few question before turning on the printer

Hi All,
Finally I got all things I needed, tomorrow I will connect the wires and plug it into power.
1. where I should put the end stops?what is there purpose?shout their position be accurate?It has 4 wires but on the scheme of RAMPS there are only 2 for each endstop, how should i wire them? (there are 2 ground wire,one for VCC and one for signal)
2. I will be using Marlin firmware, is it recommended? what should I change in the configuration file?
3. I will also be using slic3r and Printrun , any other recommendation?
4. is there any good tutorial for calibrating the printer?
5. a general guidelines would help
6. I am considering to document the process somewhere, where you want to see it?
Morad

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2014 02:33PM by EEstudent.

Quote
EEstudent
Hi All,
Finally I got all things I needed, tomorrow I will connect the wires and plug it into power.
1. where I should put the end stops?what is there purpose?shout their position be accurate?It has 4 wires but on the scheme of RAMPS there are only 2 for each endstop, how should i wire them? (there are 2 ground wire,one for VCC and one for signal)
2. I will be using Marlin firmware, is it recommended? what should I change in the configuration file?
3. I will also be using slic3r and Printrun , any other recommendation?
4. is there any good tutorial for calibrating the printer?
5. a general guidelines would help
6. I am considering to document the process somewhere, where you want to see it?
Morad

- The end stops are essential, they tell the printer when it's at it's home position. They should be set so the X and Y get triggered at when the print head is at corner of the bed, and the Z stop when the print head is where you want the first layer to go down. You've got a lot of leeway on X/Y, too far into the print area and you'll limit your print size, outside the print area and you'll spew plastic into space. The Z stop needs to be very accurate, it defines the thickness of the first layer of your print and needs to be calibrated to tiny fractions of a millimeter. If you haven't got one, get an adjustable Z stop holder, this lets you turn a screw to move the position of the z carriage rather than having to move the actual switch, and makes life much much easier

I've only got 3 connectors for the end stops on my RAMPS board. With only 2 wires on the endstop switches you'll want those on the "normally open" pins, which are the top ones (from memory, you'll need to check)

- Marlin works fine for me. You'll have to configure it to tell it where the end stops are, and that they're normally open (in configuration.h) down where it says const bool X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; I think true is what you'll need, but again, you'll have to test and make sure for your particular hardware and layout.

- I use Slic3r and Repetier Host, only reason is that it's the first thing I tried and does everything I need so far

- Google TriffidHunters calibration guide, it's a fine start

- When you first start moving your motors, hover your mouse over the emergency stop button, and hit that the minute anything looks wrong. As you set up the end stops you'll probably end up bashing things into your frame a few times by accident, and it makes a horrible noise

ignore the message before edit.
I had to change the motherboard to 33 in config file
now things move

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2014 10:37AM by EEstudent.

issues:
1. driver heating:something annoying, the driver heats a lot! i put my finger and feel how hot it is. is it normal?
2. temp: i don't get temp reading, the resistance of the thermistor is around 100kohm but I always see 0 in temp values
i tried different setting but nothing changed
"#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 5
#define TEMP_SENSOR_1 5
#define TEMP_SENSOR_2 5
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 5"

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2014 04:09PM by EEstudent.

Stepper motor drivers getting hot is normal, and something you'll need to deal with. A fan blowing across them (or putting the electronics in a case and using an exhaust fan) is the usual solution. Also make sure you're not sending too much current to the motors. You can check it with a multimeter, but I never bothered, just turned the current down till they started skipping and turned it back up till they stopped. Before I put a fan on my drivers they were peaking at over 100C, and would sometimes miss steps when they got too hot.

Don't know about the temp sensor, I'd start by checking for shorts or wrong plugs. If you give marlin the wrong thermistor type you'll still get a value back, it'll just be wrong.

Thanks.
1. I found out that the wires are not connected, I fixed it and it reads the rooms temp.
I am attaching a photos of the thermistors, could you please tell me what the type of each one? (I want to set the right one on config file).
[www.dropbox.com]
2. how do i measure the current in the motors? or calibrate it (that screw on the driver)
3. the printer is homing perfectly , I am few step away
[www.youtube.com]

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2014 09:37AM by EEstudent.

First time it freaked me out, i almost broke the x axis, I figured out that the fastest way to stop is simply pressing on reset button on RAMPS.
regarding the endstops, In Y/X axis I used maximum instead of minimum, just to make them closer to the board.
Thanks for the help.

