3dstuffmaker.com - opinions?

A programmer is only needed if the bootstrap has become corrupt, otherwise the firmware can be reloaded using a USB connection.

If moving the motors can erase the firmware it probably means the brown out protection isn't configured properly. All that happens on my machines is the motors generate power which gets rectified by the body diodes in the stepper driver MOSFETs and fed onto the 12V rail. That is sometimes sufficient to power up the micro and generate a USB connection briefly if I move a motor quickly.

It shouldn't cause any damage but it does give an unsteady supply to the micro. Brown out protection should keep the micro reset when the supply is too low but if it isn't enabled then the micro can crash by running with a supply out of range. If it crashes it might get into the bootstrap code that writes to the flash, but that would be very unlucky. I can't think of any other way it could corrupt the flash.

---

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

reminds me of flashing my phone..

so my printer is bricked

If the brown-out detection was not configured properly by the supplier and resulted in damage then I think the supplier should repair/replace the circuit board at their expense. My machine behaves the same way nophead described. If other RepRap designs allow the motors to be moved without damage, and there are no warnings that this design is different, then I don't think it is reasonable to expect the user to know this.

If the firmware was corrupted before arriving at the customer, then again I think the supplier should repair/replace the circuit board at their expense if it cannot be fixed without the purchase of additional items.

Andy

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2012 06:15AM by ajayre.

hang on a sec,

... in just about every single stepper driver i have seen there are some diodes which protect the supply line and the logic circuit from feedback comming from the stepper motors during normal use and even while the are operated/moved manually even the pololus have this internally!!!, i'd put it in the highly unlikely area,


morbid curiosity though, how well are the parts printed? whats the quality like as far as things fitting together?

All MOSFETs have a parasitic body diode between the drain and source so a MOSFET H-bridge actually makes a bridge rectifier. When you turn the motor it supplies a DC voltage to the supply rail. You would have to turn it very fast to generate more than 12V. Faster than you can move it with the drivers since when the back EMF is equal to 12V there would be no drive at all. Since the drivers and voltage regulator are rated for 35V you would need to spin the motor with a drill or something to get enough voltage to damage anything.

---

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

iv taken out the screws that are holding the pcb,

inspected it, its a GEN6,

i dont know what that means as im a noob. but its from mendel-parts.com

Hi to All,

I am from 3dstuffmaker, We are successfully running the team by applying innovations to make 3dprinted Objects, The team supported, supporting & will support, whenever our customer rings us in skype or e-mail or live chat in web, The developers in our team directly interacts with the customer to troubleshoot the problem whenever the problem persists, We never find our customers unsatisfied unless they co-operate with us !

Proud to be one of the team member in 3dstuffmaker

Sweet,
I may need to ring you guys via skype when when i flash the gen6 board
But i should be ok, ill see how i go.

nechaus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry my name is Jason.
>
> Are you saying the firmware can be done via the
> regular USB connection ?
>
> Or the avr dongle is connected to the PCB, and
> then usb connect to the avr,


Hi Jason,

either way- it depends on your programming hardware kit- but in any case the logic connects through the USB port.
(But some older PCB designs require the PIC to be removed for programming)

Best regards
Rob

im just waiting on them to email me the hex file....


I have everything now (avr), just waiting for support

I bought a "Cannonball Allstar" model from 3D Stuffmaker around the start of 2012, and I must say I have been very happy with the support provided by Rob, Gowtham, and the others. As well as email, if you have Skype and a webcam they will take the time to talk you through problems with setup and the like. I now have a machine that gives me very good results, and I know a lot more about the world of DIY 3D printing, which was really the aim of the exercise. That is not to say there haven't been problems - but I believe the guys at 3DStuffmaker learn from these and refine their products and systems, so that others won't be faced with the same things I came up against.

