RAMPS 1.4 Wiring

Hi there,

I've just bought a kit from ebay with all the parts to build one of the repraps - including RAMPS 1.4 board. I am a complete newbie to elctronics though so it is proving a bit of a journey - especially as the parts are customised and don't match the guides on here.

I've managed to get it mostly built but have a few issues outstanding which I'm not sure of the cause...

Using Pronterface to connect to the printer I can:

Move X motor
Move Y motor
move extruder motor
Heat bed
Heat print head

However the following don't seem to be working:

Z axis motors - I tried connecting them to the extruder port (Because I knew that was working)- they buzz but don't do anything else. On the left set of Z pins there is no response at all.

Neither of the thermistors are getting a reading for Pronterface - not sure if I have to configure these? - from what I have read it doesn't matter which way round they are wired. - have soldered the sires direct to the ends of the thermistors.

The mechanical end stops are not working - if I click home on X or Y it travels in the right direction, hits the end stop and then just clicks until I reset the board. Have tried reversing the polarity on these but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Does anybody have any ideas what I need to do to resolve the above?

Thanks

zaxis problem:

make sure you dont disconnect and reconnect any motors with power from the PSU on. I would go as far to say dont even have a pololu stepper in there if you have no motor connected to that slot. Try taking out hte pololu stepper from the z-axis and swap it with the Y-axis pololu and see if it moves the stepper. this will check for faulty/blown steppers.

Thermistor:
You need to have the correct thermistors and board selected in the firmware. Open up Arduino IDE, open Marlin.pde, go to the Configuration.h tab

#ifndef MOTHERBOARD
#define MOTHERBOARD 33
#endif

make sure that section looks like that as 33 is RAMPS board

Also:

#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 7
#define TEMP_SENSOR_1 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_2 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 1

needs to match your thermistor settings. I have 7 because I'm using Honeywell thermistor, which hot end are you using and where did you buy yours from?

Also with Pronterface open and connected to the board, in the bottom right you can type commands (called GCode) in to interact with the board. Type M119 and hit send, what does that show as the output? (this will give more information on your endstops)

Hey,

OK ...

So Z axis:

I unscrewed the bars with the cartridge on & rewired the motors after reading up about how to correctly identify coil pairs ... every day is a school day!

They both run now, well they did until I screwed the cartridge back on - now they sound like they are stuck & can't turn... I'll get on the WD40 and make sure the frame is square before trying anything else I think.

Thermistors:

Only this line existed: #define MOTHERBOARD 7

So I have replaced with your code from above.

Thermistor settings are currently:

#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 -1
#define TEMP_SENSOR_1 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_2 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 0

- I'm guessing that I'm not getting a reading due to the "Not used" settings... Not sure which to pick though.
The thermistor came with this hot end: Ebay Hot End

The other is integrated into my bed, which is the MK3.

End Switches G code result:
x_min:L y_min:L z_min:L

Becoming clear how much I don't know about this!

Thanks for your help!

DONT USE WD40 they worked when nothing was tigthened then check there isnt anything binding first what do you mean by cartridge? picture says a thousand words and probably buzzed if you havn't set your current correctly on your driver

OK, so far, almost good. Motherboard 7 is the wrong set up, this is for ultimaker. 33 is what you want for RAMPS.

hot end... im not sure which thermistor you should use, either get in contact with the supplier and ask which hot end to use or someone here might be able to guide you in the right direction for that.

if the z-axis are vibrating/shaking/not-moving, try to turn the trimpot on the pololu controlling the z-axis, slightly counter-clockwise. mine is set about 25% rotation to fully power my z-axis

as for the heated bed a "0" setting means you are not using it. normally for MK2 heat beds it should be "#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 1".

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2013 02:14AM by isonoob.

i see alot of people turning the trimpot at this and that percentage but to my understanding you should really be taking meter readings measuring your vref knowing what your turning it too, i would of thought that would give you the opportunity know exactly what your pumping to your motors, i wouldnt dream of just turning it slightly without my multimeter to hand

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2013 07:00AM by chris33.

Ok,

So have now checked that the frame etc is square with measure & plumb. Have ordered some metal couplers as I don't think my solution of adding a rubber band to the z axis motors to add grip is helping the threads sit straight.

WD40 was for the threaded rods only - I wanted to reduce resistance when going through the nuts on the end sections of the X axis.

By "carriage" I meant the entire X axis and the extruder.

I took a guess on the thermistor and they are both now giving a reading - will message the supplier to make sure it is the correct one though.

