Has any one built the Micromake printer?

I bought a Micromake printer and have been going through the very limited instructions for it. I think the assembly will be pretty straight forward as it is a standard Kossel/Delta design. Just looking for any advice/help from someone that might have built the same one.

I have one. hit me up if you have any questions

Hi I also have one , with the heated bed option, I’m just starting to get my firsts reliable prints, you may find this helpful if you happen to crack something during assembly [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:815480] and I’m currently printing this filament spool holder to mount on the top [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:508896], let me know if you have any questions

Nice to see that there are more people buying these. I actually have some issues on my own with the firmware. Well, at least I think thats the problem. See when I print something at a larger size than 2cm or so the whole print shifts a couple of millimeters in the direction of the y axis. I tested quite a lot to make sure there is nothing wrong with the hardware. I suspect there to be a rounding issue with every move command. So far I tested both the repetier firmware that comes pre installed and the marlin firmware from the micromake website and both give me the same results. I really hope that someone can help me with this one...

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dominsch
Nice to see that there are more people buying these. I actually have some issues on my own with the firmware. Well, at least I think thats the problem. See when I print something at a larger size than 2cm or so the whole print shifts a couple of millimeters in the direction of the y axis. I tested quite a lot to make sure there is nothing wrong with the hardware. I suspect there to be a rounding issue with every move command. So far I tested both the repetier firmware that comes pre installed and the marlin firmware from the micromake website and both give me the same results. I really hope that someone can help me with this one...

If it isn´t processor overload, I´m sure it´s a hardware problem.
Check the vertical tower carriers for smooth running.
Verify all three stepper drivers for XYZ have the same sufficient current adjustment.
Vref adjustment Pololu
Vref on stepstick

Print slow to make sure, it´s not controller overload. Maybe reduce " Segments per second" in marlins configuration.h

// Make delta curves from many straight lines (linear interpolation).
// This is a trade-off between visible corners (not enough segments)
// and processor overload (too many expensive sqrt calls).
#define DELTA_SEGMENTS_PER_SECOND 160  //200

-Olaf

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2015 05:21AM by o_lampe.

Hi,

I bought one too and I'm just starting to assemble it. I looked at the videos on the SD card and at assembly instructions for similar printers but some things are still unclear... maybe somebody else that has this printer can help?

Does this printer has an automatic bed levelling probe?
In one of the videos I can see that a micro switch is attached to the spider. I suppose this is for the z-probe but I can't figure out how it is supposed to work and can't find anything in the videos.


I also can't figure out where the pieces in the image below go. The bottom one has holes for the connectors and power switch but I don't know where to attach the plate.


Thanks for your help!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2015 10:12AM by ED8617.

Quote
ED8617
Hi,

I bought one too and am not starting to assemble it. I looked at the videos on the SD card and at assembly instructions for similar printers but some things are still unclear... maybe somebody else that has this printer can help?

Does this printer has an automatic bed leveling probe?
In one of the videos I can see that a micro switch is attached to the spider. I suppose this is for the z-probe but I can't figure out how it is supposed to work and can't find anything in the videos.

Hi, Yes it has one, It uses the hotend like a probe, In my opinion it works great but it does need some calibration, you should mount your hotend to this piece and a long M3 screw goes below the switch that is what you use to calibrate it, and the whole piece is then mount to the ¨spider" by the same screws use to mount 2 of the Rods.

Quote
ED8617
I also can't figure out where the pieces in the image below go. The bottom one has holes for the connectors and power switch but I don't know where to attach the plate.

The plate for the connectors goes between the aluminium profiles at the base of the printer


I'm away from my printer right now but I can send you some pictures of the piece assemble later

Good Luck!!

Thank you for your answer Olaf <3 Ok, where do I begin. Good news first: it works!!! I measured the current output with my multimeter and it was 0.8A across the board. Next I switched the motor plugs around. I was pretty sure I tried this already, but apparently I'm an idiot. The offset appeared to be in the same direction as before. I then changed out the stepper with one of my 2nd kit (don't ask) and the print was totally fine. How is that even possible? Is it normal for a stepper to behave like that? I am very confused. I hope someone can explain what happened.

hello i bought a pretty similar kossel.. mine is 29cm glass heated..also i bought a metal corners an effector kit... but all m4 screw beacome useless i need m4x10...

Quote
ED8617
I also can't figure out where the pieces in the image below go. The bottom one has holes for the connectors and power switch but I don't know where to attach the plate.
[attachment 60833 IMG_20150826_125749.jpg]

hi @ED8617, i think the plate on the top of photo is for ramps ididnt try it. but looks like and hold it to profiles with the small piece...

other thing that i dont find it is the way to hold the glass to the printer..maybe is with screws but im planing a dibond plates and a cork strips for hold it properly and protect electronics from the heat..

when i make a progress i will start to posti pics...


sorry if i don wirtt good english but i make my best effort

Hi Velric and Dioon,

thank you for you answers!