Problems as Delivered
1. Firmware was corrupt and wouldn't work. I was given the (unlikely) X-ray corruption story too. Luckily I already had an AVR STK500 programmer, and it was a simple matter to re-flash the loader and firmware once they sent it to me.
2. Z-limit had moved in transit, resulting in a head-crash. Actually the Z-limit opto has to be pushed hard to the end of its mounting slots to accomodate the height of the hot-end, hopefully that has been fixed.
3. The central Y rod was too long, forcing the X-travel rods apart (bowing them) and causing the X stepper to skip due to load towards the end of travel. Once identified, it was a simple matter to grind the rod back a few mm, although I needed to replace a linear bearing damaged by the load.
4. The supplied PLA was very brittle and kept breaking off in the feeder tube and blocking the hot end. As I wanted to print in ABS anyway, not such a problem, but it did require temperature recalibration.

Changes I made to get good prints
1. Updated firmware to latest Marlin release.
2. Changed from the supplied Repsnapper to Printrun (Pronterface/Slic3r) host software.
3. Added belt-tensioners to remove backlash
4. Calibrated X,Y and extruder. (Z was ok)
5. Calibrated hot-end temperature. I bought a -50C to +380C IR thermometer with laser off eBay for <$20 delivered, and a multimeter with thermocouple probe. Temperatures were a long way out to start with.
6. Added a heated bed, as I wanted to print ABS. This plus "ABS juice" really helped get prints to stick.

The printer comes with standard Gen6 electronics, I added a few components to it to turn it into a "Gen6 Deluxe" compatible (uses Gen6 Deluxe firmware with a custom thermistor curve) so I could add the heated bed. Rob from 3DStuffmaker tells me they are testing solution that will give good results with ABS without requiring the heated bed though.

David

Hello David,


Im glad you posted information,
At first my printer was not working, but yes these guys are awesome with support in my opinion, friendly and helpful bunch..



I was angry when i first got my printer, but since then i have got it working decent most of the time,
BUT I CAN PRINT STUFF NOW!!!!!


a few issues with mine
- Extruder stops extruding pla, Not sure if this is because of it jamming because the pla is bent or the nozzle getting cloged.
I basically have to go over my machine alot, check the print plate, extruder bolt, clean the nozzle. and most of the time it works...

-some random firmware glitches,
-USB cable to long, induction/eddy currents seem to mess with longer less shielded usb cables, So I made myself a beast of a USB cable.
Works now with little bugs with the software...
Still get a random crazy extuder on restarting prints while printer is moving home, but if i restart when printer is not moving, it works well most of the time...

I still want to upgrade my board, get a heated bed, and the z rods need more supports and belts need slight tensioning...
Make this thing bulletproof and work awesomely for my Electric vehicle hobby.....
Atm im printing a 0-90 volt led lights housing for my ebike...

Layers are hardly from perfect but its still keeping the shape and doing it mostly well



Im just to worried to change anything because the calibration process seems like it would be a pain in the ass....
But i will do it eventually... i need to.. otherwise my prints are not consistent..
Best thing for me is to learn every thing about my machine so i can easily fix it/make it better with upgrades...
i just get lazy



Overall for myself being a noob, im 100% happy getting products form 3dstuffmaker.com..
3d printing is a rather steep learning curve if you have not done this stuff before.

These are actually my best prints...


but its going to just get better when i upgrade it i hope



The hardest thing for me is to get the print plate perfect and get the extruder to always extrude..
not stop/ or just skip the pla...


if i get both things right, i end up with the results in the photos...
Still working out all the settings, seeing what works best with what

My number one problem now is that my first 2 layers seem to print perfectly, very smooth,
Then the 3 + layers start to get messy, its like the distance on the z is getting more out of line, im not sure yet... becomes rough when i run my finger over it....

im going to fiddle with my print bed again, try and make it as close as i can with out hitting the board or clogging the nozzle.



its like my issues could be so many things at a time, or just one thing, so i pretty much check my entire printer every time before i print to eliminate small problems..


I think it could be my Z bars, the ones that move the nozzle up and down, it must be out..
im going to skype these guys again

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2012 11:45PM by nechaus.

