Techzone Huxley unusable... is a fraud???

Hi all..... first... sorry for my english... I'm italian....

I bought a Techzone Huxley kit from Reprap Central with monolithic electronics in february 2012 (ordered in November 2011) but I have many problems whit this machine.
with original techzone firmware works only with repsnapper but with wrong and poor results and incorrect measures in the Z axis that to be appear half sized.
I tried to modify the firmware in the STEPS_PER_MM in "configuration.h/#if MOTHERBOARD == 3"
but the only result is the wrong frequency in Z axis that make to stop the Z motor
Also the motors are very noisy..... pratically unusable....
I also tried to install replicatorG with a modified techzone fiveD firmware, modified by crazytiti reprap french user that I have contacted because bought the same machine approximately the same days
His Monotronic seems to be microstepped while, my monotronic is half stepped. Why?
I have verified this because with this firmware in crazytiti's machine all axis movements are correct (In replicatorG/control panel 1mm. correspond to 1mm.) but in my machine with the same firmware an then the same STEPS_PER_MM, 1 mm. correspond to 8 mm.
When I tried to modify this value /8 then the movement are correct (only in control panel of replicatorG) but when I tried to print replicatorG return this message:
---
The pre-run check has found some potentially problematic GCode.
This may be a result of trying to run code on a machine other than
the one it's intended for (i.e. running dual headed GCode on a single headed machine)
This message can be turned off from the preferences menu.

Warning 1 of 4946 (see console for more): You are moving too fast!
G1 X75.0 Y75.0 F1000 Tries to turn an axis faster than its max rate.

Would you like to proceed with the build anyway?
---
I can see in the console that all lines have This message: You're moving too fast!
for example:
G1 X-12.14 Y-6.49 Z24.91 F1500.0 E263.87 Tries to turn an axis faster than its max rate.
[13:20:39] You're moving too fast!
G1 X-12.14 Y-10.01 Z24.91 F1500.0 E265.673 Tries to turn an axis faster than its max rate.
[13:20:39] You're moving too fast!

despite the warning, the X and Y axis seems to move properly (always very noisy) but the Z not move or.......
When the printer start printing move to home all axis correctly (also the Z axis) but when start printing I can see the Z led flashing but the screw doesn't want to turn it and then the printer is blocked in the first layer.
I also modified speed values /8 in replicatorG profile but the results are: X Y axis too slowly and Z axis work good
In short, in GCode, F values are correct for X Y axis but not for Z.

HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPP.... I'm going crazy!!!!!

Thanks in advance ...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2012 08:19AM by immaginaecrea.

I'm also a french owner of a Techzone Huxley, and I've been able to make it usable after a lot of trouble and sweat.


I'm using the modified 5D firmware provided by techzone (MonotronicsFirmware02182011.zip), changed a few value there (steps per mm, max speeds, etc).


I'm controlling it using repsnaper. No other software found working yet, but didn't try ReplicatorG, only printerface, reprap java host and repetier host.


I mostly use skeinforge for slicing - although slic3r can be used too.
For skeinforge, I have to add an extra script in the Export module. Put the attached file in your skeinforge installation at skeinforge_application/skeinforge_plugins/craft_plugins/export_plugins/static_plugins/ and enable it in the "Export" tab (Export operations). It will separate the Z movements so that they are not runt at the other axis speed, which is way too much for my Z.
The same thing can be done in Slic3r (see my post here).


My monotronics also have the old stepper drivers, only able to do half stepping. This is quite noisy indeed, but doesn't impair operations - just get sure to use locking nuts or threadlock whenever possible, vibrations are a pain.


Do not give up, we'll be able to help you. Here's a picture of my last successful print on that machine, to let you know it's possible :

---

Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Thank you friend....
>I'm using the modified 5D firmware provided by techzone (MonotronicsFirmware02182011.zip), changed a few value >there (steps per mm, max speeds, etc).

with the original steps/speeds or has changed it?

>For skeinforge, I have to add an extra script in the Export module. Put the attached file in your skeinforge installation at >skeinforge_application/skeinforge_plugins/craft_plugins/export_plugins/static_plugins/ and enable it in the "Export" tab >(Export operations). It will separate the Z movements so that they are not runt at the other axis speed, which is way too >much for my Z.
>The same thing can be done in Slic3r (see my post here).
What skeinforge version and what profile are you using?
where I can change Z max speed?

Thank you a lot

immaginaecrea Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> with the original steps/speeds or has changed it?

