Rostock problems

Just finished my rostock and now am trying to get it to work. I have the hacked marlin flashed to it with the values changed. I've tryed many things, but the homing never works. I've inverted the switches in the code too. Sometimes the printer will move just a bit when I home it and others it just goes crazy. I'm pretty sure its wired up correctly. I've tested the switches with a multimeter and they are function like normally closed and I have the software set to false like it should be. Moving the axis in printrun is very choppy. My lcd wont work even though I know it isnt broken. I've tryed 3dr firmware too with the values changed and the lcd worked for that though strangely but still had problems. My firmware i downloaded from github still have the x min and max switches while 3dr has only the one switch. Anyone have a stable firmware for standard rostock? Or know how to get it working? Thanks.

I saw this video and my printer is acting similar to it. But my wiring is a whole lot neater than that one though. [www.youtube.com]

Here is an example of a firmwre used on standard rostock using Arduino Mega2560 with RAMPS1.3; based on the pictures you posted in the other thread, it is about the same as what you have (maybe except the electronics): [github.com]
This machine had incorrect tower positions so they are defined explicitely in Configuration.h (instead fo being defined based on delta radius as most people have it). Regardless all the dimensions should be within few mm of the standard rostock.

First make sure your endstops work well. Use M119. Make sure the endstops are not triggered when they are not pressed and that they are triggered when they are pressed. Verify that you have stepper drivers set to about 1.1A.

Try whether it helped.

If not, clear and reset EEPROM (M502 and M500). Set all the speeds and accelerations very low. Take belts down from the stepper pulleys. Position carriages so that no endstop is triggered. Try to home (G28). All tower motors should start to rotate smoothly in one (forward) direction. Then (after they should have travelled 3*zHeight, they should stopp. Then each tower motor (one after another) should move forward for another 1.5*zHeight, then backward about 5 mm, then forward about 10 mm.

If this does not work smoothly you have problem with stepepr drivers or steppers or electronics. It if works smoothly then maybe some mechanical problem? Do carriages move easily?

Btw, belts must be quite tight for proper printing. You will not be able to tighten the top bracket on tower X enough so that it does not bent the top/bottom plate plywood and and slip on the smooth rod. You have two options. Glue the smooth rods to the brackets or do something like on the attached picture.

I tried what you said. My min endstops are functioning now but max endstops dont change and when I do a move in printrun, it says endstops triggered. I've already tryed inverting them too. Do i have the endstops on the wrong pins? I have them like they are on a prusa i3. My belts are as tight as I can possibly make them. I'll look into the bracket later but it doesnt appear to be a problem right now. Thanks for your help btw.

Marlin firmware for rostock does not use min endstops. You do not need to even mount them on. Only max endstops are used and typically only for homing (depends on ENDSTOPS_ONLY_FOR_HOMING). My branch of Marlin leaves top endstops active all the time.

You must get endstops with M119 working so that:
* min endstops are ignored (or always not triggered)
* max endstops work (are triggered if and only if the microswitch is pressed).

It does not make sense to try to move the motors before you get endstops right with M119.

I do not know anything about prusa i3. The only printer I know well is the clasic rostock.

Belts of course are not a problem which was shown on the video. I only mentioned it because I saw your pictures and wanted to give you heads up. When belts are loose you can get tooth skipping (you can even see this with your eyes) or if they are not tight enough you get less precise corners especially when pringing with higher speeds. Also prefere belts with steel core instead of glass core belts. It makes a difference for long belts (which are on rostock).
My belts are tightened with force of about 120N, that means the static tangential force on stepper axe is about 240N (which is about half the maximum the stepper can handle in long term). Even 120N is probably not enough but it is already acceptable. You will see this when you actually start to print.

Where are the max endstops wired to? I guess mine are wired to the min.

Delta printers only use one endstop per column...at the top...and they are wired to the MAX endstop pins. M119 and check the MAX endstop signals, and re-compile the firmware of there's only MIN endstops visible with M119. This mistake has bitten more than one person this week on these forums.....

I only have one per column but they are wired to the min pins I think. Which pins are for max?

I got it homing correctly now. I can move each direction in printrun and it looks pretty smooth and sounds good. But the lcd isnt working still. How do i have to set it up in the software to get it to work? It's the smaller lcd with clicker and buzzer btw. Thanks for all the help guys. This has been very hard for me especially since I know very little about coding and software.

Congratulations! When it is moving correctly it will be easier from now on.
Sorry, I do not know about LCD. I do not use it.

I got the lcd screen working and I successfully ran some gcode with it. It prints in the corner of the heatbed when it should be in the center. I think I read about the problem before but I can't find where I read it. Anyone know how to fix that?

[www.youtube.com]

If manual positioning (G0 X0 Y0 Z5) moves head to the center then it is slicer settings. Make sure slicer knows that point X0 Y0 is in the center of heatbed.