I bought an unassembled Prusa from 3D a number of months ago. I have to say that I wouldn't again. I found their service staff in India to be very responsive, which is a plus, but the quality of the product that shipped was subpar and once the money was on the table, I have only heard from India, rather than the local distributor.

I agree with the other poster who mentioned that some of his parts were rusted; I experienced the same thing, as well as an instruction manual that was incorrect (I exchanged countless emails with support section by section). In addition, the rods were poorly machined and it was a bugger trying to get nuts on threads that hadn't been well finished. I've also had to ask for specific instruction manuals - there seems to be about three of the for different parts of the build and if you don't ask, you don't get!

I've had to re-wire some of the electronics, as certain parts have not been soldered securely and have a tendency to fall out (especially the wires leading to the opto sensors). When I peeled back the heatshrink on these parts, there was about 2mm of exposed wire and no tinning at all. Very slapshod work.

I now have a printer that is working intermmittently - issues with a non standard extruder that seems to want to either stall or chew the crap out of the filament, but not feed correctly.

All in all - not a great experience. It's good to have friendly support, but the product has to be good to begin with. Thinking of getting a Makerbot instead and being done with all the hassles

I have one of their premade printers,


Their design isnt bad, They do work, and they do work well..

I thought i had issues with the extruder, but its actually the nozzle, just ordered another x2 nozzles,
one .4mm and one .7mm id imagine the .7 mm would be the best for a noob like myself, you would think it would be easier to work with.
I could be wrong,

Just the other day they gave me new firmware, so i can now use prointerface, it seems like a way better program than redsnapper ( i did like rs tho)
I had red snapper working pretty well, since iv changed i have been figuring it all out,
They sent me a flash file, and i flashed it in a matter of seconds,



I think with the makerbot it will still have things that will piss you off....
I was keen to get one, but the more i think about my printer, the more i like it and think it, the more i like it


Its easy to clean, Its easy to get to any part, its pretty stable, looks good... i am happy with it, but keen to get mine upgraded to work even better

I did have a problem with my thermistor/resistor not working as good as it could, getting jumpy values,
The hole where its goes got dirty from an over load of pla... left it running when i went to bed, the hole nozzle jammed and then it created a barrier from the thermistor and the nozzle, Eventually the pla that was their turned black carbon crap, I cleaned it, and put some heat transfer compound rated for 300c, it now is alot more accurate and easier to extrude...


Im keen to speak to someone over the phone that has a printer to.

If you wanna give me a call i can tell you anything issues i have had and fixed..


For the same price of a makerbot, you could have like 2 or 3 printers going ....

But trust me, stick with your printer and it will work

iv had mine for about 2 months now maybe longer, and i have only started to get it to work the way i want it

Different PLA works very differently . some will extrude at 200,, some take more, or less... just gotta play with it...

This is the quality of my 3dstuffmaker printer, in my noob hands,

It is getting better every week... The red arm was one of my latest prints, It was for a Drone

All i can say is stick with it, understand it better, read, have breaks,

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2012 04:42AM by nechaus.

Hi Nechaus,
While I appreciate your reply, the problem is not with understanding the machine, its with the quality of the parts, which are disappointing. I'm glad that you've managed to get your printer to work by tinkering with it, however my expectation was for a product with a higher degree of 'finish' as intimated by the website of the vendor selling it. As an engineer, the principles of the machine are in no way baffling, however from a professional standpoint, I'd not be selling anything that has this kind of experimental level of quality about it.
All the best.

Hi Nehaus,

Which model do you have and - what exactly is not pleasing you -do you have a DIY kit or a build unit?

Since we have started making 3D printers some 5 or so larger makers have closed up- some due to quality issues others because customers did not want to pay a fair price. So it is tough to please everyone- especially when users are tight fisted- 'cause it costs 4 to give support, employ engineers and to make quality components.
I challenge anyone to show me a professionally made 3Dprinter at a lower price - or even the same price
that prints and works as well as our units


We have a quality / functionality feed back loop- in our factory. If you complain- your complaint will be fixed and the fix will be in the very next unit we ship! Being a reprap product that is still evolving- units we made one year ago- hardly resemble the units we make today. But every old unit can be upgraded to have the latest stuff added. That is the nature of reprap.

