FolgerTech Prusa i3 - Too fast too print?!?!

Hi, helpful people! I assembled a FolgerTech Prusa i3 that seems to be in check with the assembly and configuration instructions, and after having double and triple-checked the Slic3r and Repetier settings to be sure they match the prescribed values, I sliced a simple file from Thingiverse and had Slic3r show me the print moves as it was printing. As you may have gathered from the post title, the on-screen rendering of the print took place in like 20 secs from start to finish, after which the log said printing was finished, and the printer was responding but it was like it was receiving commands so fast that it couldn't do any of them. It was like it was having a seizure. I've now tried several times with the same results, changing this or that in settings and changing it back to see what could be at the root of this problem. This is a bit strange and since I'm new to 3d printing as many are, I do not yet know how to overcome little roadblocks like this. Any help you can give would be fantastic!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2015 04:41AM by benjarick.

I don't even have an idea where to start!

OK, first thing: do you have an LCD Controller? Can you home the printer using it? Can you move the three axis?

I have an LCD screen and I can home X,Y and Z as well as manually control all motors and the hot-end and bed. Everything checked out with the configuration and all of my voltages on the motors are precisely tuned in to the X .350, Y .550, Z .350 and E .350. One thing I haven't tried yet is leaving the Arduino software open, but I didn't think it played a role in the actual printing. The extruder works just fine, and everything seems to be operating just as expected. The rendered print was taking place at high-speed, and the log was following it, with the extruder just buzzing in one place, the front, left side of the build area. In 20-25 secs the print was done, and there was only like 20 secs worth of extruded abs in a ball to show for it. At the end of the 20 secs, it automatically shut down all heat there was no mistaking that it was in fact done printing.

If you have arduino software open you will not be able to open a connection to the printer from your other software.

Check your port speed setting.

Check the step and acceleration/speed settings in marlin. It sounds like you settings may be expecting a little more than your print can cope with.

I do all my printing from gcode loaded on my SD Card, as this seems to be the easiest and I can continue to design/slice more objects on the pc while printing.

Try slicing something with Cura, configured for your Prusa i3 (Cura takes just two minutes to install and configure), and check what happens. Imho Slic3r while being great for expert users is a little bit daunting for beginners.

I'm going to sound really ignorant for a moment here, and ask what Marlin is. That I already don't know what it is might be a contributor to the problem I'm experiencing. Your recommendation for Cura is appreciated, Andrew, and I will try that out through this troubleshooting process. I'm so eager to get printing. I'm almost there.

Marlin is firmware for the printer but so it would appear is Repetier. I knew they made a host software, but forgot they also have firmware.
The majority appear to run marlin as the firmware, so I made the assumption it was part of the equation, sorry about that.

No, that's perfectly okay, and I've learned a lot by just looking into this. I do have Marlin, which is the file name of the set of G-code files that I uploaded to the printer. I downloaded these codes directly from FolgerTech and haven't adjusted anything on them. They seem to be set up perfectly for the printer in other aspects, so it would be odd to me if they were to have wacky speed settings. I don't even know where to look through all of that to fix anything. It's just a mess of codes to me. I will keep trying some new things, and I appreciate your help so far and any other advice you might think of. It's awesome that I can come to a forum and get help with this stuff!

Most the interesting marlin setting are in configuration.h, there are a number of sites that go through the settings in detail. I had to customise as I built a printer from parts, and had to figure all this out.

I don't know much about repetier, but I have read that it sends gcode to the printer in compressed binary format, not sure if it has any other options, but this appears to be one of the major reasons people use repetier firmware over marlin if sending prints direct from a computer. Maybe you should look into this?

The main reason I am spending time on the forum is that it is helping me learn more too!