New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.

PixelPusher

New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 03:56PM

Registered: 8 years ago
Posts: 45

Hello,
I had a wire connection overheat a bit so I replaced my RAMPS board. Everything was printing fine before... but with the new RAMPS board (same exact firmware), motors sound like they "grind" when I try to manually move the bed or extruder via Repetier.

Never had this problem when building my reprap... could it be I just have a bad RAMPS board? How can you tell?

Thanks for any advice,
Richi

Prusa i3
Repetier 1.6.0
Atmega 2560
ATX PSU (from an old PC)

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DaGameFace

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 05:02PM

Registered: 7 years ago
Posts: 318

try adjusting the voltage on the stepper drivers?

Also are you SURE you have the proper firmware settings? is it possible for you to have lost microstepping?

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PixelPusher

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 05:06PM

Registered: 8 years ago
Posts: 45

hoping to avoid adjusting voltage, I'm not familiar enough with that... but will research that.
I'm not sure how I could loose microstepping if I uploaded the exact same firmware I used earlier that day... which was working perfectly for the last 6 months. I guess I will do some research on that too.

thank you for your help,
obviously I'm new to this.. so it's very much appreciated.

-Richi

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DaGameFace

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 05:24PM

Registered: 7 years ago
Posts: 318

i am fairly new as well, but adjusting the voltage is actually very easy, all you need to do is turn the potentiometer on each stepper driver.
[www.damencnc.com]

I am fuzzy myself on micro stepping, for some reason my printer has none.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2016 05:42PM by DaGameFace.

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Dust

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 08:12PM

Admin
Registered: 12 years ago
Posts: 6,859

Some controller boards are hardwired to 1/16th micro stepping (pcb track under the jumpers)
But a lot are just jumper pins that need closed with jumpers under where the pololu modules sit

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PixelPusher

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 08:29PM

Registered: 8 years ago
Posts: 45

Thanks Dust,
so since I'm not familiar with micro stepping, i don't know what a 'pcp track' or 'jumpers' are... wouldn't know how to "close jumpers"... it's obvious to me now I'm in over my head.
I'll purchase another RAMPS and maybe an ATMEGA board too and hope for the best.

Appreciate all the help guys.

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bryanandaimee

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 09:44PM

Registered: 12 years ago
Posts: 632

Sounds like your steps per mm or max speed settings are off. Try turning speed way down and see what happens. Repetier has a slider that lets you do this without changing firmware settings.

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Dust

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 09:51PM

Admin
Registered: 12 years ago
Posts: 6,859

The red, yellow and blue rectangles are the micro stepping Jumpers

There are 3 under each pololu module

Here is what they look like without jumpers

Geeetech-Reprap-Ramps-1-4-Controller-Board-For-3D-Printer-for-Arduino-Mega-Compatible-Prusa-Mendel.jpg

Here is the table For pololu modules, when the jumper is off its LOW, when a jumper is on its HIGH

Table.png

Here are some different jumpers, they are just a plastic shell over a peice of metal, used to short two pins out

2_0_2_54MINI_JUMPER.jpg

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2016 09:52PM by Dust.

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PixelPusher

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 10:01PM

Registered: 8 years ago
Posts: 45

Thanks B&D, didn't work but that's good idea, will remember that tip.
Dust, that totally makes sense now... I do have some of those jumpers, understand what they're for now... I see the exposed pins underneath the steppers. I'll throw 3 jumpers on X and see what happens... then go from there.

Much appreciated guys, thanks for taking time to help a dumb artist out. winking smiley

- Richi

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PixelPusher

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 10:16PM

Registered: 8 years ago
Posts: 45

Success! (almost) Dust, that was it... added jumpers and got it to a decent speed. Guess it was just trying to move way too fast.
Seems like "quarter step" is about the speed I want it (or close to what i had before), although the distance it travels is about 4x... I assume I can just adjust all that in firmware and re-calibrate each axis.

- richi

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Dust

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 03, 2016 11:35PM

Admin
Registered: 12 years ago
Posts: 6,859

Microstepping is more about smooth travel... you want 1/16 on X,Y and E, most run it on Z as well, but some prefer 1/8th

Yes you then just adjust the steps/mm settings to in firmware to match what you have set in hardware

Speed is not related to this* (*it can limit your max speed, but not till your going over 150-200mm/s! ball park figure)

Speed is determined by the feed rate you request to move and the max feed rate setting in firmware, and what your hardware can do without vibrating to pieces

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2016 11:38PM by Dust.

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PixelPusher

Re: New RAMPS - now xyz motors don't work.
February 04, 2016 10:36AM

Registered: 8 years ago
Posts: 45

I followed your advice and I got my printer running back to normal. Used the Prusa calculator which helped a lot.

Did a couple test prints, UF logo and part of a Slave One ship I built. Little more tweaking and I'll have it down.

Thanks again,
Richi

IMAG2406.jpg

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