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

How do you know you are at 80? Is that coming from Marlin, or are you reading it yourself? My first guess would be that your thermistor is defined incorrectly, or plugged in to the wrong port . . . . but neither of those would explain why you get a mintemp error (set at 5 by default) when the temp should be rising . . .

- Tim

Just a quick note to let you know my ordeal...

I went thorough the process of updating my steps to to 80 and calibrating my system for that and the results have been spot on. When my steps were set at 84, I had the system dialed in (I thought) but the height was always off (for a 25 mm cube the height was always 26.5 no matter what I did. Now after much tweaking I am within +- .2 mm which I think is spot on and I am calling this part of the adventure complete. So after doing this and going through the trouble of getting the effector calibrated to the bed (and using a piece of glass) I have even disabled the bed leveling calibration because in all honesty I don't need it. The thing is spot on across the bed! I am really happy about that - Thanks to everyone for the help and suggestions!

Now on to other things.

So - one of my rails was terrible - no matter what I did the thing would bind up about 1/3 or the way up and ruined many a prints. I sent Dan at FolgerTech an email about it and he sent me a replacement (I love their customer service - They are responsive and there to help. A+) The one he sent me was better, but not "buttery smooth" as others have stated. I had even taken the suggestion of removing the small retaining wire that helped guide bearings around the track to see if it helped (it did a little, I think the rails need the groove cut in just a tad deeper). I use "super lube" on them and they seem to be working so far. Any tips or tricks on how to keep them happy? Are your rails super smooth, meh or crappy? Did I just get a bad bunch? Just wondering if they start acting up if there are other things I can do or should I replace them? There was mention of some new rails up a few post but taking a quick look it seems that those might put me back another $150 (which i wouldn't mind too much if it could guarantee the system would be like butter) I did buy the aluminum 2020 corners and carriage ends from RobotDigg (they are fantastic - BTW) so I already am in for a little more than base price, but I am having a blast (thanks mostly to the help here in the forums, otherwise I would be miserable).

Anyways - Thanks again!

- Mike

Quote
tadawson
How do you know you are at 80? Is that coming from Marlin, or are you reading it yourself? My first guess would be that your thermistor is defined incorrectly, or plugged in to the wrong port . . . . but neither of those would explain why you get a mintemp error (set at 5 by default) when the temp should be rising . . .

- Tim

Coming from Marlin, reported to Pronterface.

Not 80 exactly, but always above 75C and below 85C.

Tim, thanks for the Firmware, it worked great once removed that line. My test print came out great but I ended up with a couple new questions.

My 20 mm test cube came out at a perfect 20 mm on the z axis but the x and y axis's came out slightly larger at 20.7 mm. If I make adjustments to the motor steps will it effect the z axis as well? How do I adjust my x and y axis's without effecting the z axis?

The other issue I ran into was how do I use the auto level? I found a comment on the web that I need to add the command G29 to my print but when I tried that the printer flipped out and I had to remove it. By flipped out I mean it tried to push past the end stops at the top and made the gears skip. Is there a different command to use with this firmware for auto level?

Thanks!!

Are you using 80 or 84 steps/mm? There has been an active discussion here on what the value should be, and frankly, I was discussing based on a bad memory - I was oversize as well (incorrectly remembered being under . . . :-) :-) ) and just made the change to 80 steps/mm on mine, and my Z accuracy got a whole lot better, and the other two are so close that I have not worried about it yet, although I believe that there are several excellent calibration docs here on RepRap (I just haven't found that one yet . . .). If anything, the steps/mm affects Z the most directly . . . A Z axis move is all three towers moving together . . . anything else involves trigonometry . . . so yes, Z will be adjusted, and by the direct amount of the change!

I played with the AutoLevel, both in the shipped version (which was a total train wreck) and in 1.0.3-dev, and I got the 1.0.3-dev version to probe correctly, but was never happy with the result. I have done a very close manual level, and other than setting the Z height when I change bed temps (it drifts a bit) I have better level without auto than with it, so quit playing with it for now. When I did play with it, I had to go through a couple of updates, since auto-level on the Delta's is still pretty rough . . .