Quote
Opus

Quote
EEstudent
Hi All,
Finally I got all things I needed, tomorrow I will connect the wires and plug it into power.
1. where I should put the end stops?what is there purpose?shout their position be accurate?It has 4 wires but on the scheme of RAMPS there are only 2 for each endstop, how should i wire them? (there are 2 ground wire,one for VCC and one for signal)
2. I will be using Marlin firmware, is it recommended? what should I change in the configuration file?
3. I will also be using slic3r and Printrun , any other recommendation?
4. is there any good tutorial for calibrating the printer?
5. a general guidelines would help
6. I am considering to document the process somewhere, where you want to see it?
Morad

- The end stops are essential, they tell the printer when it's at it's home position. They should be set so the X and Y get triggered at when the print head is at corner of the bed, and the Z stop when the print head is where you want the first layer to go down. You've got a lot of leeway on X/Y, too far into the print area and you'll limit your print size, outside the print area and you'll spew plastic into space. The Z stop needs to be very accurate, it defines the thickness of the first layer of your print and needs to be calibrated to tiny fractions of a millimeter. If you haven't got one, get an adjustable Z stop holder, this lets you turn a screw to move the position of the z carriage rather than having to move the actual switch, and makes life much much easier

I've only got 3 connectors for the end stops on my RAMPS board. With only 2 wires on the endstop switches you'll want those on the "normally open" pins, which are the top ones (from memory, you'll need to check)

- Marlin works fine for me. You'll have to configure it to tell it where the end stops are, and that they're normally open (in configuration.h) down where it says const bool X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; I think true is what you'll need, but again, you'll have to test and make sure for your particular hardware and layout.

- I use Slic3r and Repetier Host, only reason is that it's the first thing I tried and does everything I need so far

- Google TriffidHunters calibration guide, it's a fine start

- When you first start moving your motors, hover your mouse over the emergency stop button, and hit that the minute anything looks wrong. As you set up the end stops you'll probably end up bashing things into your frame a few times by accident, and it makes a horrible noise

thermistors for me is hard to find out what they are but to measure your current for the steppers put your red lead f multimeter on the pot and the blk on the ground

---

Check my rubbish blog for my prusa i3

up and running
[3dimetech.blogspot.co.uk]

I did a dry run,extruder heated but without plastic.
the j-head MELTED down!!!
Photo attached:
[www.dropbox.com]
why that happened? the temp didn't exceed 170C
Printer dry run:
[www.youtube.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2014 04:24PM by EEstudent.

This is working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Photo: [www.dropbox.com]
printing on piece of plastic
it will not actually do something but it is nice
still not sure why the head melted,maybe because I didn't put a fan?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2014 06:29PM by EEstudent.

I'm guessing that j-head got a lot hotter than 170C (or you got a very faulty one) I've was running mine at 195C with no problems for ages. The thermistor would be the first culprit, check it's properly seated in the head, and the right type set up in the firmware. Grab yourself a thermocouple sensor (they're only $25 from China) and it'll tell you what the actual temperature is compared to what the thermistor is reporting. You shouldn't need a fan on the J-head for PLA at 170. It's only melted right at the bottom so it doesn't need cooling up the barrel.

Great to see it printing though!

Quote
Opus
I'm guessing that j-head got a lot hotter than 170C (or you got a very faulty one) I've was running mine at 195C with no problems for ages. The thermistor would be the first culprit, check it's properly seated in the head, and the right type set up in the firmware. Grab yourself a thermocouple sensor (they're only $25 from China) and it'll tell you what the actual temperature is compared to what the thermistor is reporting. You shouldn't need a fan on the J-head for PLA at 170. It's only melted right at the bottom so it doesn't need cooling up the barrel.

Great to see it printing though!

I guess it really was wrong reading of the temp.
you recommend buying thermometer or thermocouple sensor?
my mulitmeter doesn't have probe for thermocoupler, can you please give me a link for how to use thermocoupler?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2014 04:07AM by EEstudent.

Try something like this. You just stick the metal end into the hot end somewhere, and it'll read the actual temperature. I don't know exactly how accurate these cheap versions are, but it'll give you a good starting point to calibrate your thermistor

Quote
Opus
Try something like this. You just stick the metal end into the hot end somewhere, and it'll read the actual temperature. I don't know exactly how accurate these cheap versions are, but it'll give you a good starting point to calibrate your thermistor

I've ordered something like that.
anyway I will borrow more accurate one from a friend so I can do comparison when I get the one from ebay.
Thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2014 06:12AM by EEstudent.