Folger Tech Kossel Delta 2020 Full 3D Printer Kit w/Auto-Level

I recieved my kit on Monday. Went together well for a $400 kit. A few "fit" issues. Hope to be printing tonight. I am on the auto level calibration right now and in fear. Power supply was doa. Need to contact to get a replacement. Using a spare I had now. I used 8mm long screws where the directions said to. Took about 7 hours to build to this point.

Last night I tried the bed leveling code integrated into the slic3r Goode, the g29 code seems to probe only one quadrant of my bed. I used slic3r 1.2.7 and had setup a round bed. I did not see anything in the configuration.h to correct this. Also, the probe clicked at only a couple of the points near the center of the bed. I am looking at this document to try and solve the issue [delta-calibration.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com].

Thanks to the people who posted tips for my snagged filament in the extruded, you got me to the point where I can now extrude filament correctly.

Does anyone have a prontorface and slic3r working configuration files that they are willing to share for this printer?

Ok i went through and calibrated my printer, going by the instruction Folger tech provided and it said i can now slice and print. So i got a test file to print, hit print and nothing happening, the extruder and hotbed got to temp and its not printing anything. Anyone know whats going on?? Thanks

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NeckBon3
Ok i went through and calibrated my printer, going by the instruction Folger tech provided and it said i can now slice and print. So i got a test file to print, hit print and nothing happening, the extruder and hotbed got to temp and its not printing anything. Anyone know whats going on?? Thanks

Debug communications and you will see something is most likely amiss and it's telling you whats happening. There is a 10 second count down prior to the print occurring that you will see in the window with debug on. My slicer would drop the temp to 230 from 235 during the auto level and then refuse to spin the temp back up to 235, which is what I wanted to extrude at. The printer would sit there for 5-10 minutes then suddenly decide to heat up the tip and print. One of the reasons I switched to Simplify3d.

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thevisad

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NeckBon3
Ok i went through and calibrated my printer, going by the instruction Folger tech provided and it said i can now slice and print. So i got a test file to print, hit print and nothing happening, the extruder and hotbed got to temp and its not printing anything. Anyone know whats going on?? Thanks

Debug communications and you will see something is most likely amiss and it's telling you whats happening. There is a 10 second count down prior to the print occurring that you will see in the window with debug on. My slicer would drop the temp to 230 from 235 during the auto level and then refuse to spin the temp back up to 235, which is what I wanted to extrude at. The printer would sit there for 5-10 minutes then suddenly decide to heat up the tip and print. One of the reasons I switched to Simplify3d.

Ok my extruder is working. So now when I click on print nothing in moving, not sure what to do. FYI this is my first 3D printer and im still very new at all this.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2015 06:44PM by NeckBon3.

I did some testing with the auto probing switch while I wait for the more sensitive inductive sensor to arrive in the mail. Throwing a volt meter across the switch and dropping it down to the point it clicks vs the point the switch triggers a live connection. I notice a voltage leak across the switch as it approaches the live connection point. I then measured the distance between the point where the zprobe wheel touches the bed and the tip of the probe, this was 19.5 versus the firmwares 12.5. I adjusted my firmware for these values rather then the "click" values.

Voltage Leak from bed : 3.2 - 3.0 mm
Live connection from bed : 2.8 mm
Switch click from bed : 2.7mm

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NeckBon3

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thevisad

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NeckBon3
Ok i went through and calibrated my printer, going by the instruction Folger tech provided and it said i can now slice and print. So i got a test file to print, hit print and nothing happening, the extruder and hotbed got to temp and its not printing anything. Anyone know whats going on?? Thanks

Debug communications and you will see something is most likely amiss and it's telling you whats happening. There is a 10 second count down prior to the print occurring that you will see in the window with debug on. My slicer would drop the temp to 230 from 235 during the auto level and then refuse to spin the temp back up to 235, which is what I wanted to extrude at. The printer would sit there for 5-10 minutes then suddenly decide to heat up the tip and print. One of the reasons I switched to Simplify3d.