The main things I recall is to make sure that your print area *radius* is set correctly - DELTA_PRINTABLE_RADIUS should be 76 or so. This sets the X/Y min/max travel limits for you (easy to put diameter in here, and slam all over the place . . . ask me how I know . . . ).

Later on is DELTA_PROBABLE_RADIUS, which I think was DELTA_PRINTABLE_RADIUS - 10, and I had to change to -20, due to the offset of the probe on this machine. The offsets are important, and on mine (servo in the *back* of the head), the offsets look like:


#define X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER -5 // Probe on: -left +right
#define Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 20 // Probe on: -front +behind
#define Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER -4.8 // -below (always!)

Make sure you get these right as well, since if you have the sign reversed, it's gonna drive the head too far the wrong way trying to get to a point to probe . . .

With that in place, I then could just do:

G28 ; it still needs to find the endstops so that it can figure out *where* to auto-probe!
M401 ; deploy probe
G4 P2000 ; wait 2 secs for probe deploy
G29 ; auto level
M402 ; retract probe
G4 P2000; wait 2 secs for retract to complete.

I also found that with the smallish bed on the Kossel, I could only get AUTO_BED_LEVELING_GRID_POINTS to 6, anything higher and it would bomb because the points were too close together.

My main issue was that the matrix output from leveling was all over the place, and I know my bed isn't that bad. The Folger probe is kinda floppy, so likely that was my issue, and one day I'll get back to it . . .

I have a question for you . . . Do you know the ratings or part numbers on your motors? Mine have been running so dang hot, the corners are deforming on my printer, and with them in the unit, I can't read the labels (if any). I note that the motors sold on the Folger page are .4a/12v motors, but the value they have us set on the drivers of .35v, gives a drive current of .875 amps, which would explain the baking . . . I have a question in to Folger as to what is actually provided, and am currently running at .31 with no issues but still pretty warm, and will probably try .25 volts tomorrow (the calc says that .23 should be correct *IF* these are the .4A motors . . . ).

Auto bed compensation shouldn't be needed on a delta. What you really need is auto delta calibration instead. Rich Cattel's testing fork of Marlin has this. From the reports I have seen, it seems to work for some users after doing 5 to 10 iterations taking up to 30 minutes, but doesn't converge at all for other users.

I gave up trying to drive my delta with Arduino/RAMPS/Marlin, which isn't fast enough to run a delta well, and switched to Duet electronics and RepRapFirmware. See the link in my signature for details. My Kossel now auto-calibrates in 25 seconds, fast enough to run it the start of each print.

Regarding the motors, there is usually a part number on a label attached to each motor, and you can use that to look up the specification on the web.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

dc42 - Is there any chance that you can reply to *anything* here without whoring the damn Duet? Yes, it's an option, but it's not the only one, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the question here, and I am really getting sick of the constant plugging. If you are trying to sell boards, please get a section in the vendor area . . . otherwise, please chill, OK?

And duh, of course the motors are marked . . . but that won't tell me what *others* have, and frankly, short of taking one out of the printer, I can't see the markings on mine . . . so trying to get info from others who may not have built yet. I did go to .25v (down from .35v) and things are still running fine, quieter, and much, much cooler . . . so, the empiracle evidence is supporting my suspicion so far . .


- Tin

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2015 02:38PM by tadawson.

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tadawson
dc42 - Is there any chance that you can reply to *anything* here without whoring the damn Duet? Yes, it's an option, but it's not the only one, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the question here, and I am really getting sick of the constant plugging. If you are trying to sell boards, please get a section in the vendor area . . . otherwise, please chill, OK?

[rant]
I get sick and tired of seeing the same problems crop up over and over again, here and on the delta printer forum, which could be avoided if the people selling delta printer kits shipped modern electronics and firmware with them. Such as posts about getting motor currents right, getting delta calibration or bed levelling right, configuring the firmware correctly, or getting poor print quality because they didn't get the delta segments/second compromise right, or made the mistake of attaching a graphics LCD, or printed over the USB link from Windows/Pronterface instead of from the SD card. Plus all the other Arduino/RAMPS stuff like the voltage regulator failing because it runs too hot, or the heated bed mosfet not working properly because cheap Chinese RAMPS boards don't use appropriate mosfets (this one may not apply to the ones Folger ships of course). In the early days of RepRaps, it didn't matter that you have to edit and recompile the firmware to make any configuration change, or spend hours doing delta calibration, or twiddle pots while reading a voltmeter to set motor currents. But kits are now sold to people with little electronics or software knowledge. They deserve something better.
[/rant]

