General problems

So I have connected the power to my Mendel and did a test on the 3 axis X and Y were fine. Z goes down fine but when it goes up it jams and I have to give it a little help by either pulling the belt or turning the threaded bar.
A few things I have tried. Loosening the belt tension, loosening the bearings and checking that the X axis bit is flat. Which it is almost.

Another problem is with the extruder (Adrian's), I haven't tried to fix that because I have been busy and I don't know where to start.
The motor runs fine but it seems like there is no heat in the hot end, so the plastic can't go anywhere. Therefore it jams like the z axis.
The hobbled bolt is quite worn, would this affect the grip?
Does it take a while for the heat to build in the hot end?
How can I test that my hot end is even getting hot?
How do I sync the thermistor to the actual heat?

Sorry if any of these things are on the Wiki but I can't find much.

Thanks

For the Z axis have you tried adjusting the regulator on the stepper driver?
It could be the stepper driver isn't giving enough juice to the steppers. Hence why it can go down, but going up its struggling.

Does it take a while for the heat to build in the hot end?
It will have a slight warm up period, depending on the resistor and heating block.

How can I test that my hot end is even getting hot?
The heater block should be noticeable warm/hot. The safest and most accurate way to test the temperature would be something like an infra-red thermometer.

How do I sync the thermistor to the actual heat?
This page should cover this question.

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My Reprap blog

jds-reprap.blogspot.com

Most IR thermometers won't work for measuring the hot end temperature because the area it measures is too big. One cheap way that I found is to touch the nozzle with a plastic filament and see if it melts. If it does then it's hot enough to extrude plastic. Your thermistor should be properly attached to your nozzle and the firmware should be set with the proper thermistor table. You should first verify that your thermistor is reading properly, then try to heat your nozzle and verify that the temperature is regulating, and then extrude manually by using your hands to push the filament with the motor either disabled, disconnected or removed. After this, you can use the extruder motor to extrude in small increments and test to see how fast you can go.

Thanks for the help

I have adjusted the little screw on the driver and it almost solved the problem. I then looked at the threaded bar on the right side, it was not straight so I screwed that up a little and now it runs perfectly. Thanks.

This might sound stupid but I don't know how to open my Firmware. I have Sanguinololu electronics. Is it to do with arduino software because I have that. The guy I bought the circuit board off set it all up to work for the Mendel.

JoeDaStudd Wrote:
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>> How can I test that my hot end is even getting
>> hot?
> The heater block should be noticeable warm/hot.
> The safest and most accurate way to test the
> temperature would be something like an infra-red
> thermometer.

You can use some thermal paper, touch the tip with it and it should get black (or whatever color it use).

Lots of notes from little cashier machines still are thermal paper.

I am planning to make these laser cut part, what is the base material, thickness used for this?