3d Stuffmaker Mega Prusa problems

Hi

I suppose for the moment I was going to stick to pla.

Have you got a photo of your replaced hotend and extruder.

Regards

Ian

Would you get a 4mm nozzle or a 3mm nozzle if you were replacing the hotend and extruder?

Regards

Ian

That totally depends on what you want to print and what level of detail you require - plus of course how much time you are willing to allocate on a print.
For example simple construction parts don't really need less than 0.7mm.
A finely detailed statue or lithopane however benefits from finer nozzles.
All I can say is that 0.4mm is still a bit forgiving when it comes to print settings, 0.3mm really requires a properly calibrated machine and good, reliable extruder.

Hi

If I was going to replace the hotend and extruder, I was just wanted to work out what nozzle would be the most suitable.

From the sounds of it 0.4mm sounds as though it would be the safest bet then, if I wanted to do construction parts or finer stuff?

Regards

Ian

For that it should be fine.
Keep in mind that if you can stand the hassles that you can simply replace the actual nozzle on the hotend with a different diameter.
If a cleanup is required for filament type change it makes no real difference time wise anyway.

Hi

I found someone who will print a bracket that I may design if I want to replace the print unit on the printer, for free, so that will keep the costs down.

I could just purchase this item:

[www.ebay.com.au]



and use the fan and stepper motor and extruder I already have or I can buy this:

[www.ebay.com.au]



and just print a bracket that will hold it on with new linear bearings.

Sorry to ask your advice but what would you do and are both items listed there acceptable to work with?

I am inclined to buy the whole unit in one, so that I know its new, up to date and can be worked with.

Regards

Ian

Regards

Ian

The hotend seems to be the same that I am using just for 1.75mm, works reliable after some minor fixes.
Some sanding and polishing on the inside is required unless you get one that has a teflon liner installed.
If so then this liner should not through the heatbreak, just for the cold end.

For the complete one I can't give much as I don't know how well it is designed and how the drive teeth look.
The same polishing of the heatbreak seems to be required as the price is just too low.
You will see if it is required if the inside looks patchy, has rings or definite drill marks.
Other than that not much to go wrong for dirt cheap.
Just double check all is correctly installed, they often go cheap with heat transfer glue and use standard silicone based stuff - it tends to fail when printing above 240°.

Hi

With this part, how is the filament pressed through. I assume the extruder setup is a little different, with this part, as the complete unit that I photod earlier seems to have the extruder part built around it?

Any pictures of your setup possible?

Regards

Ian

The only difference is that the above is for a bowden system while the other is a direct drive - if you want to print stuff like PETG or Flex filament a direct drive is the way to go.

Hi

I had a good friend around yesterday who spent alot a time looking at the printer. What he worked out that the problem was the speed of the stepper motor when past the first three layers. It slowed down so much that the filament was extruding properly, thus messing up the perimiter settings.

No matter what he did to adjust the speed settings for the step motor in the config of slic3r, the speed wouldn't improve. As if there was a software to printer conflict that wouldn't allow changes.

He sliced with Cura instead and low and behold, the step motor worked at the proper speed and finally we have decent prints.

So it came down to a software conflict with the printers coding.

If that could be changed, it would be nice to use slic3r as it seems to have more parameters to work with, but it will be cura for the moment.

Regards

Ian

Hi

Using Cura, I would like to stop the Print head from returning to home once it has stopped printing.

I believe I would need to change something in the Gcode





Would you be able to pint me in the direction of where to make the change to stop the print head and maybe just make it rise a little.

Regards

Ian

Second command, the G1 move get's the head home, delete or comment it and the head stays in place where the print ended.

Thanks for that.

Any thought on how to get the z step motor to speed up in slic3r. I think my friend pushed the speed up to 200% and it made no difference. Sounds like a hardcoded or firmware thing.

Regards

Ian

If there is a firmware limit then there is little you can do throught the slicer.
But usually there really is no need for a very fast z-axis movement as it only happens between layers.

Hi

I probably didn't explain that right. What was happening was the first 3 layers printed perfectly and the stepper motor was turning at a good speed pumping filament through, then, for the normal layers the stepper motor slowed significantly down so that the filament was barely printing. That was using slic3r.

With Cura, the motor speed worked the same rate as the first three layers as the rest, and the filament printed perfectly.

Regards

Ian

Hi

I decided to strip the Stuffmaker back down to the frame, pulling off all the wiring so that I could straighten out and align everything. I then returned the wiring and controller board back on.

But I made a mistake that is part of the assembly instructions. Two pictures show different locations for the 5A power supply wires. I unfortunately got them around the wrong way. So when I turned the printer on, a puff of smoke, and I don't seem to be able to get anything to move.

The printer connects to repetier but I carn't get any movement from the x,y,z axis or anything else.

I swapped the wires around to what I think is the correct position, and tested the printer with the same result. It turns on, but no life in the axis. So I assume I have blown the controller board.

The question is, can I replace the board or would I need to replace both controller board and arduino?

Also, will I have to then add software onto the boards to get them to work?

Here are what I can get on ebay from overseas.