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tadawson
And duh, of course the motors are marked . . . but that won't tell me what *others* have, and frankly, short of taking one out of the printer, I can't see the markings on mine

Even the extruder motor? That looks very accessible in the photos in Folger's documentation. Or does Folger supply a different motor type for the extruder?

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

The extruder motor is larger, and is also consistent with what they sell on thier page. 1.5A at 3v, which explains why it runs so nicely with a current of about .85, instead of the documented .55, which was a skip-fest. I suspect that they changed the motors they supply somewhere along the way, and the docs didn't get the update . . .

And I really think you overstate the problems. Setting current is a 30 second excercise in boredom, as is setting stepping . . . and, myself, I prefer mechanical adjustments, since they don't change, and those are pretty much 'set and forget' items.

Not sure where you get the idea that 250KB is too slow to print . . . with typical gcode being maybe 10 characters, thats getting close to (I forget if baud is bits or bytes at the moment) either around 25,000 or 2500 segments per second, hardly a limitation . . . and echoing "OK" *IS* a form of flow control (read up on software flowcontrol). . . it *WORKS*, at least from Linux . . . I can't say what kind of bad engineering may cripple this in WhinDuhs . . .

Dumbing things down due to unskilled users, at least to me, is a bad plan (see: Idiodracy). If a person does not have the mental firepower or willingness to learn the technology, perhaps they shouldn't be building thier own . . . Myself, I want *everything* exposed, and build from source and modularity give me that. And for that matter, even on a lot of the stuff that Duet integrates (current, steps, for example) if you don't know *what* to set these to, the integration provides zero value, and hence does not solve any problems, but simply moves them to a different interface.

There is not one solution to all problems, and frankly, folks who own what they own want help with that hardware, not to be insulted/lectured that they bought the wrong thing!

UPDATE: I looked at my extruder motor, and no markings whatsoever . . . . Chinese generic as far as I can tell . . . I'll look at the others when I rebuild with metal corners, if they ever ship . . . :-( :-(

- Tim

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2015 05:35PM by tadawson.

I have seen the limitations of the 8bit electronics first hand just about an hour ago.

I issued a travel-command in pronterface just: G0 F8000 C0 Y0 Z5, and the motors were stuttering like hell, first I thoguht there was something mechanically wrong, bad rails (again), something stuck in a motor or something like that.

But just lowering the travelspeed did the trick, I have 1/32 steppers and the mega doesn't handle that at high travel speeds.

EDIT: thevisad also reported problems with the 1/32-steppers so he went back to 1/16, but I don't think he ever Identified it as beeing the limit of the electronics.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2015 04:13PM by Koenig.

I'm not sure what motors I have. I used the aluminum corners which will act as heat sinks so I'm not sure how much heat they are generating.

I have my steps at 80 and the z axis is coming out perfect. It is the horizontal plane in the x/y axis that's oversized. Which adjustments in the configuration will only impact the x/y plane without changing the z axis?

Thanks!

Sorry, I'm going to punt on that one . . I've heard it is tunable, but don't know how . . .

- Tim

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matthew900
I'm not sure what motors I have. I used the aluminum corners which will act as heat sinks so I'm not sure how much heat they are generating.

I have my steps at 80 and the z axis is coming out perfect. It is the horizontal plane in the x/y axis that's oversized. Which adjustments in the configuration will only impact the x/y plane without changing the z axis?

Thanks!

I'm in the same situation myself and I've found this: [delta-calibration.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com]

It also seems one of my towers is a bit off, my prints come out a bit skewed. I thought getting the aluminium-corners would help against this, how wrong one can be...

And still no heated bed above 90C, think this has something to do with the RAMPS (Duet underway)

Quote
matthew900
I have my steps at 80 and the z axis is coming out perfect. It is the horizontal plane in the x/y axis that's oversized. Which adjustments in the configuration will only impact the x/y plane without changing the z axis?