Good question. I don't exactly remember what I changed, so here is the relevant part of my configuration.h :

//**********************************************************************************************

// These settings are mainly for a Mendel with an Arduino Mega controller and Pololu stepper drivers
// See [reprap.org]

#if MOTHERBOARD == 3

//#define MENDEL 1

// Comment out this if you are using a thermocouple
//#define USE_THERMISTOR
//#define USE_DS2760
#define USE_TECHZONETIPMANAGE

#ifdef USE_DS2760
 #define OW 13
 #define OWTroubleshoot 13
 #define ReadNet 0x33
 #define SkipNet 0xCC
 #define RdReg 0x69
 #define thermoTypeK
 //#define thermoTypeJ
 //#define thermoTypeT
#endif
// Set to 1 if enable pins are inverting
// For RepRap stepper boards version 1.x the enable pins are *not* inverting.
// For RepRap stepper boards version 2.x and above the enable pins are inverting.
#define INVERT_ENABLE_PINS 1

// Set to one if the axis opto-sensor outputs inverting (ie: 1 means open, 0 means closed)
// RepRap opto endstops with H21LOI sensors are not inverting; ones with H21LOB
// are inverting.

#define X_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true
#define Y_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true
#define Z_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true

// Motherboard 3 driving Pololu microstepping controllers - 16 microsteps

// Axis scaling in stepper-motor steps per mm of movement

//#define X_STEPS_PER_MM   8.038 //10 tooth
#define X_STEPS_PER_MM   10.047
#define X_STEPS_PER_INCH (X_STEPS_PER_MM*INCHES_TO_MM) // *RO
#define INVERT_X_DIR 0

#define Y_STEPS_PER_MM   10.047
#define Y_STEPS_PER_INCH (Y_STEPS_PER_MM*INCHES_TO_MM) // *RO
#define INVERT_Y_DIR 0

//#define Z_STEPS_PER_MM   805.030 // had to be multiplied by 1.242189732
#define Z_STEPS_PER_MM   1000
#define Z_STEPS_PER_INCH (Z_STEPS_PER_MM*INCHES_TO_MM) // *RO
#define INVERT_Z_DIR 0

// Stepper-driven extruder
// E_STEPS_PER_MM is the number of steps needed to 
// extrude 1mm out of the nozzle.  E0 for extruder 0;
// E1 for extruder 1, and so on.

//#define E_STEPS_PER_MM   0.9      // NEMA 17 extruder 5mm diameter drive - empirically adjusted
//#define E0_STEPS_PER_MM   3.5      // original stock techzone value !!!
#define E0_STEPS_PER_MM   160.727
#define E1_STEPS_PER_MM   17.6      // NEMA 17 59/11 geared extruder 8mm diameter drive

// The temperature routines get called each time the main loop
// has gone round this many times

#define SLOW_CLOCK 2000

#endif

//**********************************************************************************************

// The speed at which to talk with the host computer; default is 19200

//#define HOST_BAUD 19200 // *RO
#define HOST_BAUD 115200

// Set 1s where you have endstops; 0s where you don't
// Both Darwin and Mendel have MIN endstops, but not MAX ones.

#define ENDSTOPS_MIN_ENABLED 1
#define ENDSTOPS_MAX_ENABLED 0

// The number of mm below which distances are insignificant (one tenth the
// resolution of the machine is the default value).

#define SMALL_DISTANCE 0.01 // *RO

// Useful to have its square

#define SMALL_DISTANCE2 (SMALL_DISTANCE*SMALL_DISTANCE) // *RO

//our maximum feedrates in mm/minute
#define FAST_XY_FEEDRATE 4800.0
#define FAST_Z_FEEDRATE  120.0

// Data for acceleration calculations
// Comment out the next line to turn accelerations off
#define ACCELERATION_ON
#define SLOW_XY_FEEDRATE 1200.0 // Speed from which to start accelerating
#define SLOW_Z_FEEDRATE 10.0


#if INVERT_ENABLE_PINS == 1  // *RO
#define ENABLE_ON LOW        // *RO
#else                        // *RO
#define ENABLE_ON HIGH       // *RO
#endif                       // *RO

// Set these to 1 to disable an axis when it's not being used,
// and for the extruder.  Usually only Z is disabled when not in
// use.  You will probably find that disabling the others (i.e.
// powering down the steppers that drive them) when the ends of
// movements are reached causes poor-quality builds.  (Inertia
// causes overshoot if the motors are not left powered up.)

#define DISABLE_X 0
#define DISABLE_Y 0
#define DISABLE_Z 0
#define DISABLE_E 0

// The number of 5-second intervals to wait at the target temperature for things to stabilise.
// Too short, and the extruder will jam as only part of it will be hot enough.
// Too long and the melt will extend too far up the insulating tube.
// Default value: 10

#define WAIT_AT_TEMPERATURE 10

// PID gains.  E_ = extruder, B_ = bed.  The Es are about right for a brass extruder about 8 mm 
// in diameter and 30 mm long heated by a 6 ohm coil with a 12v supply.  The B_ values are OK
// for the bed described here:  [reprap.org]
// Extruding increase biases the input to the extruder heater when the extruder
// is running as it requires more power.

