Prusa i3 Complete Kit

Quote
pierce
Yup, that was my feedback to Greg as well. And since then he now has that facebook album of pictures which pointed out the things I had got wrong but somehow still all works!

Its great asking for a build guide but I know I never document anything at work unless audit are on me for it. Plus it is an open source model/design so I did find a few good links(I think I posted them earlier in this thread), But your detailed guide should be a good stopping point for anyone as well.

Yes I found the FB pics very useful to sanity-check what I was doing. I found loads of guides for the i3 online but all slightly different which threw me a bit being a beginner to 3D printing. I've learned a lot building it purely by necessity which is part of the fun. I've already started improving the bits I wasn't too keen on like the x and y endstop mountings. That's why I went for this kit and an open source design - I like to tinker and improve/change things and you can't do that with a closed-source model. I would get bored with it very quickly.

Hi, thanks for pointing out that the extruder on Facebook is actually mirrored compared to the one in the kit (we had issues with mirrored parts ages ago - endstops at different sides - but I didn't realise that the one in the picture was mirrored!) It's not that important, but generally it's better for wiring purposes to have the motor on the electronics side. Regarding the extruder idler, there is a nut trap on the inside to secure the bolt. Sorry about the documentation fails, but as people have pointed out - due to the open source nature of the project, I'm kind of relying on others' documentation :-) Who knows, if the pressure eases off a little, I might get round to a proper build guide one day*. I guess I should probably at least update the pictures though! Although, I've just made a comment, so that can suffice for now - I like the idea of having the pictures on facebook, so people can comment on them if they get stuck. I know it's reactive rather than proactive, but it's much easier than spending days writing a thorough manual :-)

*Ooznest are charging £120 more for their i3 kit. I don't know how many sales they are getting, but perhaps people are willing to pay the extra for the build guide? I note that they have a few better features too (z isolation, fan to cool print, auto-bed levelling), but I'm hoping to add these to our kit in the next couple of weeks (whilst hopefully keeping the price the same at £375); adding them yourself is also fairly straight forward and cheap. Competition is really heating up now, with all the $300 kits from China, and the Euro/Pound exchange rate has also meant losing pretty much all my European customers (things are 10% cheaper on the continent relative to the UK than they were last year), so I'm feeling the pinch.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2015 09:30AM by gcolbourn.

Quote
gcolbourn
Hi, thanks for pointing out that the extruder on Facebook is actually mirrored compared to the one in the kit (we had issues with mirrored parts ages ago - endstops at different sides - but I didn't realise that the one in the picture was mirrored!) It's not that important, but generally it's better for wiring purposes to have the motor on the electronics side. Regarding the extruder idler, there is a nut trap on the inside to secure the bolt. Sorry about the documentation fails, but as people have pointed out - due to the open source nature of the project, I'm kind of relying on others' documentation :-) Who knows, if the pressure eases off a little, I might get round to a proper build guide one day*. I guess I should probably at least update the pictures though! Although, I've just made a comment, so that can suffice for now - I like the idea of having the pictures on facebook, so people can comment on them if they get stuck. I know it's reactive rather than proactive, but it's much easier than spending days writing a thorough manual :-)

*Ooznest are charging £120 more for their i3 kit. I don't know how many sales they are getting, but perhaps people are willing to pay the extra for the build guide? I note that they have a few better features too (z isolation, fan to cool print, auto-bed levelling), but I'm hoping to add these to our kit in the next couple of weeks (whilst hopefully keeping the price the same at £375); adding them yourself is also fairly straight forward and cheap. Competition is really heating up now, with all the $300 kits from China, and the Euro/Pound exchange rate has also meant losing pretty much all my European customers (things are 10% cheaper on the continent relative to the UK than they were last year), so I'm feeling the pinch.

I don't mind paying a bit less for a kit that I can improve/adapt myself. If everything is done for you by the kit provider you never learn anything.

Hey Greg

I received my kit from you on Friday, thanks.

I'm having a bit of an issue with it though and I wondered if you had any suggestions.

I've got everything built, wired up and am now at the testing stage. I can get my X & Y axis to move, but the Z axis doesn't do anything. I plugged my X axis motor into one of the Z axis ports and when I try to move it the X motor doesn't move, however if I plug one of the Z motors into the X axis port they move.

I've tried changing the potentiometer on the servo board for the Z axis, but there is no change.

I haven't even tried the extruder motor yet, as I don't want to heat it up until I get all the axis working properly.

Also... I received 5 servo driver boards... I thought I only needed 4?

Thanks.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2015 11:07AM by catlas.

Quote
catlas
Hey Greg

I received my kit from you on Friday, thanks.

I'm having a bit of an issue with it though and I wondered if you had any suggestions.

I've got everything built, wired up and am now at the testing stage. I can get my X & Y axis to move, but the Z axis doesn't do anything. I plugged my X axis motor into one of the Z axis ports and when I try to move it the X motor doesn't move, however if I plug one of the Z motors into the X axis port they move.