Assuming you have already done delta calibration, I suggest you start by checking is that the diagonal rod length you have configured in the firmware accurately matches the actual value, measured between bearing centres. If it is set too low, I think that could account for the print being oversized in the XY plane. If you do need to adjust it, you will need to re-do delta calibration, because the value you configure affects convexity.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

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Koenig

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matthew900
I'm not sure what motors I have. I used the aluminum corners which will act as heat sinks so I'm not sure how much heat they are generating.

I have my steps at 80 and the z axis is coming out perfect. It is the horizontal plane in the x/y axis that's oversized. Which adjustments in the configuration will only impact the x/y plane without changing the z axis?

Thanks!

I'm in the same situation myself and I've found this: [delta-calibration.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com]

It also seems one of my towers is a bit off, my prints come out a bit skewed. I thought getting the aluminium-corners would help against this, how wrong one can be...

And still no heated bed above 90C, think this has something to do with the RAMPS (Duet underway)

I can hit 110 on mine with ease in 6 or 7 minutes, and hold it indefinitely with the stock RAMPS. I was stuck at 100 before I insulated the bottom of the bed though . . .

- Tim

I put two layers of corkboard under my heatbed with each piece covered in the metalic aluminum tape you use on furnaces. With this setup the bed has been heating up reliably and quickly. Plus it's kept the under bed temps nice and low.

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tadawson

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Koenig

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matthew900
I'm not sure what motors I have. I used the aluminum corners which will act as heat sinks so I'm not sure how much heat they are generating.

I have my steps at 80 and the z axis is coming out perfect. It is the horizontal plane in the x/y axis that's oversized. Which adjustments in the configuration will only impact the x/y plane without changing the z axis?

Thanks!

I'm in the same situation myself and I've found this: [delta-calibration.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com]

It also seems one of my towers is a bit off, my prints come out a bit skewed. I thought getting the aluminium-corners would help against this, how wrong one can be...

And still no heated bed above 90C, think this has something to do with the RAMPS (Duet underway)

I can hit 110 on mine with ease in 6 or 7 minutes, and hold it indefinitely with the stock RAMPS. I was stuck at 100 before I insulated the bottom of the bed though . . .

- Tim

Mine is insulated as well, but for some reason I get that error I described earlier and the printer shuts down and becomes non-responsive, 65C is no problem though so it's PLA only for now.

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Koenig

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tadawson

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Koenig

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matthew900
I'm not sure what motors I have. I used the aluminum corners which will act as heat sinks so I'm not sure how much heat they are generating.

I have my steps at 80 and the z axis is coming out perfect. It is the horizontal plane in the x/y axis that's oversized. Which adjustments in the configuration will only impact the x/y plane without changing the z axis?

Thanks!

I'm in the same situation myself and I've found this: [delta-calibration.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com]

It also seems one of my towers is a bit off, my prints come out a bit skewed. I thought getting the aluminium-corners would help against this, how wrong one can be...

And still no heated bed above 90C, think this has something to do with the RAMPS (Duet underway)

I can hit 110 on mine with ease in 6 or 7 minutes, and hold it indefinitely with the stock RAMPS. I was stuck at 100 before I insulated the bottom of the bed though . . .

- Tim

Mine is insulated as well, but for some reason I get that error I described earlier and the printer shuts down and becomes non-responsive, 65C is no problem though so it's PLA only for now.

There are a lot of things that could be at fault on the temp error, but in my mind, the RAMPS card would be the last of them, since I don't recall any active components in the thermistor path. This almost has be be either a wiring or firmware configuration error . . . have you tried extending the MIN/MAX limits to see if it effects the problem? And even of there is a bad AtoD channel onyour Mega, you can reconfig to use T2 instead, and work around it.

The shutdown, for what it's worth, is Marlin acting as designed on a temp error . . . *that* in itself is not a problem, but rather a reaction to one.

You say you get the bed temp from Marlin/Pronterface . . . What is the extruder temp reading when all this is happening?

- Tim

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2015 07:46PM by tadawson.