Skype or email our support team and get your grumbles fixed support@3dstuffmaker.com - we love to get feed back and we love the challenge to make the best 3D printers- with the lowest cost on the planet

Also- for anyone still using repsnapper- we have new software. You will need a PCB programmer kit to upload the new firmware...
We are getting 10-30 microns layer with this one (even on our very-very old units

Best regards
Rob
-o-o-

Hi Nehaus,

...here is the link to the unit you bought- in the final stages of Quality testing. What exactly is not as shown on our website ?
The unit looks fine on the video- and is shown working- and is same as shown on ourweb site. I am baffled here about your comments?

3D printers for the most part are still hand built/made units- and built to accomodate technology changes- so the construction reflects this. The clear appearance is super looking in my humble- as you can see the print process- rather than getting a microwave type borint box...

link to QC video:
[www.youtube.com]

support@3dstuffmaker.com - contact us if you need any assistance to get you printing...

We love feedback and contact with our printer users

best regards
ROb
-o-o-

Robrep2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Nehaus,
>
> ...here is the link to the unit you bought- in the
> final stages of Quality testing. What exactly is
> not as shown on our website ?
> The unit looks fine on the video- and is shown
> working- and is same as shown on ourweb site. I am
> baffled here about your comments?

Hi Rob,

The comments from Jason (Nechaus) I can see here on the forum seem to be very positive about 3DStuffMaker products and support. Are you perhaps referring to comments made in a PM, or by another user?

David

Something I printed on fast print settings with glow in the dark PLA
Its for my ebike, cheap AA led torch
My printer is working very well and i am very happy i will be buying a second printer from them!!

It was extruding on a bit to high temp, I just dried out my PLA again so i am getting use to the best temp settings.


After I remove all the moisture, it extrudes at a lower temp, If its full of moisture i find it sometimes hard to get a good print

Just skype me robgrosche or email rob@i-optic.com

best regards
Rob
3Dstuffmaker

What are mendels?

nechaus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> After I remove all the moisture, it extrudes at a
> lower temp, If its full of moisture i find it
> sometimes hard to get a good print

Nechaus, It was a good reading for me. I have bought my Prusa from 3DStuffmaker. I have assembled it and am having similar problems like you:

1. the extruder doesn't extrude continuously and consistently. It just stops as it feels. (Please see my thread on this forum Getting the PLA flow properly
2. Also their support team mentioned about the moisture. I have heated the PLA in the oven but nothing that I could find the difference.

Can you share your experience on both of the above topics.

Its assuring to hear from you saying that 'stick to your machine and it will get better' Thx

Hey mate, yeah of course,

what software do you have? red snapper or pronterface?

I find its alot to do with the PLA i have purchased,

But some things i needed to do.

- Make sure bolt on extruder is friken tight as, it needs to grab it, but not have the clamp all the way down,
I have my with a zip tie so it cant pop all the way open

- Clean nozzle with bike spoke or something similar when changing pla
-Check the feed before putting the tube in the nozzle, Slightly pull on the pla, Getting it to pull consistant can be a pain in the ass, some pla is soft and the bolt just eats away before it can push into the hot end


- make sure pla can freely push through the tube from the extruder, should be very little resistance (n if it cant, the pla is prob gonna be very hard to extrude, or not even work)

- i normally start of at a temp of 200, and go as high as 240 , you will see for the speed your printing at which is good, to hot lots of steam will look like its coming out, and it will basically fall out of the hot end. You want it so it builds up pressure and then you get a consistent flow


if you cannot get a consistent flow, check things, dont start a print.

umm im trying to think of little things iv needed to do.

The extruder seems to be the only weak point on my printer, it needs to grab the pla better, the bolt has to be tightened heaps,