Reprap Generation 1 problems

Hi all,
I'm currently slowly building a Reprap generation 1. I have a couple of issues and wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. My first issue involves the electronic boards. I am getting the wrong voltages on the power communications board on the wrong pins. Along with this I am getting 4 volts and not 5. Since I am kinda of trying to build this without a lot of knowledge I am unsure what is the matter. A guy a know said it might be a soldering problem wherein I had crossed different lines on the pcb board. So I'm going to recheck and resolder things tonight. Secondly I have to contact the guy from bitfrombytes about this as well but the bed mount brackets (unsure what they are called) for the wood bed have nuts embedded in them and these nuts are to tight to spin freely on the 8mm rod that holds the reprap together. I got a kit from Sears to rethread the holes but I am unsure if that will work. Anyone have a better suggestion? Last I have been using an old power supply that I have to power the whole thing and was unsure if that might be why I was getting 4 volts instead of 5 on the power communications board (along with everything else). It has something like 18amps (perhaps) but it was cheap and I'm doubting it actually does. Any way to check if enough power is being given?
Thanks for all the help!
Greg Cook

New to the group, but I deal with power supplies all of the time.

It sounds like you've got some soldering issues, but just in case check all of these.

First thing is to check you voltmeter and make sure that it is actually displaying the voltage correctly. If you another voltmeter handy just check the same voltage with it as well and see if you get a different result. If you don't have another voltmeter available then you could check the voltage on a 9V battery and see if you get 9 Volts.

If the voltmeter checks out, then check your powersupply and see if it has the correct output. If you are using an old PC power supply you should get -5, +5, +12, -12, and ground. Most of the new supplies also have a low amp line that is 3 volts or something - I haven't had to check that one in a while so I don't remember the value.

If the power supply checks out, then you can turn to your board. Look for any obvious solder goofs and fix them. Desoldering braid will help remove the excess solder. Check the traces and make sure they were etched completely. Check to make sure any diodes or electrolytic capacitors that were used were put in in the correct direction. If that doesn't get it then you will have to go through component by component.

Good luck