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Koenig

When trying to heat up the bed I get this error when I reach about 80C:

"Error:MINTEMP triggered, system stopped! Heater_ID: 0
[ERROR] Error:MINTEMP triggered, system stopped! Heater_ID: 0

Error: Printer halted. kill() called!
[ERROR] Error: Printer halted. kill() called!"

Any ideas what it could be?

"Heater_ID: 0" isn't that the hotend? why do I get a mintemp triggered on that when the bed reaches 80C....??


Mine is insulated as well, but for some reason I get that error I described earlier and the printer shuts down and becomes non-responsive, 65C is no problem though so it's PLA only for now.

You could have a break in the thermistor wire(s) that is conductive when below 80C and not when above. When the system is off and cold, pull the thermistor from the RAMPS and meter it. Then run the system and meter the thermistor again after you see the error. Maybe meter it when the temp is about 60C to get a closer comparison.

Rick

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tadawson

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Koenig

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tadawson

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Koenig

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matthew900
I'm not sure what motors I have. I used the aluminum corners which will act as heat sinks so I'm not sure how much heat they are generating.

I have my steps at 80 and the z axis is coming out perfect. It is the horizontal plane in the x/y axis that's oversized. Which adjustments in the configuration will only impact the x/y plane without changing the z axis?

Thanks!

I'm in the same situation myself and I've found this: [delta-calibration.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com]

It also seems one of my towers is a bit off, my prints come out a bit skewed. I thought getting the aluminium-corners would help against this, how wrong one can be...

And still no heated bed above 90C, think this has something to do with the RAMPS (Duet underway)

I can hit 110 on mine with ease in 6 or 7 minutes, and hold it indefinitely with the stock RAMPS. I was stuck at 100 before I insulated the bottom of the bed though . . .

- Tim

Mine is insulated as well, but for some reason I get that error I described earlier and the printer shuts down and becomes non-responsive, 65C is no problem though so it's PLA only for now.

There are a lot of things that could be at fault on the temp error, but in my mind, the RAMPS card would be the last of them, since I don't recall any active components in the thermistor path. This almost has be be either a wiring or firmware configuration error . . . have you tried extending the MIN/MAX limits to see if it effects the problem? And even of there is a bad AtoD channel onyour Mega, you can reconfig to use T2 instead, and work around it.

The shutdown, for what it's worth, is Marlin acting as designed on a temp error . . . *that* in itself is not a problem, but rather a reaction to one.

You say you get the bed temp from Marlin/Pronterface . . . What is the extruder temp reading when all this is happening?

- Tim

Could be firmware as well.

"Heater_ID: 0" that is the extruders hotend right? agree on that?

It doesn't matter what temp the hotend is, I've tried having it at room-temp or heated to 235C (also read in pronterface, reported by marlin) but when the bed-temp reaches ~80C I get that error, sometimes before 80 sometimes after. Highest reading I got from the bed was 89.7C.

As a note I can add that the LED for the FET handling the heatbed is not acting well either, it goes out after a while when heating up the bed and never comes back on but the temp keeps rising, if heating the bed from room-temp to 110 it seems to go out at ~45C and never come back but the temp could still rise to ~80C.

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Ilamatrails
You could have a break in the thermistor wire(s) that is conductive when below 80C and not when above. When the system is off and cold, pull the thermistor from the RAMPS and meter it. Then run the system and meter the thermistor again after you see the error. Maybe meter it when the temp is about 60C to get a closer comparison.

Rick

I thought about this too, but wouldn't that report as the min_temp beeing triggered on "Heater_ID: 1" then?

Of course the firmware could poorly coded here and still report it as "Heater_ID: 0" even though the error is actually on "Heater_ID: 1"....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2015 01:22AM by Koenig.

Also what do you guys says about this:

[someimage.com]

The dimensions are way off here, much more than a small tower displacement....

It is supposed to be an asterisk with the diagonal lines running parallel to each tower, with a horizontal line through the centre.

The firmware I'm using is 1.0.3 dev from 2015-06-09.

EDIT: Don't think too much about the look of the extruded plastics, I just laid some out rather quickly to get a notion of what could be off with the dimensions.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2015 03:53AM by Koenig.

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Koenig

Could be firmware as well.