#define E_TEMP_PID_PGAIN 2
#define E_TEMP_PID_IGAIN 0.15
#define E_TEMP_PID_DGAIN 0.5
#define EXTRUDING_INCREASE 7

#define B_TEMP_PID_PGAIN 2
#define B_TEMP_PID_IGAIN 0.07
#define B_TEMP_PID_DGAIN 1

//our command string length

#define COMMAND_SIZE 128 // *RO

// Our response string length

#define RESPONSE_SIZE 256 // *RO

// The size of the movement buffer

#define BUFFER_SIZE 4 // *RO

// Number of microseconds between timer interrupts when no movement
// is happening

#define DEFAULT_TICK (long)1000 // *RO

// What delay() value to use when waiting for things to free up in milliseconds

#define WAITING_DELAY 1 // *RO

> What skeinforge version and what profile are you
> using?
> where I can change Z max speed?

Using skeinforge 49 currently, I started with 42 I think and am following regular updates.
I did a profile from scratch, based on the PLA one.
Disable Limit if you use my gcode_small_separate_z.py, activate Dimension whatever you do.
I can post a working profile if you need it.

The only way you can change the Z max speed is in the script I attached previously, here's the relevant part :

if zString is not None and zString != self.lastZString:
			self.output.write('G1 F80.0\n')
			self.output.write('G1 Z' + zString + ' F100.0\n')
			self.output.write('G1 F' + feedRateString + '\n')

80.0 is the starting speed of Z movements, 100.0 the max Z speed achieved at end of Z moves. Unit is mm/minutes.

---

Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

yeahhhhhhhh... thanks thanks and more.......
many thanks to crazytiti and DeuxVis.......
now I am printing with skeinforge 50 and replicatorG (only for host and control) with pretty good quality...

I have mixed crazititi's firmware with yours steps_per_mm and your file gcode_small_separate_z.py (magic!!!!)....
some modifies to crazytiti's profile and now.... PRINT!
I have to check if everything works properly (dimension, fill, etc.) but seems to work........

The next days will publish the results.....

thanks again to all....

Nice.

Now the next problem you will face will probably be your hotend failing, if you still have the original techzone one. It cannot work for a long time without the ptfe cylinder releasing the nozzle.

---

Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

no problem with the hot-end..... I made it diy.... 0,5 nozzle diameter but the next step is 0.35

for now ..... thanks a lot...

Hope you're progressing on the Huxley front.

Here's a picture of my longest print ever, a motor support for a tabletop engraver mill.
That is 0.35 layer height, 3hours 30 minutes to print @ 40 mm/s.
Nearly maxing out the height capability of my machine being 7 cm tall.



edit : oh and yeah my hotend is starting to leak slowly, see the blob gently forming on the peek block. Will probably need to change it soon.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2012 03:02PM by DeuxVis.

---

Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Hi people, I also have a TechZoneCom Huxley, but I never actually got it printing very well. For some reason I had slack in the hot end itself, so it always printed every second layer on top of the previous one. After I finally found out, the hot end broke. The threading inside the teflon insulater got worn out, so the brass hotend just got pushed right out of the teflon insulater every time, jamming into the printer base. I tried with holding screws on the side to no avail, and I was unable to fit a hose clamp around the teflon insulater to squeeze everything together.

A buddy with a CNC mill has machined some parts I'm planning to use to squash the hot end together, and to stabilize it. I hope I get it working when I find time to work on this again. I rebuilt the hot end for the third time and put everything together, but then the nichrome wire burned off at one point, and since then I've been a bit fed up, and given it a rest for a while.

Seems to me the design used by techzone is one of the early ones, and is not the best design. I think the flaw is that it will wear out after not too long. How have you guys fared? How long has your techzone hot end lasted? Have you replaced it with something else, and if so, how did you interface it?

Yup, it's a know bug that the original hotend will fail, sometimes after under an hour of use...

I replaced it until now by a mendel-parts V5, but it also is starting to fail (after far more usage time then).

I think my next move would be an all metal hotend, or anything that doesn't use PTFE as a thermal barrier (except for maybe a small insert tube). JHead would do well I suppose.


Interface it, what do you mean, mounting or electronics ?

For the former you'd probably need to do a modified X carriage, depending on the mounting scheme of your choose hotend.

For the later, you can reuse the thermocouple, or mount another one, provided it is the same kind and you use about the same length, you can check it has the same resistance at room temperature as the original - for instance I used this one successfully : [cgi.ebay.fr]
To plug a resistor type heater instead of the nichrome wire is working straight away (try to get a similar resistance here too, if you get too low the power supply may not be powerful enough).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2012 10:15AM by DeuxVis.

