First print :epic fail

Hi,

thanks to all that have helped get me this far. Actually tried my first print tonight, 20mm cube, all appeared to be going well, seemed to lay perimeter and 1st layer well, however subsequent layers were again laid on the bed but offset in the y axis. Rather than end up with a nice 20mm cube ending up with a rectangular smear along the bed, 20mm wide and about 50mm long(before i aborted it).

Any suggestions what might be causing this.

Cheers

Hillybilly52

It sounds like ur y axis is skipping steps u could try lubing the y axis rails more and making sure the y moves freely if all thats good u should up ur pot trim voltage slightly and see it that helps

Try searching the forum for "skipping steps".

main causes are:

• mechanical binding on the axis that is skipping (usually x or y), check smooth operation of bearings, belts tight enough, etc
• too much current to stepper motors (the drivers overheat, and cut out)
• too little current to steppers (insufficient torque from the motors)
• speed or acceleration settings too high in firmware

Tweaked the voltage, and this has sorted the skipped steps. Actually got some depth to the build (to about 3mm), then Printer just stopped, I noticed a couple of the heat sinks had fallen off, is there thermal overload protection on the ramps 1.4 Or have I screwed it?, any suggestions regarding the best way of securing heat sinks.

Cheers

Hillybilly52

RAMPS has 2 polyfuses which will "trip" if they overheat (but that is usually when the heatbed is drawing too much current), and the stepper drivers have thermal overload protection.

Adjusting the stepper current is a balancing act between too little current (insufficient torque), and too much (overheating). Some people find the A4988's (particularly the cheap Chinese ones) need a small fan to keep sufficiently cool.