Mouting FoldaRap 2.5 - heeeeelp plz

Hi everyone,

I keep having issue with my FoldaRap... as a matter of fact it's mounted since about a year now, maybe less, whatee, I'm still not able to print, and it's driving me nuts...
I'm not ready to print yet because I just damaged the Minitronics v1.1... and I'm short on cash I won't buy a new one now. But before getting a new one, I'd like to see how I can solve the problems I've got.

So first, I had confess I didn't bought a traditional kit, but I purchased the separate elements separately following the buyers guide page. Terrible idea, I should get the kit from Openedge, but whatever, I succeed to mount the whole machine.



In a nutshell, everything is working: X, Y or Z axis, and the extrusion! But when it's come to printing, there is something wrong as the machine can't print. Sometimes, a bit of plastic is coming through, but it's too thin to have a proper first layer, and I don't have enough adhesion.
I think the problems can come from the extruder part, the nozzle, the Z home axis.

The printed part I've got are the one from 2.5 FoldARap. But the hot-end kit is different, it's the one for the Huxley RepRap. As you an see following the link, it's quite different, and it's not 100% compatible with the printed part I've got. You had to fit one of the barrel holding the bowden tube into a printed part when your're supposed to screw a pneumatic fitting for the FoldaRap. Well for the Huxley, I'm sure it's amazing, but it's not for the FoldaRap. The barrel is supposed to be screwed in the printed part whch hold the extruder motor. I try to put it as it is in it, but it's keep popping out at each extrusion. I tried to use the pneumatic fitting from OpenEdge, but my tube is 4mm of diameter when those one for 3mm.
After some tinkering with a new 3D printed part and a 4mm pneumatic fitting from RepRapWorld, it's seem to be ok.



I'm not sure about the orange part of the extruder on the picture, as it's a bit difficult to put in place, but filament is able to go out from the nozzle.

Also, after some researches, it occurs the bluetape might help for the adhesion and in the different posts with the FoldARap I saw here, I realised some of you are using it on top of the Kapton, so I'm considering getting some.

How to calibrate the build-plate efficiently?
Can it come from the combo cold-end/bowden-tube/hot-end?
Is there an adhesion problem or does it come from the Kapton tape and I should add some blue tape of top of it?
How can I improve the whole thing?

Many thanks for your help!

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2016 07:27AM by 3DIY.

Sounds like you need to calibrate your Esteps
Check this out.

The extruder difference may account for your under extusion.
As long as it moves filament and doesn't catch or jam up, your extruder setup should work perfectly fine

PLA should print on Kapton that is warm, Eg, 60c or so. I don't think the FoldaRap has a heated bed does it? If not, you will probably want blue painters tape.

Also make sure your first layer height is correct.
Most people adjust the endstop so that when you home Z, you can barely slide a piece of paper between the nozzle and the bed

While you're at it, you might calibrate you XY and Z to make sure they move the amount requested.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2016 12:27PM by FA-MAS.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply

I will dive into this link to calibrate the stepper motor then. It's seem more complete than the other things I found online.

I provided a heated bed for my printer as a matter of fact. I heat it up to 60C. That's why I was thinking blue tape.
About the Z calibration, it seems most of the time off and inaccurate. I used to print with an Ultimaker 2 and it was the way I calibrated it as well. I think I will unmount the build-plate and make sure it's easy to adjust it and it's all flat.
Problem is as the home Z is sometimes not really accurate I'm not sure it is exactly at the height it's supposed to be.


For the other axis motors, I used this calibrator. What do you rekon?

Thanks again!

You should be ok with 60c and Kapton on your Print Bed. PLA should stick to that pretty well, you're printing PLA?

If it's not sticking, it's probably because your Z0 height isn't right.
When you're calibrating it with the paper, make sure the bed and the nozzle are hot. They expand when hot.

Also your Z axis should be consistent.
If you've got a switch that has a lever on it for Z, remove the lever, they flex and can introduce inconsistent results.
Also make sure the switch is firmly mounted, of course if it moves when it's pressed, it will give inconsistent results.

Edit: Oh, looks like you are using machined couplings.
Make sure they're tight on the motor and the threaded rod and aren't slipping when you move the axis.

The Prusa Calculator will get you close to calibrated. But for it to be accurate, you will want to actually do the Trifidhunter Calibration where you actually measure what you're getting from the printer.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2016 12:16PM by FA-MAS.

Yes I do use PLA. As my home Z is not clearly set, I will do it and give it a try that way, then my first layer height should be more accurate.

Those couplings aren't the best, so I tighed them as much as I could for that reason
I will redo the math following the link you send me. I ordered the board, so hopefully, I'll be able to do the different tries soon enough.

