i3 Rework Help (Mainly With RAMPS 1.4)

Hello All, new and increasingly frustrated RepRapper here,

So I have recently built a printer with parts I have sourced myself, that roughly resembles the i3 rework. When I say that, I mean that the rods are slightly different lengths, and I did not have access to a printer for most parts, so I made due by machining them out of ABS. So, my problems mainly lie in electronics.

Here is my setup:

- RAMPS 1.4
- 3X Sainsmart Mechanical Endstops
- 5X Nema 17 Steppers
- Genuine Arduino Mega 2560
- 4X No-Name Chinese Stepper Drivers
- Sprinter Firmware

So, I am in the process of getting everything wired up, and decide to try and test motor motion in Pronterface. At this stage I have X/Y/Z axes wired up NO ENDSTOPS YET. Using manual control, Y-Moves positively **excitement** but not negatively, nothing from X and Z. After troubleshooting, I see that I should wire in endstops. Y continues to move in one direction, still no X or Z. Curious. I read more troubleshooting, come across M119 command. Try everything described, no luck getting endstops to trigger, even though their LED's light up when I push them. now no motors are moving when triggered through Pronterface

Main Questions:

1. Sainsmart endstops are 4 pin (S/G/G/VCC) what should I do to accomodate this onto the 3 pins available on RAMPS 1.4 board?
2. Is it likely that solving the endstop problem will solve more motor problems, or is it another problem entirely? Perhaps the stepper drivers? And with that in mind...
3. How would you recommend testing the stepper drivers to see if they are the problem?

I appreciate any help anyone can provide, and can supply more information/clarification if needed.

Thanks!

The best way to test the stepper drivers is to plug them into slot that you know does work. Also did you try homing, before manual moving?

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pstock175

Main Questions:

1. Sainsmart endstops are 4 pin (S/G/G/VCC) what should I do to accomodate this onto the 3 pins available on RAMPS 1.4 board?
2. Is it likely that solving the endstop problem will solve more motor problems, or is it another problem entirely? Perhaps the stepper drivers? And with that in mind...
3. How would you recommend testing the stepper drivers to see if they are the problem?

I appreciate any help anyone can provide, and can supply more information/clarification if needed.

Thanks!

Looks like you have 2 grounds on the endstop which suggests they could be combined to give you the required 3 pin connector.
You don't necessarily need end stops connected to test the motors- the firmware will decide which direction they will move in depending on how they are configured.
Anyway, as a start, let's take a look at your config.h

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Waitaki 3D Printer

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Y-Moves positively **excitement** but not negatively

Not sure if this is the same with Sprinter as with Marlin, but until you do a "home" operation, you can't move negatively. I assume this is some sort of preventative, but not actually sure. So try hitting the home button for Y in PronterFace.

For the four wires, you wire the two grounds together.

For the stepper drivers. It's easy to fry them. Do you have a multimeter?

If you do, carefully you can test the voltage across pot and gnd, which should be marked (It's the corner pin on the right of the pot, if the pot is at the bottom). This could also be part of the problem. If the reading is too low, you might not be supplying enough power to drive the motors.

Also, have you set up micro-stepping? That involves putting 1,2 or 3 jumpers on the plugs under the drivers. This will change how fast the motors move by a factor of up to 16 (with a corresponding increase in smoothness).

Thanks for the responses. I am going to post my configuration.h below here.

To answer the questions above:
1. I did not home the motors first
2. I have not set up microstepping but will put those jumpers on now

Some more info here. I wanted to test if I had fried my stepper drivers, so I reset everything and tried driving just the Y axis again. Same as before, positive motion but no negative. So the driver works. I then switch the wires so I am driving the X motor through the Y driver, the motor moves positively so I know the driver, X an Y motors work. I then move the driver to the X space and attempt to drive the X motor through the X driver space an nothing happens. It seems like the only space on the board that is working is the Y driver space. Also, I spliced the two ground wires on my end stops, and still was not able to get them to register as triggered after issuing M119.

I also added jumpers to enable micro stepping, as recommended above.

According to the Sainsmart website, either of the two ground pins in the middle of the endstop connector can be used. An easy way to be certain is to use a multimeter to check the resistance between them.

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[3DKarma.com] - suppliers of quality, affordable 3D printer kits and filament for the UK market.

Have a look at my Instructable on an i3 build.
I detailed the steps on getting the motors to work and configuring end-stops.
I used Marlin but it's essentially the same

Steve

Thank you Steve, your Instructable is very helpful. I am concerned that I have possibly blown something on my RAMPS board. I have made some progress with endstops, but the X and Z axes still fail to move. I have tested all the drivers by placing them in the Y space on the RAMPS board, and all drivers are working. So it is possible that the X space on the RAMPS board is blown, even though the driver is functional?

I guess I am mostly trying to determine if it is necessary to purchase new ramps board