Printing Problems

Hi everyone,Im pretty new to 3D printers and working with them. I ordered the Prusa i3 pro c printer from Geeetech and have assembled it. I have tried several prints I found on thingiverse.com and all prints have caused my printer to move back and forth on the x-axis until it reaches the end. I have a end stop on the left side of the x-axis and the printer ignores it when the printer reaches the end of the axis.

I have been using Repetier-Host for Mac to generate the gcodes. I think what is causing the problem is the program is drawing a line (I think the extruder path) from one side of the virtual box to the other along the x-axis and off into the distance. Here is a screenshot of what I am talking about.

Again, I'm fairly new to 3D printers and dont know a whole lot about it so please tell me if you need anymore info to help me with my problem.

What firmware and controller using? Where are the endstops positiond?

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Check my rubbish blog for my prusa i3

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

The Firmware is Marlin V1. Im not entirely sure what you mean by controller but I am using Repetier host. (I think thats what you mean) The endstops are at the 0s. So the x endstop is at the left side of the printer. The y endstop is at the back of the printer and the z endstop is at the bottom of the z-axis.

Also, I've been experimenting a little bit today and it looks like there is some kind of communication error between the repetier and the printer. When I add stl files to repetier, it shows them as being very small. I upscale them so they are the correct size in the virtual box then send it to the printer. The printer thinks that this means it is 10 times larger then what it can actually print. Do you know how to fix an error like this?

im not use to repeiter i either use slic3r or cura, and what i mean controller is the board which controls the printer, if the endstop isnt triggered on the x then you have a issue with the endstop i would check they getting trigger my typing M119 and finding out

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Check my rubbish blog for my prusa i3

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

Oh ok I see what you mean. I am using an Arduino Mega. I have checked to see if the endstop is working and it does until I try to print something. As soon as I try to print, the printer goes back and forth ignoring the endstop like before. Repetier does use slic3r and I have tried several different settings but they all have the same ending.

What do these lines of code look like in your marlin configuration.h file...

and where did you get Marlin from?

These are all from my working marlin configuration.h for Prusa i3.

X/Z endstops are on the left side of the machine.. Y is back center.

// Mechanical endstop with COM to ground and NC to Signal uses "false" here (most common setup).
const bool X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Y_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool X_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Y_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Z_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Z_PROBE_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
//#define DISABLE_MAX_ENDSTOPS
//#define DISABLE_MIN_ENDSTOPS

// @section machine
// If you want to enable the Z Probe pin, but disable its use, uncomment the line below.
// This only affects a Z Probe Endstop if you have separate Z min endstop as well and have
// activated Z_PROBE_ENDSTOP below. If you are using the Z Min endstop on your Z Probe,
// this has no effect.
//#define DISABLE_Z_PROBE_ENDSTOP




// ENDSTOP SETTINGS:
// Sets direction of endstops when homing; 1=MAX, -1=MIN
// :[-1,1]
#define X_HOME_DIR -1
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1
#define Z_HOME_DIR -1

#define min_software_endstops false // If true, axis won't move to coordinates less than HOME_POS.
#define max_software_endstops true // If true, axis won't move to coordinates greater than the defined lengths below.

I should add that I'm using the endstop PCB things that have an LED, three connectors. I suspect your end stops are not configured and/or wired correctly.

You could post a video on youtube to help us help you

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2015 12:49AM by thetazzbot.

Heres what I have for those selections.

// The pullups are needed if you directly connect a mechanical endswitch between the signal and ground pins.
const bool X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = false; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Y_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = false; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = false; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool X_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = false; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Y_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = false; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
const bool Z_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = false; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
//#define DISABLE_MAX_ENDSTOPS
//#define DISABLE_MIN_ENDSTOPS

I cant seem to find the section about the Z probe pin in my configuration file...

// ENDSTOP SETTINGS:
// Sets direction of endstops when homing; 1=MAX, -1=MIN
#define X_HOME_DIR -1
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1
#define Z_HOME_DIR -1

#define min_software_endstops true // If true, axis won't move to coordinates less than HOME_POS.
#define max_software_endstops true // If true, axis won't move to coordinates greater than the defined lengths below.

I found this Marlin off of Geeetech website. here is a link to the download: Marlin

I will also post a video of it trying to print tomorrow and post the link on this thread. Thanks for all of your input by the way!

Hello


Does your printer stop when you click the home axis button on repetier?

my printer stops on the x axis endstop when home pressed then goes a little from endstop to right then back
the y when hom e press goes to the end stop at back makes a noise as if its trying to carry on the stops when i try to bring the board forward via repetier it wont i have to drag the board off the endstop then it will work any ideas why

also when i set to print it always goes to the top right

Hey guys, sorry for the late response. I cant seem to get youtube to work so I cant show you a video of it working right now... Anyways, a friend of mine looked at my printer and configured some software (Marlin) and we got the same results. He tried looking around a bit and discovered that Geeetech used a board called GT2560. Its their combination of the Arduino Mega and the Ramps 1.4 board. He also said that it is not officially supported by Marlin and that may be the problem. Can any of you confirm this? Or do you know of some firmware that does officially support the GT2560 board?