Help me to know what model is this printer

Hi all!

I just happened to given a reprap(?) printer. I have experience of 3d printer however with ready/almost ready printers. This is my very first step into the reprap world. So I have a lot of questions but I am not gonna ask them to waste people time. Instead if you guys can tell me how can I know what model is this or in which section of the forum is related with this printer then I could search there plus web. I am told that its about 10 years old. But after replacing its extruder holder part it worked and printed a small text fairly.

First I want to upgrade its firmware. Also I would like know its specs and how upgradeable is the hardware etc. But before doing some research about these topics I need to know its model I think. I saw on its display it said Mendel is ready when its ready to print. However I couldnt find similar looking mendel printer. Its using Arduino Mega 2650. The rest I am not sure plus out of knowledge. Can you please tell me about this printer if you know about it? Thanks in advance

image linkes works when you click on them.

Cheers
Mucahit

This looks custom, home made.

but very standard parts...

Extruder is "wades extruder" type design.
bed 200x0200 pcb bed.
ramps based is still very common, but unfashionable as everything going 32 bit...
lcd looks like a REPRAP_DISCOUNT_FULL_GRAPHIC_SMART_CONTROLLER


not sure what else you want to know...

I would hook up a control program, eg pronterface, and send a M503 to report settings, which should tell you things like steps/mm on each axis...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2021 06:38AM by Dust.

Thanks for the info. I would like to know how I can or should I upgrade the firmware? And if I can upgrade the bed so the printing area i gonna be larger? Will do that reporting to see those settings.

You might be able to fit a 300 X 200 heated bed on the y carriage. Depends if there is space inside the cube. You can't upgrade the printing depth from 200mm, that's the length of the carriage.

I wouldn't touch the firmware. It's probably fine.

It appears to be a Prusa Mendel i3 built into a cube rather than being an open frame. And it's never ever been used. EDIT: I2 had motors at the top, i3 had motors on the bottom for z axis.

That probably means the bed has never been levelled, unless it has an autolevel system built in already (doubtful).

It probably prints as it is, but needs calibrating. I wouldn't touch the firmware until I'd tested out the heater, saw if it fed hot plastic, made sure the print head moved and homed properly.

Dust is right, interrogating the thing and writing down current settings is very important.

When you flash firmware onto it, you have to know these settings, otherwise you have to experiment to find them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2021 05:35PM by DragonFire.

I would have thought usual issues would be;-

1) Getting the endstops to stay in the same position.

2) Making sure the x carriage moves parallel to the bed.

3) Making sure the y carriage stays at same level from start to end of travel.

If it was put together without nylon locks on all the nuts, vibration can work these loose. Hopefully the maker used the right kind.

Thanks DragonFire for the detailed answers. I believe the firmware is at the version when its built. However like you advised I wont touch it for now. It does have a leveling probe switch with the combination of a servo. I checked the heating, extruding the filament and moving axises and they seem ok. However the thing is I couldnt get the bed leveling. Is there any option that it levels the bed with the helping of the probe switch before every print? Like quick 4 pint check?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2021 07:58AM by hero04.

Try Dust's suggestion, download Pronterface for your system (Windows, Mac or Linux) and link the printer to your computer with a Usb cable. This can take a little tinkering, but it does let you type commands into a console connected to the printer to send it commands and receive back responses from the printer.

If you send it a G29, it should try to bed level with the probe. Although exactly how it behaves depends on how it was set up.

[marlinfw.org]

I can't tell if it's got early Marlin firmware on it or not. Probably.

If you don't hear a "ping" from the Arduino's buzzer when it has finished, you should save the settings yourself. I forget the gcode to do that. EDIT: It's M500.

If you don't have a controller knob on the printer (touchscreen?) then sending it gcodes is your best option. Very common on printers of that time not to have a display or input device connected, maybe they were hooked up after it was built.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2021 05:11PM by DragonFire.