Ok my extruder is working. So now when I click on print nothing in moving, not sure what to do. FYI this is my first 3D printer and im still very new at all this.

Two things to look for, you should be able to manually extrude some filament by pushing with your fingers. If not, then check your path and make sure to straighten the filament as it exits the tubing into the effector. Second, at the back of the stepper where the extruder (black box) gears are, see if its turning against the filament. It is the cheapest extruder available and fails very quickly with the bearings they provide.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2015 08:27PM by NeckBon3.

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thevisad

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NeckBon3

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thevisad

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NeckBon3
Ok i went through and calibrated my printer, going by the instruction Folger tech provided and it said i can now slice and print. So i got a test file to print, hit print and nothing happening, the extruder and hotbed got to temp and its not printing anything. Anyone know whats going on?? Thanks

Debug communications and you will see something is most likely amiss and it's telling you whats happening. There is a 10 second count down prior to the print occurring that you will see in the window with debug on. My slicer would drop the temp to 230 from 235 during the auto level and then refuse to spin the temp back up to 235, which is what I wanted to extrude at. The printer would sit there for 5-10 minutes then suddenly decide to heat up the tip and print. One of the reasons I switched to Simplify3d.

Ok my extruder is working. So now when I click on print nothing in moving, not sure what to do. FYI this is my first 3D printer and im still very new at all this.

Two things to look for, you should be able to manually extrude some filament by pushing with your fingers. If not, then check your path and make sure to straighten the filament as it exits the tubing into the effector. Second, at the back of the stepper where the extruder (black box) gears are, see if its turning against the filament. It is the cheapest extruder available and fails very quickly with the bearings they provide.

Im debuging communications now. I got the extruder to feed the fliament but the printer itself isnt moving, it just stays in the home location.

Any ideas why my printer isnt moving when I click on print?

It looks like Folger Tech just put their handle time out to 20 days on ebay:

"Due to high demand in sales we have had to set the handling time to 20 business days. This handling time reflects the time it takes us to hand pack each of these kits in preparation for shipping. Your kit could ship well before this and the unusually long handling time should be better come April. We have had an overwhelming demand for these kits and are doing our best to keep up!"

We'll see if this results in slightly higher quality printed parts and shipping of kits without missing pieces.

A nice clean way to fix the extrusion system is to get a new hotend throat. The one inside the fake E3D has ptfe tubing in it. You won't be able to get beyond 240c with that hotend in its current state. I got this hotend throat

Hotend throat replacement for E3D knockoffs. 2mm ID for higher temp. usage. by nScaleRail, on Flickr

ebay link to hotend throat I took the old throat out and used it on the extruder.

The extruder included in the kit was built to be attached to a hotend and so to get it to work right you need to mimic that same style layout.

Fix extruder issues on Folger Tech Kossel. by nScaleRail


Fix extruder issues on Folger Tech Kossel. by nScaleRail, on Flickr

P.s. One other note on extruding with this kit. It appears the ptfe tube is the 1.8mm diameter style. So it you have larger filement (say on the 1.77mm size) the tube will be very tight. I replaced the tube with 2mm ID tube, now things are moving better..

I hope this tip helps some.
Tim

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2015 10:29AM by Wittmason.

I finally tried to print a 20mm cube, the results are not great



I had to keep constant force pushing the filiment into the extruder, when ever I let go you can see the defects in the cube.



This image shows the stringy extruded filament before I discovered the need to push the filament. I doubt that my pushing the filament could over power the stepper.

Does anyone know what could cause this behavior and how to fix it?

Edit: this is PLA extruder temp 200c and bed temp 60c

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2015 08:03PM by Djkingsley.

So my X axis is going into crazy left field when I try and print, it'll go all the way down to the end stop and you can hear it wants to keep going. How do I go about fixing this?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2015 09:03PM by NeckBon3.

I had that problem and posted it on here ... I increased the extruder stepper to .85 and solved the need to 'manually feed'. I also got this on ebay which added further improvement and easier maintenance..

