3d Virgin needs a bit of a clue

Hi all,

New to all this 3d print stuff, ( but getting on a bit in years LOL ).

I did start out with the idea of making a REPstrap, as ex aircraft engineering , I've lots of stuff and can make most things out of other things ..mechanical.

Actually got most of my home brew X/Y frame up together ..

But Electrickery/ control is another matter , I'm not compleltey dumb but need a bit of a clue as My head is spinning with all the info have been reading in the web ,,

Just got the arduino mega /ramps1.4 and 4 stepper drivers. all from the little orientals ..

So I would like to give them all a test just to prove if any of its duff.

I've put a copy of marlin in the arduino and it all talks to the PC ok . and Pronterface seems to talk to the arduino as well..

But how to test the Ramps with the minimum of things plugged/poked/wired in ?

I did have a small pile of steppers lined up , but now found out that 5 wired ones wil not work ? but have found a couple of 4 wired ones which might be ok for testing even though they are 7.5 deg..

Not going to power up anything heaters , and only one motor at a time so hopefully my Bench PSU will suffice , as its 3.35 amp max.

I really need a walkthrough to get me going .. can anyone help ???

A groveling Chris

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2014 06:21AM by ceedy.

This code should work.
iirc you can just comment out each motor to test them independently and you can comment out the heater settings to stop it overloading the psu.

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My Reprap blog

jds-reprap.blogspot.com

Okey,

Test routine in Arduino ..... 12 v power into both ramps power points ... pop in USB and Ramps board shows 3 LEDs flashing in sequence ??

Run pronterface to see wots going on and

its scrolling commands down the screen ?

So seems the ramps is Ok ..?

How about the Stepper boards?, not plugged them in yet ?.

I've got a tiny 4 wire stepper that could be used , but don't know its spec ?

Cheers..

C.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2014 07:20AM by ceedy.

Bought a stepper from Ebay and its all wizzing about with the RAMPS test

Tested all Stepstick driver boards as ok ..

And using this as a guideline I've got Most of my collection of old odd Steppers working too..

Had to rip apart a 5 wire to figure out the windings but even they are working too.

But most are 7.5 deg though . but might use one for the extruder ??

Back to the hard ware now..

Heres a piccy of my trial x-y using Central heating pipe clips.. they hold the Linear and ball races very tight

all my 8mm rods are from old printers, got a few other sizes too.

its based on the tantalus layout .. just trying it out .. ..I like using whats to hand ..

C..

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2014 01:15PM by ceedy.