Do you have any clue if I can detect any problem on my heatsink or the.rmistor? I'm scared it could be the thing which made the shortcut on my previous board

Quote
FA-MAS
If you've got a switch that has a lever on it for Z, remove the lever, they flex and can introduce inconsistent results.
Also make sure the switch is firmly mounted, of course if it moves when it's pressed, it will give inconsistent results.

I'm not sure to see what you refering to. Basically, I have a endstop at the base of my printer and yes there is a lever. On the beam holding the nozzle, there is a screw how push the lever of the endstop. So if I understood you clearly, I should remove the lever so the screw it the switch directly?

Thanks,

If your Z switch has this thing, pull it off. As long as you can adjust it so the screw will press on the switch directly.




As far as the thermistors go, usually they're not responsible for frying the control board.

You'd just have to visually inspect the connections and make sure they're good connections, going to the right places on the control board.

Also if you've got your firmware set with the correct thermistor table, the bed and the hotend should read close to the ambient room temperature. If they're way off, it's probably the wrong thermistor selected in firmware.

Make sure you're connecting the endstops to the S (Signal) and - (Ground) pins on the board.
Connecting them incorrectly could have backfed 5v and fried the board.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2016 06:13PM by FA-MAS.

Actually, my minitronics is destroyed. I burned the fuse, and try to replace it. But the thermistor pin had a problem the software displayed a wrong temperature. Whatever I did, I had a 178C temperature. I seek for informations there and there and I find out that the pin of the thermistor was damaged. I try to replace the pin but I made the thing worst as I don't the materiel to do it properly. I haven't try to plug it in again as I'm pretty sure nothing will work.

That's why I as wondering how I could make those tests. I don't want to burn anything and I just want to be able to print.

Thanks for the explanation for the Z Axis. It won't damage the endstop it I remove it?

Thanks

You'll be ok removing the leaver from the switch.

I'd say don't hook up either the heated bed heater or the hotend heater.
Do your thermistors first. They're simple resistors that change resistance with heat
You can't connect them wrong, as long as you're connecting them to the right place on the board.
Just make sure the connections between the legs of the thermistors are solid, and those between the wires and the connectors that plug onto the board are good.

Both the bed and hotend temperature should read temperatures close to each other, as well as the ambient temperature in the room

If they're reading something, but they're off, it's probably the wrong thermistor defined in firmware

Quote
FA-MAS
You'll be ok removing the leaver from the switch.

Ok great, will do then!

Quote
FA-MAS
I'd say don't hook up either the heated bed heater or the hotend heater.
Do your thermistors first. They're simple resistors that change resistance with heat

Not sure to get the process right there. It might be a silly question, but do I need to do a test switching the machine on between the time I plug the themistor and the heated bed and/or the hotend?

Quote
FA-MAS
Both the bed and hotend temperature should read temperatures close to each other, as well as the ambient temperature in the room

If they're reading something, but they're off, it's probably the wrong thermistor defined in firmware

I think I've got them right. It worked perfectly before damaging something.
The whole idea here is, when I will receive the new board, I don't want to reburn it after the first use if you see what I mean ^^

Thanks for your time anyway, that's really kind of you to take the time to give me the explanation

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2016 03:02PM by 3DIY.

Okay so now, I'm a bit stucked again.

I changed the minitronics, I fixed the motioned. I try to calibrate thing as much as I could, but I keep having issue during the extrusion.
Everything is working smoothly, but when I want to extrude. About 10cm are OK, but after that, the extruder seems to have difficulties to do its job. When not printing, the gear is spinning, the filament is extruding, but the gear is ticking anyway, reducing the volume of filament extruded. When printing, nothing is going out the nozzle at all, and the cold end is ticking as well. The filament is not moving, and get grinded at some point.
I try to clean the nozzle, but it doesn't seem efficient. To be honest, I don't know if I unclogged it properly or if it's get unclogged directly.
So it might be from the nozzle, but could it be from a bad calibration of the extruder motor or from something else?

Thanks for your help

Hi all,

I find out where my issue was. The fan on the hotend wasn't working at all and the filament couldn't be heated properly.

I changed it and I'm able to print! Finally!
The issue I've got now is with Slic3r and Ponterface. Everytime I made an update into the printer settings in Slic3r, Pronterface seems not to work anymore: it's homing X,Y, Z but that is all.

What I do then, is reloading the original config for the wiki then I rexport the gcode of the object I want to print. But it's not practical at all. The first layers are always messed up with the original configuration, it's not sticking enough to the buildplate and I just want to adjust some settings with Slic3r, but it's not that they're not considerd by the printer, it's just the printer won't do its job.

I haven't try other slicer yet, but what should I do? Where does this issue can come from?

Thanks