Quote
Velric
Yes it has one, It uses the hotend like a probe, In my opinion it works great but it does need some calibration, you should mount your hotend to this piece [attachment 60837 Auto_Kossel_Effector-middle_preview_featured.jpg] and a long M3 screw goes below the switch that is what you use to calibrate it, and the whole piece is then mount to the ¨spider" by the same screws use to mount 2 of the Rods.

The plate for the connectors goes between the aluminium profiles at the base of the printer

Now I understand how the z-probe works: thanks! The two parts fit together so snugly that the inner wasn't moving: I did some filing and now the switch works correctly.

Quote
Dioon
i think the plate on the top of photo is for ramps ididnt try it. but looks like and hold it to profiles with the small piece...

I think you are right: the holes in the bigger piece match the ones in the Arduino Mega.
The small hole in the bigger part does now line up very well with the slot in the smaller part... but I can probably glue it together ;-)

Hi, I order one of these printer and it should be here soon (hopfully).
This will be my second 3d printer i have a prusa i3 z605 that i have had for some months.
I understand how the firmware works and i added auto level for the metal bed etc.....


Moving on to the question.
I download this firmware so i could take a look at the settings and just get a feel for how the Delta type printers work.
The firmware is in all chinese. Does anyone have an english verison of it?
Or must i use google traslate and try to convert it?

Also i order the heated bed model.
Does this one come with the big pc adapter(like the prusa i3s) or will the laptop adapter still work?

thank you for all the information and any tips you could give would be nice.
again Not my frist 3d printer but first delta type.


*edit
Well im simply using google and other firmware to translate this one.
When done and once i tested it i will upload it

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2015 07:39PM by xile6.

The firmware from the micromake website is basicly marlin. You can find the english version here. However I prefer using the repetier firmware that comes pre installed, since you can use the micromake debugger with it.
The notebook power supply only provides 6A witch isn't enough for the heat bed, so they send you one of these 16A LED power supplies.

Hi all, I just joined and only recently got myself one of the micromake kossel deltas. I want to connect a hot bed to it and I an not sure how exactly this is done. My PCB is a micromake v1.2 and it has two terminals for hear bed but also has a separate power supply for the bed. I can't see anywhere in the default firmware to put the HB temp either.

Any suggestions?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2015 07:53AM by edak.

I can't help you with the hardware but there is a separate firmware for the micromake with heatbed upgrade(repetier based).

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edak
Hi all, I just joined and only recently got myself one of the micromake kossel deltas. I want to connect a hot bed to it and I an not sure how exactly this is done. My PCB is a micromake v1.2 and it has two terminals for hear bed but also has a separate power supply for the bed. I can't see anywhere in the default firmware to put the HB temp either.

Any suggestions?

A picture would help.
I got mines today but it uses the old board (aduno and ramp)
I have the firmware for that one also. It was on the sd car that was sent. But since it was in chinese i rebuild one in english for myself.

But back on topic.
I have a 5a and 15a (could be 10a) power supply.
I added 12volt to both of these. Then the heated bed went to bed 1.
(I have a spot for 2 heaters tho)

*edit pulled this from google



Looks like the heated bed goes on the first spots on the bottom on blue.
The firmware would just be one of those pins.
You can do the way tho.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2015 08:09PM by xile6.

Problem solved, the seller got back to me about my question, was an easy solution too!

The software I had originally downloaded had two firmwares included (hex) in the resources folder for cura. one was for a heated bed version of my printer. In Cura I just go into printer settings, enable the heat bed and upload default firmware (firmware was in the right folder for this to work.

My board looks similar to that you pictured above but mine says 1.2 version. There is no separate power for the bed, soni used a more beefy power supply on the main power jack and it worked a treat!

Thanks for the assistance, I am now able to print ABS and just printed my test Marvin.

Edit: Dominsch, that is the same hex file I had to use good spot!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2015 08:22AM by edak.

Hey guys, this might not be the right thread but I can't get my power supply to work. It works when I just use the controller, but the moment I turn on the steppers it goes off. I connected the green wire to ground and used a yellow wire from the 12V2 rail(tried the 12V1 too) for power. There probably is an easy fix for this but I am not a smart guy.

Hey I have built this printer and dialed it in pretty well. One thing I can't seem to do is to reduce the stepper wine when it prints. I tried to reduce the current to the motors in marlin but that appears to have no effect. The stepper controllers are integrated into the board and I don't see any way to adjust the current physically. Does anyone have any info on this controller board? XILE6 has a picture of it above. And I think I just saw the pots for the steppers just below the caps in that picture. Well I'll have to check mine and see if I have those on my board.

If you have the v1.1 micromake board, there should be a surface mount pot near each driver chip, I adjusted mine ages ago with a multimeter to provide the rated current of the steppers that came with my kit when I decided to heatsink the drivers and upgrade my PSU to a 40 amp meanwell but I can't remember which direction is up or down on the pots.

To the guys trying to use the chinese firmware, I'd suggest flashing a newer marlin or repitier image onto your board, while the stock firmware is ok if you want 'toy' grade prints and don't care for accuracy good enough to print gears and such, it doesnt allow for easy adjustment of tower offsets, diagonal arm length variance or tower angle offset, and trust me, the arms are not consistant enough for quality prints without compensation. Also there is simply too much lash in the traxxas style joints and the hinge of the bed probe portion of the effector, which I plan on fixing with zero lash magnetic joints soon.

