PC USB killed by my reprap

Hello everyone

I'm building a Longboat Prusa from the reprap kit store. I got it to move and extrude all right with Pronterface but at that point I didn't have the heated bed finished.
While checking some voltage on the board connected to external power supply and PC, I accidentally touched something I shouldn't have with one of the tip of the multimeter (I think I touched simultaneously the +12v and the ground of the GPIO pins). My computer was instantly turned off. I disconnected everything right away. My computer started again, it survived the chock but I was a bit scared.

It turns out that after that chock, no motor will run. The board could have been damaged. Using pronterface, I can't move any axis. The thing is I still can connect, set temperature, heat the hot end and check it, this still works.
Do you think the board is useless? Is there a fuse or something like that?
I also noticed that before, the led would turn on when plugging the usb. Now it only turns on when power is on. And my computer can connect to the printer only when power is on.

Mark on another thread indicated that it could be the USB that is damaged on my laptop. I tried to plug the reprap to my mac and the light turns on so there might be some damage done to my USB +5v power ability.
I'm not very confident trying to control the reprap with my macbook so I'm trying to repair the PC. I tried to google "5V USB broken" and stuff like that but I'm not going anywhere.

Does anyone know if there is a fuse to change in the PC or some part to replace? Or maybe some term I could google to find some info on the internet?
Well, any help would be great.

Thanks guys.

Pierre

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2012 06:10PM by Pierre le vrai.

What type of electronics does it have? RAMPS, Sanguinololu, Gen6, etc?

RAMPS has a fuse.

If you can connect, it is not your USB port or the USB chip on the electronics.

It may be the 5 volt regulator on the board/Arduino.

It could be the Atmega chip has burnt out pins now.

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Hi Sublime.

The board shipped with my reprap is a Sanguinololu. I can connect with the PC only when external power is on. Before the problem, I could connect without the external power.
So at least it means that my USB is not fully ruined.

Do you think the Sanguinololu has a fuse?

Pierre

Quick update: I connected to the reprap with my macbook -> turns the led on, then plug the external power and connect with pronterface -> no motor move, but heating the hot end works.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2012 06:53PM by Pierre le vrai.

> So at least it means that my USB is not fully
> ruined.
>
> Do you think the Sanguinololu has a fuse?

No fuse.

>
> Pierre
>
> Quick update: I connected to the reprap with my
> macbook -> turns the led on, then plug the
> external power and connect with pronterface -> no
> motor move, but heating the hot end works.

Sounds like the 5v on your PC usb port is ruined. And also your Sanguinololu possibly.

To test you will need some electrical knowledge and a multimeter. You would then load the sketch included with the Arduino IDE called "Blink". And try changing the pin in the blink sketch to the pins that are not working and test with the multimeter to see if it turns on and off. Then move on to the next one, trying all of them to see if they work.

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

Not trying to hijack the topic, but in the interest of protecting my own computer.

- Would a powered usb hub protect my computer from a similar disaster?

evilb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> - Would a powered usb hub protect my computer from
> a similar disaster?

... yes, mostly ... the only things that manage to break through the hub were electrostatic sparcs and negative voltages (depends on hub type/hardware and manufacturer)

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Viktor
--------
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Hi Sublime,

I think I found the blink sketch. Do you means that I have to upload this to my board, and then change the initial no.13 pin to successively all pins of the sanguino?
Should/can I check the FTDI?
Should I do that with the external power on or just with the usb of my macbook?
Just to be sure: I need to check the voltage between the ground and the pin tested, right?

Thanks again

Pierre

Pierre le vrai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Sublime,
>
> I think I found the blink sketch. Do you means
> that I have to upload this to my board, and then
> change the initial no.13 pin to successively all
> pins of the sanguino?

Exactly, it is a little time consuming but it will tell you if the pin(s) works.

> Should/can I check the FTDI?

If you can see ok or some other message when you connect it, then odds are it is fine. If you do not get a message when connected I would follow the instructions on the Sanguinololu wiki page on how to test the FTDI chip after soldering.

> Should I do that with the external power on or
> just with the usb of my macbook?

No external power should be needed.

> Just to be sure: I need to check the voltage
> between the ground and the pin tested, right?

Yes be sure to have your multimeter set to a low voltage. (note: not all multimeters do well with short pulses of electricity, don't be surprised if it only reads a small voltage, not the entire 5v)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2012 04:47PM by Sublime.

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Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

This test code should work for your board.

Test code

Hi Royco,

I downloaded your sketch. How did you chose the pin numbers? By looking at the Sanguinolo schematics on the wiki, I changed the pin numbers to match it.
So far I can measure that:
The microcontroller is well powered.
Motors dir pins don't change of state.
I measure that the no.20 pin (last on the bottom left) is the one connected to "motor enable" of x, y and e. Is that normal? When I look in pins.h, starting line 665, I see the ENABLE for X Y and E set to 14 (Pin 15 on the schematics). I don't see any configuration in pins.h that corresponds to having my X,Y,E ENABLE pins grouped on pin 20 (19 in the code). Can someone explain this to me, as I think it might give me the missing clue to the problem? I think that if this pin is mixed up then the other pins may very wel be mixed up, which might explain why the test code does not work...

Thanks,

Pierre

If you shorted 12v to 5v, you likely fried your stepper drivers. I know, I did that accidentally to mine .
Also managed to fry the Arduino Mega.

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Pierre,

The Pin assignments are available on the Sanguinololu wiki page and on the Sprinter/Marlin Firmware on the pin.h tab.

Yes, the XY and E enable is arduino digital pin 14.

If the test code wont turn your stepper then the drivers may be toast.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2012 02:09AM by royco.

Hi guys,

I gave one of my stepper driver to test on another reprap and turns out they're toasted. So I'll buy 4 new ones and test is the rest of the card is ok.
I'll keep you informed.
Thanks for helping me investigate this problem.

Pierre

Most likely, you shorted the +12V to the +5V. Any part connected to the +5V supply could be fried.

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share with you my first successful prints. Thanks for the help on this toasted electronics problem.

Here's a quick montage of my reprap (printing a Hangdrum model if you're curious).

Have a good day.

Pierre