"Heater_ID: 0" that is the extruders hotend right? agree on that?

It doesn't matter what temp the hotend is, I've tried having it at room-temp or heated to 235C (also read in pronterface, reported by marlin) but when the bed-temp reaches ~80C I get that error, sometimes before 80 sometimes after. Highest reading I got from the bed was 89.7C.

As a note I can add that the LED for the FET handling the heatbed is not acting well either, it goes out after a while when heating up the bed and never comes back on but the temp keeps rising, if heating the bed from room-temp to 110 it seems to go out at ~45C and never come back but the temp could still rise to ~80C.

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Ilamatrails
You could have a break in the thermistor wire(s) that is conductive when below 80C and not when above. When the system is off and cold, pull the thermistor from the RAMPS and meter it. Then run the system and meter the thermistor again after you see the error. Maybe meter it when the temp is about 60C to get a closer comparison.

Rick

I thought about this too, but wouldn't that report as the min_temp beeing triggered on "Heater_ID: 1" then?

Of course the firmware could poorly coded here and still report it as "Heater_ID: 0" even though the error is actually on "Heater_ID: 1"....

Check out this section of the Configuration.h file. It ties the 2 heaters together. Possible it is the heater thermistor that is pulling away from the heatbed, or the wiring is messed up? Maybe disable the protection to see.

//===========================================================================
//======================== Thermal Runaway Protection =======================
//===========================================================================

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llamatrails

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Koenig

Could be firmware as well.

"Heater_ID: 0" that is the extruders hotend right? agree on that?

It doesn't matter what temp the hotend is, I've tried having it at room-temp or heated to 235C (also read in pronterface, reported by marlin) but when the bed-temp reaches ~80C I get that error, sometimes before 80 sometimes after. Highest reading I got from the bed was 89.7C.

As a note I can add that the LED for the FET handling the heatbed is not acting well either, it goes out after a while when heating up the bed and never comes back on but the temp keeps rising, if heating the bed from room-temp to 110 it seems to go out at ~45C and never come back but the temp could still rise to ~80C.

Quote
Ilamatrails
You could have a break in the thermistor wire(s) that is conductive when below 80C and not when above. When the system is off and cold, pull the thermistor from the RAMPS and meter it. Then run the system and meter the thermistor again after you see the error. Maybe meter it when the temp is about 60C to get a closer comparison.

Rick

I thought about this too, but wouldn't that report as the min_temp beeing triggered on "Heater_ID: 1" then?

Of course the firmware could poorly coded here and still report it as "Heater_ID: 0" even though the error is actually on "Heater_ID: 1"....

Check out this section of the Configuration.h file. It ties the 2 heaters together. Possible it is the heater thermistor that is pulling away from the heatbed, or the wiring is messed up? Maybe disable the protection to see.

//===========================================================================
//======================== Thermal Runaway Protection =======================
//===========================================================================

Yes but that doesn't come into effect until the target temp is reached (20 seconds after), I never get there in the first place.

Leaving it be for now, can still print PLA and I have dimensional issues that are more important for now + a duet-board is underway.

Crazy idea, but an easy test. I take it your electronics are under the bed, correct? Try laying the printer on it's side, and perhaps a small fan blowing at the RAMPS card, and see if it will heat. A bad solder joint set off by thermal expansion could cause your thermistor to glitch. If that works, edit pins.h and put the thermistor in question (E0) on the unused thermistor input. You might also try setting the MINTEMP values to 0 (not sure if negative values are alllwed) and see if it keeps heating.

For what it's worth, I am also on 1.0.3-dev, and use the runaway protection stuff, so unless there was a buggy moment in the dev tree, this isn't likely a firmware problem. If it is a bad RAMPS, Folger would have happily replaced it for nothing . . .

- Tim

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2015 12:33PM by tadawson.

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tadawson
Crazy idea, but an easy test. I take it your electronics are under the bed, correct? Try laying the printer on it's side, and perhaps a small fan blowing at the RAMPS card, and see if it will heat. A bad solder joint set off by thermal expansion could cause your thermistor to glitch. If that works, edit pins.h and put the thermistor in question (E0) on the unused thermistor input. You might also try setting the MINTEMP values to 0 (not sure if negative values are alllwed) and see if it keeps heating.