[www.ebay.com.au]

[www.ebay.com.au]

Or I can get the controller board locally

[www.ebay.com.au]

I assume I would need to get all the attachments for it as well, assume I may have blown the ones on the present board.

Any advice will be great.

Regards

Ian

It's hard to say which components might have been damaged, but given the relatively low price for replacements I'd suggest getting a full set. You could do pairwise testing to see which of the original components still work and keep those for spares. May come in handy some day.

But, if I were to make a guess, the power from the ramps to the mega goes via a diode, so in theory if you connected reverse polarity the damage should be limited to the ramps board and possibly the stepper drivers that it carries. The diode should have protected the mega2560.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2016 08:19AM by JamesK.

Hi

If I was just replacing the ramps board, would this be ok?

[www.ebay.com.au]

I have an arduino mega spare, so I could try this and see if it works and then if not use a different mega.

Regards

Ian

Looks fine as far as I can see, but obviously you can never really tell with all these cloned parts. Pick a seller with a good feedback score and that's about all you can do. One thing you can check for as an indicator of whether the manufacturer is cutting costs is to look at the voltage rating on the electrolytic capacitors under the stepper driver sockets. In your link they are 35V which is good. Some of the cheapies will have 16V which is cutting corners. The link you gave is at the expensive end though, you could save money if you were willing to wait for shipping from China or Hong Kong.

Hi

Considering that I have been at the printer problems for the last couple of months, whats another few weeks. Good idea.

I will get one of the other ones.

Regards

Ian

Hi

There is this one

[www.ebay.com.au]

Regards

Ian

Hi

I suppose I should have asked whether I need to get a board with replacement stepstick driver modules, if thats what they are called.

Do I assume I need to assume they are damaged on my board.

He is one from overseas.

[www.ebay.com.au]

Regards

Ian

That (the link to the ramps only) has the 16V capacitors I mentioned, and personally I try and stick to the 99% + sellers if I can.

Yes, it's probably worth getting a set of drivers as well as the ramps. 5x a4988 should be about $10 AU I tihink. Watch out for shipping costs slapped on top.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2016 08:58AM by JamesK.

Hi

Still waiting for the replacement board to arrive.

Just thought I'd ask,

This is the end code for the Cura Config file:

; Default end code
; G1 X0 Y0 Z130 ; Get extruder out of way.
M107 ; Turn off fan
; Disable all extruder
G91 ; Relative positioning
{IF_EXT0}T0
{IF_EXT0}G1 E-1 ; Reduce filament pressure
M104 T0 S0
G90 ; Absolute positioning
G92 E0 ; Reset extruder position
M140 S0 ; Disable heated bed
M84 ; Turn steppers off

When it finishes a print, it makes a lot of noise as it moves diagionally away. I would like it to just lift up the z axis a little and stay put. How would I change the G code for that. I assume its changing the line that says:

; G1 X0 Y0 Z130 ; Get extruder out of way.

Regards

Ian

Hi

Just realised I have already sorted that. The fact is I commented that line so it won't move the print head out of the way,

Sorry.

Regards

Ian

Hi

I just received my replacement ramps board and attached the drivers on it with the jumps underneath.



I tested the arduino on my computer and the on light lights up, so I assume its ok.



I was about to attach the 3D Printing Adapter and was wondering if its ok. The solder points seem a little funny. Could this have got effected when I shorted the original ramps board?



Also, to get the ramps board off, I had to take the arduino off aswell. I hooked it up to my computer to see if it was operational, and the on light lights up so I assume that is ok. Is it possible at this stage to either backup the data that is on it, or is it worth upgrading the firmware at this point.

I seem to have read somework done on improving the original stuffmaker firmware, or should I leave it alone?

Regards

Ian

Ah, so much for my theory that the mega2560 would probably have been ok. That photo looks very much like the 5V voltage regulator is blown. You may find that it works ok when plugged into the USB, but won't work when powered by the barrel connector or from the ramps. If that's the case you'd have to either repair the regulator, supply 5V power some other way or replace the mega2560.

The LCD adapter board is probably ok, there's not much to it.

I've never tried reading the firmware off a arduino, but I've heard it can be done. Probably best to get familiar with putting a new firmware on the board.

Hi

Thanks for pointing that out, I completely didn't notice that blown part on the arduino.

I have an alternative mega that I can use.



So I assume I have to put new firmware on the new mega. Would you have any directions on what firmware I need and where to obtain it and how to flash it?

Regards

Ian

Did you want to stick with the official Stuffmaker firmware? I had a quick look around their website and couldn't find a download link for firmware, but I assume they must have one, along with instructions for how to install it. If you're happy to use other firmwares then both Marlin and Repetier firmware work well on the mega. Instructions for Marlin

[reprap.org]

and for Repetier

[www.repetier.com]

I like some of the features in Repetier so that's what I use, but both work well.

Hi

Thanks for the links.

I have heard that Stuffmaker don't supply their firmware and are painful to get help from, so I will try the links you referred to.

I am using repetier software so, I probably should stick with that at the moment.

Thanks for your help.

Regards

Ian