Regarding using a meter to read the X axis - happy to do so, but what am I checking? resistance or voltage ? ... or both / where should I be checking the terminals? at the motor side or the board side & am I ok to just check one pair at a time? (There are 4 pins, split to go to the two motors)

Have attached a powerpoint with images & annotation, can't see the pot on the board though!

One found & measured - what should I be aiming for?

Thanks both,

on your drivers you have a pot(red) you measure from there to gnd (blk) [reprap.org]

Thanks

Z axis now working nicely.

Found out that the thermistor for the hot end is EPCOS 100K - and I managed to snap it whilst adjusting earlier ... so have ordered a few replacements.

So just the problem of why the end stops aren't responding ..

Have checked the wiring:

S to NC
- to C

With the following configuration:

// Endstop Settings
#define ENDSTOPPULLUPS // Comment this out (using // at the start of the line) to disable the endstop pullup resistors

// The pullups are needed if you directly connect a mechanical endswitch between the signal and ground pins.
const bool X_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
const bool Y_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
const bool Z_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.

// For Inverting Stepper Enable Pins (Active Low) use 0, Non Inverting (Active High) use 1
#define X_ENABLE_ON 0
#define Y_ENABLE_ON 0
#define Z_ENABLE_ON 0
#define E_ENABLE_ON 0 // For all extruders

// Disables axis when it's not being used.
#define DISABLE_X false
#define DISABLE_Y false
#define DISABLE_Z false
#define DISABLE_E false // For all extruders

#define INVERT_X_DIR false // for Mendel set to false, for Orca set to true
#define INVERT_Y_DIR true // for Mendel set to true, for Orca set to false
#define INVERT_Z_DIR false // for Mendel set to false, for Orca set to true
#define INVERT_E0_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false
#define INVERT_E1_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false
#define INVERT_E2_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false

// 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 zero.
#define max_software_endstops true //If true, axis won't move to coordinates greater than the defined lengths below.
#define X_MAX_LENGTH 205
#define Y_MAX_LENGTH 205
#define Z_MAX_LENGTH 200

//// MOVEMENT SETTINGS
#define NUM_AXIS 4 // The axis order in all axis related arrays is X, Y, Z, E
#define HOMING_FEEDRATE {50*60, 50*60, 4*60, 0} // set the homing speeds (mm/min)

// default settings

#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {78.7402,78.7402,200*8/3,760*1.1} // default steps per unit for ultimaker
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {500, 500, 5, 45} // (mm/sec)
#define DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION {9000,9000,100,10000} // X, Y, Z, E maximum start speed for accelerated moves. E default values are good for skeinforge 40+, for older versions raise them a lot.

#define DEFAULT_ACCELERATION 3000 // X, Y, Z and E max acceleration in mm/s^2 for printing moves
#define DEFAULT_RETRACT_ACCELERATION 3000 // X, Y, Z and E max acceleration in mm/s^2 for r retracts

//
#define DEFAULT_XYJERK 20.0 // (mm/sec)
#define DEFAULT_ZJERK 0.4 // (mm/sec)

I was under the impression EPOCS 100K thermistor shouldnt be used for hot end, I think I read somewhere it gives poor readings at higher temps, could be wrong though if someone could chime in on that.

Make sure all endstops are hooked up, load up pronterface, connect to RAMPS, move the axis around so that none of the endstops are hit and then send the command M119 (type into the text box in the lower right and hit send) and copy and paste here waht the response is

x_min:L y_min:L z_min:L

Same result as with them all hit :/

Got the thermistor info from here: wiki

Thanks

End Stops are SOURCING inputs.

Meaning the mechanical switch should be wired to S (Signal) and G (Ground)

Hi ShadowRam,


I got the wiring info from here: WIKI

And as I previously said the current configuration is:

S to NC
- to C

Unless I'm missing something " - " is ground on a ramps board isn't it?

I note though that that wiki also mentions something about using "NO" instead of "NC" for the latest firmwares ... maybe that is my problem?

Thanks

I have the same problem if both motors are hooked up on the z axis they just buzz. When I only hook one of the motors up it works good on either side. What should the readings be coming out of the steeper controller to the motors. Im thinking that there isn't enough power to run both at once.

ok now if your using ramps my advice if you only have 1 extrude run the second z motor of E1 to find out what you are supplying to the motors use your multimeter and red on the vpot and black on gnd you need to find out your vref and what rating your motors run at check this link out for more help stepper driver calibration

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