[www.ebay.com]

Would anyone be willing to post their full working Repetier Host firmware as a zip file? I have tried configuring via the configuration tool (http://www.repetier.com/firmware/v092/) but it always chokes on verify. I also tried a config.h that was posted on here (tried .91 & .92) but it does not seem to compile.

Thanks!

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Plasticmonkey
I had that problem and posted it on here ... I increased the extruder stepper to .85 and solved the need to 'manually feed'. I also got this on ebay which added further improvement and easier maintenance..

[www.ebay.com]

Are you setting the Vref for the extruder to 0.85 or a setting in the firmware?

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NeckBon3
So my X axis is going into crazy left field when I try and print, it'll go all the way down to the end stop and you can hear it wants to keep going. How do I go about fixing this?

You probably have a gritty linear rail. The rail grabs, the stepper slips, and the software thinks it's lower or higher than it actually is. Eventually it runs into the stop.

Remove the 4 carriage screws (the belt will hold it in place), then move the linear block up and down as you spray with WD40 to clean it up, then silicone or teflon lubricant. My Z axis block will fall under it's own weight. The others move smoothly after lubricating, but not quite that freely.

I ordered mine the 6th of March and it arrived 17th of april.... (I'm in Sweden though)

When I got to assemble the effector one of the "towers" that you snap in the servo between fell off just as I tried to snap the servo into place, and when I screwed the piece
that holds the hot end (same that already got a bit missing) togther with the piece that holds the rods one of the nuts went into the piece (not much force needed...),
actually the last one I was to tighten and it never got to feel like it was "tight" at all.
That was a really crappy piece of plastic,

Anyway the build goes on.

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Koenig
When I got to assemble the effector one of the "towers" that you snap in the servo between fell off...

Mine delaminated when I drove in the screw. I welded it back together with a soldering iron and intend to print a new one. When it breaks again...

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Koenig
...never got to feel like it was "tight" at all.

Jam a small flat blade screwdriver next to the nut to hold it in place while you tighten the screw.

Ordered mine on March 27th and received it Friday April 18th. Some of the 3D printed parts had fit issues and I was missing half a dozen t-nuts. Most of the screw holes were too small, the 2020 aluminum rods had to be "persuaded" into the slots and the hot end didn't fit into the effector plate.

I've finally got it running but the extruder motor keeps skipping. Is the solution just to increase the motor current? Right now I have the Vref at about 0.4V. Should I go higher?

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Deguello
Jam a small flat blade screwdriver next to the nut to hold it in place while you tighten the screw.

I actually went the other way there because of the tight space, I put the allenhead next to the hotend and the nut on top of the part that holds the rods,
that way I could just use an allenkey to hold the screw while having plenty of space for something to use with the nut.
But the allenhead bolt went into the plastic without the use of any force... It was just a thin layer of plastic and then nothing underneath.
So it's fastened with 4 screws at the moment, will have to print new plastic for the effector, need to anyway since I've ordered some 250mm rods from Haydn.

Did anybody order the 20x04 LCD screen/SD reader, and or have a problem with it?

I tried to hook up my lcd screen and couldnt get it to work...

After messing around with the firmware for like days I discovered the plug in connectors on the adapter board, that plugs into the ramps -were soldered in upsidedown.

As I was about to de-solder then resolder them the correct way, I realized I could just uncrimp the cable ends and flip them around... and I did and it worked... but seriously, if it's not one thing it's another.

I'm 99% done building this thing now check it out:

Has anyone tried springs under the bed? Instead of the acrylic spacer they give you. In thought all you have to do is tighten and loosen to adjust the print bed

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fuerst1
Ordered mine on March 27th and received it Friday April 18th. Some of the 3D printed parts had fit issues and I was missing half a dozen t-nuts. Most of the screw holes were too small, the 2020 aluminum rods had to be "persuaded" into the slots and the hot end didn't fit into the effector plate.

I've finally got it running but the extruder motor keeps skipping. Is the solution just to increase the motor current? Right now I have the Vref at about 0.4V. Should I go higher?

