Need help fixing my 3D Printer.

After about 2 weeks of printing PLA i got the tools to level the bed, leveled the bed it all looked good. Decided to try a ABS test print and print from an sd card just so i could put the printer in a different room. got it all set up and hit print. however i forgot to adjust my z axis before hand so when it started printing it started gouging the bed, i reached down and unplugged the printer to stop it before it caused too much damage. when i went to turn it back on however the fans came on but the display was showing a bunch of rectangles and nothing was heating. i tried connecting it to my computer to print but even that proved fruitless as it was not recognizing the printer at all.

I checked the power supply and the control board IS receiving correct voltage.

went out and bought a mks base 1.4 board for the printer, and now the computer connects to it but the display still isnt working ( it still shows rectangles and the dial does not make any noise when clicked.)

got a new display for it, the display shows black, like no power however when i click the dial on it to select an option it DOES beep like im selecting something but nothing happens otherwise.

Yes i made sure the wires were hooked to the display correctly i even tried them the opposite way in case i was just stupid.

it is the Prusa i3 by Hictop. I believe its also known as the i3 prusa Mendel.

Can anyone help? at this point its been down longer then i had it working.

did you try reflashing the firmware? which firmware are you using?

i am using the newest version of marlin. I had tried reflashing the original board but as i could not connect to the board i found it impossible. i had to flash the mks base 1.4 i bought because it did not come with firmware. that all was successful. and that is where i got stuck.

It doesn't seem like just unplugging the power should have damaged the electronics. That is how I always shut down my machine. I haven't gotten around to putting in a switch. That said, I would probably start on a new or suspect board by running things through a usb connection. Don't try to add a display/controller till you have the basics up and running. If you connect to the electronics through repetier or pronterface, are you able to control any of the heaters or motors?

If you really want to mess with the display try turning the contrast pot and see if it's just out of adjustment. Black rectangles on the display often means that the contrast is set incorrectly.

But like I said, the first step in troubleshooting is to eliminate all extra features and just work on a minimal set.

Bryan

I'd start by verifying that the power supply is producing 12V. And that the power LED on the board is lighting up.

Next, can you see the board on your PC in Device Manager (Windows) or lsusb (Linux), either in reflash mode or normal mode?

As i stated above i HAVE checked the power supply and the board IS receiving correct power.

And yes the power led on the board is lighting up.

Yes i can see the board in the device manager, it just shows up as serial port (com5)

had to find out how to use repetier first, but yes i can control the X axis Y axis Bed Temp, Extruder Temp, however the z axis moves very slowly and its reversed for some reason. The original display board that came with this printer has no contrast pot on it, however the new one i bought does, but it does not do anything.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2016 10:32PM by argonsoon.

Sorry... I overlooked where you said you'd checked the power.

When you flashed, did you compile Marlin from source? Or use a HEX file you downloaded from somewhere? Marlin can be compiled to work with several different types of LCD. Is it possible that you've got a version of Marlin that's wrong for your LCD? And/or wrong for your printer?

What can you see in Repetier's log window? (You may need to switch to "Expert" mode to see the log window. It may be helpful to turn on everything (Commands, Infos, Warnings, Errors, ACK) in the log window).

i got marlin from source, and considering the display problem was the same before and after reflashing. i feel confident that is not the issue.

Check this two things:

Confirm that the LCD library is added to the configuration file.

Check voltage to LCD, if you have 5 volts then eithe you have a faulty LCD, bad solder joints somewhere in the LCD board or the trim pod isn't working properly or wrong resistance.

From what you said If you connect the old display will show symbols with new one nothing, right? Did you purchase the LCD from china? are you using the new cables or the old ones? I'm asking all these because I had the same problem and the reason was that the plugs at the LCD board were solder backwards and I have to cut a slot in the plastic to plug in the connectors in the right direction.

Finally after several weeks of procrastinating i took the time to try the board the company sent me and lo and behold everything works fine again. thank you everyone for your help and feedback, i really appreciate it.

For future reference: MKS BASE has its LCD pins reversed in ribbon (or some LCDs do?). This was my case and others (that I got the idea from).