I am new the the reprap world and figured I would give it a go. I work in the aircraft industry and do quite a bit of metal work so I figured I would build my first Mini Kossel out of aluminum. It worked out great and I have the printer up and running.
Now I am working on a redesign of the frame and trying to print new base blocks so I can use 1010 extrusion. The parts are designed in Solidworks and I am using Slicer to generate the G Code.
When connected to my laptop I can't make it through the full 6 hour print time. It was appearing to timeout the usb port and resetting, which of course caused the printer to quit responding. I reset the power options on the usb ports and gave it another shot, still failed about 4 hours into the print. I then decided to order the Reprap Smart LCD controller, maybe not being connected to the computer would help?
The new controller opened up a bunch of new challenges. Is there anyway to get the move axis function from the controller to actually move 1mm when I tell it to? It seems to jump and jerk when controlling from the LCD, probably moving 4-5mm or so. I am also seeing reduced quality in the parts printed through the LCD Controller vs parts printed using Pronterface through my laptop. Any Ideas here? I seems to miss steps and not create a very smooth outside finish.
I am trying my first base block with the LCD now to see how it comes out and if it makes it through a whole 6 hour print time.
Sorry about all these questions, just trying to get this figured out. Anything under 3 hours or so, I have no issues, its mainly the longer prints. Really wish I could get the laptop interface to work!
Here are a few machine specifics:
- Arduino Mega 2560
- RAMPS 1.4
- Marlin firmware
- Slicer for G code
- Pronterface for control
- Reprap Smart LCD Controller
Thanks in advance for any help,
Scott
