Folger Tech Prusa i3 - Problems with Y and Z end stops

Good afternoon,

Similar to what a number of other people here have seen, I am having issues with a couple of my end stops. I am on my third RAMPS board, so at this point I suspect their hardware rather than anything else, but I'd like to run it by everyone first.

My printer currently has the following:
X stop on the right side.
Y stop in the back.
Z stop at the bottom.

Therefore it is my understanding that the following is correct:
// 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

I also have all of the pullups enabled for Min/Max and all three axes. Quick aside, can anyone tell me why you would not want to always have all of the pullups enabled? By not having them enabled you would throw even your unconnected stop positions into an unknown state:

#ifndef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
// fine Enstop settings: Individual Pullups. will be ignord if ENDSTOPPULLUPS is defined
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
//#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

#ifdef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

Home positioning currently works for the X axis, but not Y or Z. They just overshoot and try to keep going. Using m119 I attempted to debug the issue. However, now with pullups enabled I can never get either of the Y or Z stops to register as triggered. I removed the wires and used a jumper instead with the same results. That rules out any installation or stop hardware issues and points the finger at the RAMPS hardware or some setting that I don't yet know about.

Any pointers or ideas for the next step would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Glenn

Quote
Groundswell
Good afternoon,

Similar to what a number of other people here have seen, I am having issues with a couple of my end stops. I am on my third RAMPS board, so at this point I suspect their hardware rather than anything else, but I'd like to run it by everyone first.

My printer currently has the following:
X stop on the right side.
Y stop in the back.
Z stop at the bottom.

Therefore it is my understanding that the following is correct:
// 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

I also have all of the pullups enabled for Min/Max and all three axes. Quick aside, can anyone tell me why you would not want to always have all of the pullups enabled? By not having them enabled you would throw even your unconnected stop positions into an unknown state:

#ifndef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
// fine Enstop settings: Individual Pullups. will be ignord if ENDSTOPPULLUPS is defined
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
//#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

#ifdef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

Home positioning currently works for the X axis, but not Y or Z. They just overshoot and try to keep going. Using m119 I attempted to debug the issue. However, now with pullups enabled I can never get either of the Y or Z stops to register as triggered. I removed the wires and used a jumper instead with the same results. That rules out any installation or stop hardware issues and points the finger at the RAMPS hardware or some setting that I don't yet know about.

Any pointers or ideas for the next step would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Glenn

I had the same problem when I was building my printer. Make sure to correctly specify the parameters under printer settings > printer shape if you are using rep host. If the parameters in printer shape are not in accordance with how you setup your printer, the host will either restrict movement, or try to move the axis beyond their physical limits Picture of my printer shape attached below. My endstop positions and marlin config:
X endstop on the right
Y endstop in the front
Z endstop on the bottom

#define X_HOME_DIR 1
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1
#define Z_HOME_DIR -1

#define X_MAX_POS 200
#define X_MIN_POS 0
#define Y_MAX_POS 200
#define Y_MIN_POS 0
#define Z_MAX_POS 175
#define Z_MIN_POS 0

#define MANUAL_X_HOME_POS 100
#define MANUAL_Y_HOME_POS -100
#define MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS -100

Quick question, how do you post a image from your computer to the forum? I tried to post a image of my printer shape settings, but had to attach the picture instead since I could not find the picture post function.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2015 07:44AM by Mach.

I did get everything working last night, but I had to swap RAMPS boards again. At this point I have three, and all have some sort of issue. Apparently my third board had problems reading the end stops. When I put the second board in (bad reset button), it recognized the stops fine. I proceeded from there and got it printing. The only missing part was moving the X home position to MAX instead of MIN. The first print had a problem with sticking to the glass, so I painted the glass with a solution of acetone with a little bit of ABS melted in it. Problem solved.

I printed the minicup since it was easy. The only issue I have is that there is a vertical line in the cup where it appears the extruder jogged to the inside of the cup slightly leaving an indentation in the outside of the cup and a ridge on the inside. I moved the extruder around manually this morning to see if it was skipping near there and didn't see anything unusual. Next step is to move the print to a different spot on the printer using Rep Host to see if the problem shows up in the same place. That should help clear up whether the problem is in the hardware or something in the software or design is choking.

Thanks for you input.
Glenn