For reference I have the best kit micromake had to offer back in June, the one that came with linear rails and metal traxxas style joints, with the stock configuration I was able to print models and figures fine, but anything that requires accuracy, such as gears or bearings were out of the question, since then I've replaced the plastic belt carriges with aluminum ones that don't allow the belts to slip, allowing higher tension, which increased accuracy significantly by reducing lash.
I also replaced the stock hotend with a quality e3d v6 clone which also helped improve print quality, the stock hotend worked great for about a month before it just started jamming constantly.

Dominsch, you need to use the 12v1 terminal, the 12v2 is the -12v and only supplies 0.3a
also, some computer power supplies need to have a load on the 3.3 / 5v rails to function in a stable fashion, also it could be that the inrush current of the motors is more than the PSU can supply, which would mean you either need a bigger PSU or some capacitors.

Sounds like your endstop is getting triggered during your print by stepper noise.

Make sure you endstop cabling is separate from your stepper cabling - the steppers can induce noise on the endstop signal lines, and cause the firmware to think and endstop has been hit.

This will case the print to shift in the X/Y, and slight lose some Z.

Anyone mount this honking power supply to the frame or I just have to leave it hanging?

Quote
aimatt
Anyone mount this honking power supply to the frame or I just have to leave it hanging?

Mounted to the frame.
I had it on the side since the mount i use is for the side, but my bed is bigger (220 alu)
So i end up just flipping it and putting it on Z 2020 beam. Works great and also printed out a cover and switch for the power supply.





Also if you go on thingivers and search for micromake, they have an updated effector with nut holders for the rear bolts.


Ill edit in the stl in a min when i find them

*edit

STL
Mounting tabs
Power supply cover
Clips used for wires
Bigger wire clip
Upgraded effector

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2015 02:14PM by xile6.

Thanks! That's really helpful.

This is my first 3d printer, but I've had experience with arduino and multiorotors before, which is pretty similar. I used the rotary encoder to move the x axis + 6mm, but the extruder went straight down. I would expect that that would be the -z axis instead. Is this normal? If not, do I just switch around the stepper wires like I would with a multirotor until it goes the right direction?

Also, it made a lot of noise and vibration when moving. Could that mean my belts are too tight?

Quote
aimatt
This is my first 3d printer, but I've had experience with arduino and multiorotors before, which is pretty similar. I used the rotary encoder to move the x axis + 6mm, but the extruder went straight down. I would expect that that would be the -z axis instead. Is this normal? If not, do I just switch around the stepper wires like I would with a multirotor until it goes the right direction?

Also, it made a lot of noise and vibration when moving. Could that mean my belts are too tight?

Post a pic of the wiring.
Its possbike you have ut mix up.
The axis motor are all on the same row, then extruders on there own.

Also if yiu didnt home before moving. It will do weird stuff like moce very slowly in a random way.

I'll play with it a little more then before I post pics. I'll give autohome a shot. I'm stil trying to figure out where the noise is coming from, it was enough to drop a loose grub screw out of the extruder assembly.

Found it. One of the wires on the x motor came loose. Bad crimp.

I'm finding my z endstop is not working. Either it broke when the nozzle smashed into the glass, or I have the wire in the wrong place. Either way, I'm finding that Z reads as ~3mm when it's zeroed. I tried the Z offset setting under motion, but it didn't help. It's also going too wide and smashing into the pulley belt. As of right now, I'm using Cura and wherever I drag the model on the plate, it starts way to the front on the glass plate.. How do I calibrate this thing??

Quote
aimatt
Found it. One of the wires on the x motor came loose. Bad crimp.

I'm finding my z endstop is not working. Either it broke when the nozzle smashed into the glass, or I have the wire in the wrong place. Either way, I'm finding that Z reads as ~3mm when it's zeroed. I tried the Z offset setting under motion, but it didn't help. It's also going too wide and smashing into the pulley belt. As of right now, I'm using Cura and wherever I drag the model on the plate, it starts way to the front on the glass plate.. How do I calibrate this thing??

download and open up pronterface.
Connect to the printer
Home the printer by pressing the House button without a letter next to it
Then in the window where it says send type in M119
this will check the end stops. Since you just home the printer it should read.
triggered for X, Y, Z max while Z min will say open.

If it says triggered on Z min.
Then press up on the nozzle (do this while its cold.) Then type M119 again (while holding the nozzel)
If it now reads open. Then the switch is setup backwards in the firmware.

I will say that this printer is weird and i only got it to work correctly on its default firmware.

*edit
also for to add did you adjust the Z max length?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2015 08:42PM by xile6.

Thanks for the help. I did the gcode and it does switch to closed when pressed. So so all the endstops appear to trigger correctly. Doesn't that mean the nozzle shouldn't smash into the glass like it has been? Or is it just used for the probe? How do you do the probe?

I'll check on max z length.

I had changed z offset, not max v. I can do that, but I would think I could at least automatically get that value from the endstop.