Geeetech Rostock delta 301 printer setup first use issues

I'm new to 3D printers and I bought and assembled the Geeetech Rostock Delta 301 3 colour printer and when using the controls on the front to move x-y-z axis it chatters or shudders a lot when moving up with any stepper motor but moves smoothly in a downward direction. I've searched for troubleshooting info and didn't have much luck so I figured I'd ask here and hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction.

Thanks,

Justin.

Over 30 views and no opinions or ideas from anyone?

I tried the auto-home function and sometimes it works but mostly it goes to the top of the X-Y columns and the Z column seems to stick and then just shudder. Maybe there are some adjustments I can make? With the printer off it seems to slide freely by hand top to bottom on all axis.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Justin.

Insufficient motor current perhaps?

---

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].

Thanks for your reply. To me it seems more mechanical but I'm not sure what/where to adjust. I'm testing it without any heaters on so it's just the three stepper motors, cooling fans, and the LCD display. The power supply is 12v 20a.

Justin.

I had the same problem but only on the x axis. You need to adjust the current on your stepper drivers. Use a multimeter and try to get a reading between .8v - 1v by turning the small pot. Mine was sitting at around .3v and had alot of problems moving.
when checking your voltage your positive probe should be place on the pot and your ground probe can be placed on the driver GND or just the metal housing of the usb port.

Quote
estanci3
I had the same problem but only on the x axis. You need to adjust the current on your stepper drivers. Use a multimeter and try to get a reading between .8v - 1v by turning the small pot. Mine was sitting at around .3v and had alot of problems moving.
when checking your voltage your positive probe should be place on the pot and your ground probe can be placed on the driver GND or just the metal housing of the usb port.

Thanks, I'll check it out. Hopefully that's the issue.

UPDATE: I checked all the voltages and they were .57v so I adjusted it to 1v and it didn't make any difference.

When selecting Auto Home from the LCD menu it goes to the top of two of the axis and trigger the stop limit switches, but the third doesn't get all the way to the top and just chatters. If I push the switch manually it stops chattering so it seems something is preventing it from going to the top. X, Y, Z manual movement from the LCD panel works most of the time but sometimes skips or chatters.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2017 02:10PM by mantaray.

Check the wiring of the X endstop to see if it triggers properly. Swap the cable of the X endstop with that of another tower and see if the issue moves with the cable or stays with the tower. If it moves with the cable redo the connector (board side would be the most likely culprit), if it stays with the tower swap the X endstop switch to another tower. If the issue moves with the switch the switch is faulty and willl need to be replaced.

When sending gcode M119 you should get back "open" when the endstop switch is not triggered or "triggered" when it is, though that may not help a lot if the fault is intermittent.

Quote
siddharta
Check the wiring of the X endstop to see if it triggers properly. Swap the cable of the X endstop with that of another tower and see if the issue moves with the cable or stays with the tower. If it moves with the cable redo the connector (board side would be the most likely culprit), if it stays with the tower swap the X endstop switch to another tower. If the issue moves with the switch the switch is faulty and willl need to be replaced.

When sending gcode M119 you should get back "open" when the endstop switch is not triggered or "triggered" when it is, though that may not help a lot if the fault is intermittent.

Thanks for your reply. All the end stop switches are good and I can manually push them and they work. I had already switched X-Y switches and it didn't seem to make any difference. So basically 2 towers go to the top and then chatter while the third doesn't. If I use my finger to trigger the 3rd switch it stops the chattering so for some reason the one tower doesn't want to go to the top. It did work once or twice but never again. I loosened all the screws attaching the guides to the bars and that didn't seem to help either.

So, I'm still thinking it's somehow mechanical but what should I adjust?

Justin.

You could check to see if the belt on the axis that is sticking is to tight. Mine was doing the same until it was loosen

Quote
estanci3
You could check to see if the belt on the axis that is sticking is to tight. Mine was doing the same until it was loosen

The all seem to be the same tightness but I'll tried loosening it a bit and it made no difference. Everything seems to move fine by hand with the power off.

UPDATE: I figured it out. I had the end stop switches mixed up between the Y & Z axis. So that's fixed, but it stil seems to be moving strangely in the middle area at high speed. I'll level the platform and see if I can do a test print.

Thanks.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2017 10:07PM by mantaray.

Well, I got it to successfully print a bit, but after a few minutes sometimes it would run into the bed. It seems to be slipping on one axis during fast movement. Now it won't do the auto-home properly. The X axis stops 3/4 way from the top. It was working perfectly fine all day yesterday after I switched the end stop switch wires.

UPDATE: Okay, loose connection at the end stop plug on the control board so it's going to the top of all columns now. The P option to park seems to cause the Z access to skip a tooth or two on the belt though.

Justin.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2017 09:05PM by mantaray.

So frustrating... I re-calibrated the bed and loaded a file but now the extruder won't flow fast enough for the print. It barely flows at all just like it's leaking. I'm trying with ABS and the temp is 240C. I'd read the extruder feeds aren't good on the stock printer but it worked better yesterday with a test print so I know it's possible. Maybe something is clogging the nozzle? How hard is it to unclog?

Thanks,

Justin.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2017 11:17PM by mantaray.

I just realized one filament I was using was PLA and the main was ABS so maybe that caused it to clog the nozzle? The test print was done with PLA and it worked somewhat okay. I never did get the ABS working. Maybe the stock extruder feeds just can't push hard enough for it? I've seen metal replacements for this model printer so maybe that's the solution but I think the nozzle is clogged because the PLA isn't working like it did before.

UPDATE: clog gone, very slow printing (1/5th normal speed) due to stock extruder's slipping on the filament. Others have replaced with metal, larger stepper motors, not sure if I want to spend that much more money on it. I may just return it.

Thanks,

Justin.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2017 08:39PM by mantaray.

I managed to get it printing fairly good off of one feed nozzle from the three using PLA but a couple of times now it has halted mid-print and kept extruding. Stop print from the LCD menu didn't do anything so I turned off the main power. The stopping seems to happen after a few hours but another time it printed for 10 hrs without stopping.

Does anyone have this printer and can tell me if it's worth upgrading the diamond hot end and the extruder stepper motors and feeds to make a good printer out of it?

Thanks.

Justin.