Extruder killed suddenly

Hello,

I have been trying to calibrate my machine to improve print quality for a few days. Today, when I wanted to heat up the extruder again to launch some test it, the cmd line gave me this massaga in xp: "No extruders avaliable." I checked everything, all cables, pcb possible shortcuts but all was ok. Does anybody know when software gives this massage? what part of pcb may have gone wrong?

thanks,
satuna

I got this message when I fried by PIC by shorting the thermistor wires together on accident. Been messing with the thermistor or heater wires? Hope that isn't your problem.

Demented

yes, I was messing around with thermistor... I was using a quite dangerous setup as my wires were hanging in air and thought would be better to cover them... may have done some damage then...

Demented, did you have to change your PIC and it has solved the problem?

thanks,
adam

Yeah, after I bought a new one and programmed it things worked fine right away. Also, try re-checking your connections too. Sometimes you get that message if your power isn't hooked up. Try that first. Hope that's it. If not, then you know what your problem is and how to fix it.

Demented

Lordy! I shudder to think of how many PIC chips I've fried thanks to my incompetent wiring and soldering practices. I tend to buy PIC's by the half-dozen and dozen because of that. Saves wasting time waiting for a new one to arrive in the post.

Yeah, I have 3 or 4 extra sitting around now too. Sad state of affairs.

Demented

Thanks guys, it is indeed a good idea to have some pics around... I will buy a few tonight just in case...

connections are ok - I suppose... I checked them a hundredmillion times...

Adam

I always run a series of checks periodically while I'm building up a board with a hot pic and a test program to check that I've got the circuits right. I do that defensively because I make so many bloody mistakes.

If I built up a whole board and then tried to test it I'd never be able to figure out where the mistakes were to be fixed.

I'd recommend my technique to anybody who has more than two thumbs. I must have 20-30.

Mistakes occur. There's simply no getting around it.

The only way to deal effectively with this fact is to build your projects assuming that something's wrong which you can only track down when powered, but without frying anything. This is why putting car tail light bulbs or other series resistances in series with your +12v at power-on is such a common practice - if there's a fault, it lights up instead of turning your parts into voltage to smoke converters.

Also, messy wiring eats far more of your time than it takes to neaten - I use single core copper wire as used in network and phone cables as simple ties, and zip ties for more permanent installations. Not only does it keep things neat, but it stops loose wires touching *everything* if they fall out of a connector or melt or something.

I'm very lazy, and have learnt that the easiest and simplest way to get something done is to ask a busy person to do it because busy people are constantly looking for things to get done. Doing it properly the first time is the next best option. Just throwing stuff together creates time and effort drains, which are quite abhorrent to most people, and can easily suck a project dry of all enthusiasm.