For what it's worth, I am also on 1.0.3-dev, and use the runaway protection stuff, so unless there was a buggy moment in the dev tree, this isn't likely a firmware problem. If it is a bad RAMPS, Folger would have happily replaced it for nothing . . .

- Tim

I mounted my electronics on the Z-tower for easy access and good cooling:
[someimage.com]

Easier that way for experimenting and trouble shooting, thought I'd design myself a box to keep it in as soon as I get everything tuned in but for now it's breathing free!

Well, crap! Another good theory down the toilet . . .

I would be interested in knowing what happens if you zero MINTEMP . . . if you can get past 80 degrees, perhaps whatever is acting up will become more easily detectable.

- Tim

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2015 07:44PM by tadawson.

Make sure the wire you are using is capable of hamdling the amperage for the bed.

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cislom

So - one of my rails was terrible - no matter what I did the thing would bind up about 1/3 or the way up and ruined many a prints. I sent Dan at FolgerTech an email about it and he sent me a replacement (I love their customer service - They are responsive and there to help. A+) The one he sent me was better, but not "buttery smooth" as others have stated. I had even taken the suggestion of removing the small retaining wire that helped guide bearings around the track to see if it helped (it did a little, I think the rails need the groove cut in just a tad deeper). I use "super lube" on them and they seem to be working so far. Any tips or tricks on how to keep them happy? Are your rails super smooth, meh or crappy? Did I just get a bad bunch? Just wondering if they start acting up if there are other things I can do or should I replace them? There was mention of some new rails up a few post but taking a quick look it seems that those might put me back another $150 (which i wouldn't mind too much if it could guarantee the system would be like butter) I did buy the aluminum 2020 corners and carriage ends from RobotDigg (they are fantastic - BTW) so I already am in for a little more than base price, but I am having a blast (thanks mostly to the help here in the forums, otherwise I would be miserable).

Anyways - Thanks again!

- Mike

Back to the rails:
Two of mine were better than the third, and that isn't saying much. All 6 tracks were missing ball bearings, no amount of lubing with gun oil would work for long, they would still stutter. I'd oil them and work them each time before messing with the printer, but I couldn't even run them long enough to try to configure the darn printer before that 3rd rail would gag. Agghhhh !!!

I ordered new ball bearings, 3/32" chrome steel from eBay, and worked on the rails this weekend. Tore down the worst first, pulled the retainer wire and put in all new ball bearings. Still couldn't get it to slide even close to the other two, and they hadn't been worked on yet.

Realized that the screws holding the red wiper plate and green turn-around block were affecting the slide depending on how tight they were. Then I noticed that the red wiper plate was not centering in the groove between the rails but was riding on it, as was the top center of the red plate riding on the rail. Well, since there won't be any scarf getting on these rails ...

Ok, here is what is working for me. I tore down the blocks, cleaned them and the rails, then repacked the blocks fully with new ball bearings. Didn't install the retainer wires or the red wiper plates. The end cap screws are tightened down just enough so the green block is completely flush against the carriage block. Since the green block snaps back into place, I didn't tighten the screws any further once I could see that the heads were touching the green block, with no light passing between the head and the block. Didn't want any compression by the screw heads restricting the ball bearings passing through the green block. Lube with gun oil, and they are way better then before.

Thanks to all who reported their efforts with these slides, hope my info will help too.

Rick

Hello

I finally competed my build and I think I'm getting close on calibration. Just have a question about g29 auto probe. When I send the command, (after sending g28), two of the three axis move down while the y carriage stays. I hear a stutter, (like the motor is trying to move past its extent) and then the auto probe sequence starts on the build plate. But off as much as the y axis was "held up" from the start of the g29 command. Seems like the two carriages were movin with the expectation that the third was coming along for the trip.

Any ideas?

And I am glad to have found this forum, I will have to adjust my voltages on my extruder, it was skipping.. (Must be the low voltage)

What firmware? The build from Folger, or something more recent?

And if you try to bring the carriage down with manual gcode - such as G1 Z25 F3000, what happens? (That should put the nozzle 25mm from the plate in the center . . .).

- Tim