should read 0°). Also check the resistance of both thermistors (normal is around 100k).
Also check the wiring of the end switches : the switch must be closed when not actuated.
Thank you for your tips / advice.
I disconnected both therm1 and therm2, as well as heater1 and heater2. I restarted the software and pushed the reset button on the circuitboard.
I next tested the movement of the X-Y-Z- axis again.
Unfortunately this did remedy only one of the issues with the movement: When pressing the home button [without any axis-label], there is some movement / positioning, where there was none before
When disconnected, the display of the temperature is 0 deg C, as expected.
During the assembly process I frequently checked the resistance of the thermistors. The values found were within specs. I’ll check them to see if things have somehow changed.
Once again thanks for your advice.
All suggestions on how to proceed / check things like the connections, motors etc are more than welcome.
Kind regards,
W.P. Ginfo
If Repetier shows 0° then the controller board is Ok and there must be a short circuit somewhere in the NTC circuits.
For your motors problem, try to unplug the end-stop switches from the controller board and short the two pins with a strap (as those switches are normally closed).
Position the heatbed in a central position and try to move the motors with the arrows in Repetier (careful there will be no end stop and don’t use the “home” command).
If it works then the wiring of the switches is wrong or there is a bad contact in the plug.
Despite all efforts, I’m not making any progress at all.
The only thing that seems to work is the fan.
It’s rapidly becoming a ‘frustration tolerance test’
Q: Is it possible to just connect and test one motor / connection at a time, so I can bit by bit make some progress? I could do with a small succes every once in a while
Yes you can connect one motor at a time. But to get the motor running both ways the corresponding endstop must be connected too.
What voltage did you set to the controllers?
To test the motors you can swap them, i.e. if the Z motor is functioning you can plug the Y-motor in the Z connector and so see if the Y-motor is functional (careful do not use the Home buttons as there will be no endstop).
The motors work better with .50 or even .55V
With a lower voltage they’ll lose steps more easily. Especially in the beginning during the run in period of the carriages where there’s more friction.
It seems some progress could be made.
Things are slightly more resposive, esp in Y-axis.
There seems to be too much friction in Y to move the bed.
Let’s see if I can re-allign the bed & bearings & rods assembly…
When first assembling X and Y I felt this is a weak spot in the design [too many bits have to align, without constraint, to be succesful and accurate]
Well nice try, no cigar… yet.
Thanks for all the advice.
…to be continued, I’m afraid…
It’s mandatory that the carriages move freely. When you tilt the whole assembly, the carriages must literally “fall”. If they get stuck somewhere or if the movement is slow then the rods are not parallel. And they must also be perfectly perpendicular to the frame (use a set-square).
Thnx, I realise all that.
When slightly loosening the bearingmounts and such, things do run a lot smoother.
However from time to time the bearingmounts tend to come loose from the bed when bolts / nuts are slightly more loose. I’ve had this on 3 occasions now. And to put the whole thing back together again is fiddely and a bit of a struggle. I clearly haven’t found the happy middleground yet.
Regards,
W.P.
Sorry to bother you some more.
I’ve undone the belt of the Y, to check if the motor is moving at all.
It is [clockwise], but even without belt, it makes a hell of a noise when I push Y-home.
The X-Y-Z-arrows don’t work yet.
How come when I push home, something seems to happen, while when pushing the axis-arrows nothing happens? That’s quite baffling.
It’ because the printer has no start position (it doesn’t know where the moving parts are located). When homing the tray, hitting the end-stop determines a start point and only then you can move the axis both ways.
The motor shouldn’t make any noise. Isn’t the pulley too close to the motor? Or is it a vibration?
Thanks again for your patience. I’ll have a look to see where the source is / could be.
I’ll do some more reading ‘rtfm’ and tinkering and re-assembling.
I’ve succeeded in solving the problem with the extruder thermostat displaying a wrong value.
I’ve replaced the NTC and checked the wiring [OK]. Now the extruder heats up OK, and displays the correct temperature. Pfff… it’s a miracle. Bit by bit I’m getting there with a bit of support from you all.
Regards,
W.P. Ginfo
Thanks for your help.
It took me long enough, but I’ve just completed my first print.
It needs a bit of tweeking to get a smoother result, but I very pleased with the first results.
Thanks again.
W.P. Ginfo