.4v is way too low fo rthe extruder. Is memory serves me right, I set mine to either .7 or .8v. Just keep cranking it up untill it works. The extruder stepper can handle much higher current as it is physically larger. Your only concern is causing the populo driver to get too hot. Make sure you installed the 4 tiny heat sinks on the polulo drivers and then mount a small 40mm or so fan somewhere to blow air across them. You shouldn't have any problems driving as much current as you need through the extruder stepper if you do this.

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Flish
Did anybody order the 20x04 LCD screen/SD reader, and or have a problem with it?
I tried to hook up my lcd screen and couldnt get it to work...

After messing around with the firmware for like days I discovered the plug in connectors on the adapter board, that plugs into the ramps -were soldered in upsidedown.

As I was about to de-solder then resolder them the correct way, I realized I could just uncrimp the cable ends and flip them around... and I did and it worked... but seriously, if it's not one thing it's another.

Mine displayed and appeared to work, but the SD card reader in it has never worked. I searched for some solutions and even reported it to Folger. I received a replacement and it does the same thing. When you insert the SD card it says on the screeen "SD Inserted" but it wont open the files or folder and in the menu to access it it shows "no card". Removing the SD triggers the message "SD Removed" as well. I read elsewhere that this is a common problem and there may be some German folks who have worked out a solution but I could not find anything within a reasonable amount of so I gave up (I had an an old laptop I wasnt using anyways, so no real need in the end).

I was starting to wonder if it is my RAMPS because all of the pins on top and bottom were bent like someone had stepped on it. I straightened them, and everything else has worked without issue so far (about 2kg printed already).

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NeckBon3
Has anyone tried springs under the bed? Instead of the acrylic spacer they give you. In thought all you have to do is tighten and loosen to adjust the print bed

I have springs under my bed, but the issue is not just how easy it is to level the bed on whole, but the fact that the aluminum itself is usually warped, and gets worse with temperature. I tried to print ABS this weekend and without autolevel it is not going to be possible on my setup currently. I removed auto-level because my servo was buzzing and I would rather not have it kill my ramps/whatever while I wait for a new mechanical switch solution I am working on. Printing PLA I use a mirror on the aluminum and I have less than 0.1mm difference all around cold. When I heat it to 95c for printing ABS I found the warpage was in excess of 0.4mm and that is with the 8" mirror resisting some of that deflection, when I removed the mirror it was more like 0.6mm lower near the edges compared to center.

Last night I discovered the difference between the cheap PLA and that produced by JustPLA, it's only a few dollars more but the quality of the extruded part is much better. A friend had given me samples of both to experiment with before I run off to buy supplies. He also said Hatchbox PLA printed really well.

I finally got a couple good calibration parts printed, the dimensions all came out spot on. So I moved on to print a free form shape. I got the STL file off thingiverse and I am going to use a modification of these feet to lift my printer up to increase the air flow.



The bed warped between the previous cube I printed and the foot, you can see the missing brim and gouge in the blue tape. The rafting saved the part fortunately.

Based on last nights test prints I am going to replace the round clear spacers with mildly stiff springs so I can tweak the bed by measuring at the tower bases before each print.

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Djkingsley
I got the STL file off thingiverse and I am going to use a modification of these feet to lift my printer up to increase the air flow.

[attachment 53288 foot.jpg]

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I'm happy to see someone likes me feet!!!

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mmcginnis9272

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Djkingsley
I got the STL file off thingiverse and I am going to use a modification of these feet to lift my printer up to increase the air flow.

[attachment 53288 foot.jpg]

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I'm happy to see someone likes me feet!!!

I think they are fantastic, I am going to make a tail for the third tower based on your design with a built in power cord stress releif. Also I am going to fix the intersection of the cylinder and the foot body so that slic3r does not make a small tower at the heel (at least it did on the right foot last night).

I have serious problem with 2 of my rails, I've spent one and a half big bottle of WD40 to get the to run smooth, I've spent 3 hours just running them back and forth while spraying WD40.
I've bathed them in WD40 running them back and forth and still no luck, looking at the backside of the carriages I can see that one side is missing balls in the bearing (on the two I've got problems with).I

s this common? do you guys have missing balls?