I've tried changing the potentiometer on the servo board for the Z axis, but there is no change.

I haven't even tried the extruder motor yet, as I don't want to heat it up until I get all the axis working properly.

Also... I received 5 servo driver boards... I thought I only needed 4?

Thanks.

Have you tried both z motors plugged into the x-axis driver? One could be faulty - check the wiring on both to make sure they are correct. You could also try physically swapping the x and z driver boards and see if the fault stays with the driver. If so you could have a faulty driver. I got 5 drivers in my kit too, try putting the spare one in the z axis and see if it works.
I thought I had destroyed one of mine when I started testing but they have a thermal shutdown if they get too hot. If you leave them for a few minutes they recover when they cool down. Another thing I noticed when setting mine up is that you can only move the axes towards zero until you have homed them. I think this is a feature of the firmware to prevent you from pushing them further than they will go.

What Dave said :-) The extra stepper is for a 2nd extruder, it also handily acts as a spare!

Hey Dave & Greg,

I've checked both Z motors (one plugged into the X and one in the Y) and they both work. I've also swapped the Z driver board with the X but the Z motors still don't move (though the X does).... I even swapped it out with the spare one too. I have the fan directly over the Z heatsink and it isn't getting too warm like that, so I'm at a bit of a loss as to what the problem is.

Any other ideas I can try?

Hi, you can try reflashing the firmware with slower Z homing rate:

#define HOMING_FEEDRATE {50*60, 50*60, 2*60, 0} // set the homing speeds (mm/min)

I've changed 3->2 recently as someone else was saying it was skipping in the Z when homing. See first comment here for redoing firmware: [www.facebook.com]

Hi Greg,

I changed the homing feedrate to 2, but I still get no movement on the Z axis. I'm using pronteface to issue commands directly to the motors and no commands for Z do anything. It doesn't matter which physical motors are plugged into the Z interface, I get no movement at all.

I'm really stumped.

Just to check, you've tried adjusting the voltage on the stepper driver as much as possible (some of the screws seem to go all the way round, so it's hard to tell where the max is as it goes back round to min again). Other than that, I can only think that something is wrong with the RAMPS board.. I'm currently awaiting more stock, but should be able to send another one on next week.

Hey Greg,

Yep, I've been changing the voltage on the driver boards 1/8 turn at a time over more than one revolution so I'm pretty sure I've covered min-max on them. I think you may be right that its an issue with the actual RAMPS board, as if I swap over the X motor and the X driver board at the same time to the Z ports it doesn't work with a known good configuration either.

Ok, I can send on a replacement when I get more stock in (should be early next week). Email/PM me to let me know your name & address.

Just Posting a few pictures of my I3 i have built and been tinkering with, have been following this thread and seen some posts of the PSU were the resistors have been put inside (had the same thought to keep them cool) i have also used the shealth kit from maplin to keep all the cabling tidy (take a look at the pics) have continued to use this and find it helps to keep everything tidy (slightly ocd sorry)but may help others. one of my 1st prints after some calibration was 2 scaled down transformer logos for my son to play with as he is always asking to print something for him it was the first thing that came into his head when i asked him, (hes only 5) but still so intrigued by it all just as much as me lol.

having played around with some design software i remixed 2 other designs on thingiverse to produce a Xendstop holder ( to clip onto the smooth rods) works a treat! have included a picture of this also.

Regards

Wayne

Hi Wayne, nice pictures. The PSU looks good. We normally just cable tie the power resistors to the back on the outside, and they get a decent amount of airflow from the fan there (we also can't really advise people to open the power supply due to the high voltages!) I've got a 6-year-old who's always asking for prints too :-)

Hi Greg,

I've just finished putting together the mechanics and electrics on my printer kit. I plugged it all together, switched it on and I seem to have a problem! The beeper on the LCD sounds continuously and the knob on the LCD display doesn't seem to do very much.

I don't know where to start debugging: So far I have checked
The PSU fan works
I get 12.17 v on the connector
The blue LED on the LCD connector board is illuminated

The LCD says
21/0^o H21/0^o
X 0 Y 0 z 000.00
FR 100% SD---% o--:--
Card removed

If i rotate the selector knob one click the LCD flashes between the screen above and a menu that says
Info Screen
Prepare
Control
No SD card

rotating one more click goes back to the top display
pressing the knob in has no effect
I have a fan on D9 which doesn't spin
The fan on the hot end is spins all the time

I haven't connected it to the PC yet

Any help much appreciated

Aleks

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2015 02:02PM by aleksdeg.

Hi Alexs, which LCD do you have? The long rectangular one, or the more square shaped one? The selector knob also has a button when you press it in, which is used to select the menu option highlighted.

D9 is activated in Slic3r (Filament Settings; Cooling)

Hi Greg,
I've got the long rectangular one. Turning the selector knob doesn't go up and down the menu, instead when I turn it each click toggles between a static screen with temperatures and XYZ positions and the display alternating every 1/2 second between the menu and the temperature display. Pressing the selector knob in has no effect.

Anf then there is the continuous sound from the beeper.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2015 03:46PM by aleksdeg.

Ok, what configuration.h file did you use? The latest one on my Dropbox link has LCD settigns for the square one. You need to have

#define ULTIMAKERCONTROLLER //as available from the Ultimaker online store.

Set. And #define REPRAP_DISCOUNT_FULL_GRAPHIC_SMART_CONTROLLER commented out (preceded by //).

Oops, Sounds like I've missed out a step. I thought that the controller was already flashed with the software. You mentioned your dropbox link. Where's the best place to find the imaga and software for my PC to load it? I guess I should leave the LCD unplugged until I have the software loaded then it should work OK after that?

Yeah, it should've been pre-flashed, but maybe it got missed out, or some of the settings weren't quite right.

you can download a version of Marlin from here: [github.com] and replace configuration.h with our one here: [www.dropbox.com]...

Load Marlin.ino with the Arduino software (http://arduino.cc/en/main/software), plug the USB in, then select the correct serial port in Tools -> Serial Port, then press upload (the sideways arrow in the tool bar).

Sorry, the Dropbox link got truncated. Here it is in full: [www.dropbox.com]

I've installed the arduino uploader, downloaded Marlin, replaced the configuration.h with yours, uncommented
#define ULTIMAKERCONTROLLER //as available from the Ultimaker online store.

But when I run Marlin.ino I get the following error
Arduino: 1.6.1 (Windows 7), Board: "Arduino Mega or Mega 2560, ATmega2560 (Mega 2560)"

Marlin.ino:44:101: fatal error: U8glib.h: No such file or directory

compilation terminated.

Error compiling.

I've attached the verbose message if that helps.

Thanks

Looks like you need to install u8glib, you can get it here: [code.google.com]

Thanks for all the help. The screen seems to be working now and has submenus etc.

My kit from Greg has been up and running now for some weeks, so thought I would write a few lines here with my experience. The printer is working beautifully, even the very first test print was successful, so in my opinion this is a great kit. I had some bad luck with some faulty electronics, but the support from Greg was very good (including answering some basic questions that was already explained in the Facebok gallery, as I found out later). As expected, I had a few issues along the way, and here's some info that might help future builders.

First, like several other builders already said, the PSU is very easy to wire internally, so that nothing except the needed power cables sticks out. I highly recommend this approach, but only for those that are comfortable with opening up mains-supplied electronics of course.

Second, the included endstops have a small PCB and does not look like the ones in the FB gallery. It took me a while to find the best way to mount them, using the included holders. The Y-axis endstop I could not mount with any of the holders, finally I just attached it directly to the rod. I will try some other mounts, as the current attachment is not ideal. See attached images.

Third, I thought the included spool holder using a threaded rod was kind of simple and tried printing an alternative. While doing this, I actually found that the spool holder works perfectly. But I did not like the direct attachment to the frame, so I created my own mount. See image, and you can download it here:
[www.thingiverse.com]

It is just about possible to mount all the endstops with the (new-style) J-shaped holders:
[www.facebook.com] (y axis)
[www.facebook.com] (x and z axes)
I've now incorporated an x endstop mount into the x motor part (as a slit in the side). This will probably mean extending the extruder part or finding some other way of making the 0 position far enough to the right though. I've also been working on an auto-levelling system with z isolators (following Ooznest), where the z endstop is attached to one of the isolators.

The spool holder attachments look nice :-)

Greg, thanks for the updated pics for the endstop mounts. I tried to mount the y-axis endstop the way you showed, but still could not make it work, there are a few millimeters missing and the ziptie on the belt moves into the gear before the endstop activates. But it will probably work if I would re-do the belt attachment. Anyway, I found an alternative that works well, using this holder:
[www.thingiverse.com]

/Leif

Hi, My kit from Greg has produced a nice print from the off, which is great. Just one small thing: When I printed this 20mm calibration cube from thingiverse it came out 20x20x15 tall rather than 20x20x20. (I ran the STL file through slic3r to produce G-code and then used Pronterface as Pronterface wouldn't accept the file directly - it produces error messages).

Any suggestions about where I should be looking to fix this? Is it a setting in configuration.h ; should I tweak something in Slic3r?

Thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2015 04:05PM by aleksdeg.

Hi Aleks, first guess is z stepper overheating and skipping steps. Make sure you have the fan pointed at it.

The fan is directly above it. It also seems to behave consistently when I drive it directly through pronterface ((i.e. 10x 1 up = 10 down) which would probably make the driver more likely to overheat? I've checked that it goes up exactly 1cm when driven through pronterface and that seems OK.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2015 04:20PM by aleksdeg.