---

Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Hi I was wondering if u can help me as well I also bought a huxley and cant get it to do anything... i have updated the firmware and did almost all of what you had listed but it just does not drive correctly nor does the extruder extrudes... i am using the old repsnapper..

I would really appreciate any help... im stressing out

DeuxVis, I've bought a J-Head extruder from hotends.com that I'm going to integrate as described on the RepRap wiki page Sprinter on gen3 (monotronics). This way I can throw away the tip manager and connect a power resistor and a thermistor directly to the monotronics main board. It should be supported using the Sprinter firmware.

Regarding the mounting, I'm not certain about that yet. I'm thinking about drilling two holes in the huxley tip clamp so I can hold the hotend in place with two screws, and hoping that'll hold long enough to print out a new hotend mount that will fit. If it fails, I could always get someone else to print the new hotend mount for me. But I guess it still needs to be designed, haven't seen one made by anyone else yet.

Jojo, You have to be more specific. What did you do, what did you expect to happen, and what actually happened?

Ketil,

Thanks for replying. I have everything put together and hooked up correctly if not better than what was pictures. I replaced all of the friction bearings with ball bearings and I trimmed and sanded everything until it was smooth and level so the skeleton/frame is in full working order. I then wired all the servos, optos/endstops, and wired the monotronics exactly as decribed in the monotronics wiki. The firmware was updated to the last available rev feb 18 2011.

Maybe I am not tuning the pots correctly or that I am not editing the firmware configurations right? When i run a test gcode program, from skeinforge, it does not look right at all. Shape is incorrect, servos dont respond like they should and after a while the x axis heats up....

I am new to python and arduino but I feel completely lost at the moment. Thanks for the help.

Ok, it's a long time since I set this up, but I'll give it a shot.

Regarding tuning the pots, I think a rule of thumb was that if you just keep the power on for a while, the motors should be quite warm to the touch, but not so hot you can't keep your finger on them. I did that before assembling the printer, with the electronics just wired to the motors.

When you're testing in repsnapper, try jogging each axis and the extruder manually instead of running a print. Do they all work in both directions? Try to measure how far they travel, and check if they return to the same spot if you run the same distance back again.

Ketil, look at that post, phuzzy has been planning to mount a jhead on his TZ Huxley using this part. No news recently, maybe send him a PM asking for status ?

Anyway, if you end up needing a replacement printed by someone, drop me a PM, I'll be happy to help a fellow "TZHuxler".


Edit : Found the original discussion with Phuzzy : [forums.reprap.org]
Features some bad pictures of a jhead fitted in my part, for compatibility check.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2012 02:29PM by DeuxVis.

---

Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

DeuxVis, I actually noticed that post yesterday! I don't see how that part helps for a groovemount hotend, though. Perhaps it's made to work with an additional mounting piece. Is that what the two extra holes on the side are for?

One alternative could be a couple of horizontally mounted screws that hold the hotend in down, while it would be restricted upwards by the bowden clamp. I'd have to modify the part slightly to make the holes, though, or drill the holes.

Or have I missed something completely?

DeuxVis, I modded your tip clamp remake for the J-Head groove mount. I used the measurements from the v5 nozzle holder drawing, so hopefully they are right.

scad and stl attached. Edit: NOTE! These parts are wrong. Please see below.

TZHuxleyJHeadMount.scad
TZHuxleyJHeadMount.stl

Edit: whoops, I noticed that the cylinder for the 2 carriage nuts on 180 side was missing from this piece. I'll fix that, and also fix some alignments I've noticed in blender, and update this part on thingiverse.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2012 06:23PM by ketil.

Hey thanks for the prompt response.

I plug the board in and check the pots one more time to see if the temp is overbearing. How do u manually jog in repsnapper (old) ? I cant seem to figure it out it always wants a stl loaded and convert to g code.( Which the old repsnapper has huge issues with its gcode conversions)

I guess how do i go about testing each axis manually? The endstops work fine and i believe everything is working when i start a print and it homes.

Thanks

Jojo,

Under the "print" tab in repsnapper, you should be able to step 0.1, 1, 10 and 100mm in each direction on each axis, and also run the extruder. I used repsnapper during spring/summer 2011, so I guess that was an old version too, and the various tabs in this tutorial look similar to what I remember.

[www.youtube.com]

Another decent test of the mechanics is to home to an endstop, then move 10mm away in one movement, and then move back in 1mm increments. Hopefully you'll hit the endstop again exactly after 10 moves.

cool i will try it later this evening and let you know the results. I am crossing my fingers.

K I finally got time to look at the old repsnapper program. Under the print tab the only tabs to click are connect to printer, power on, kick, pause, and print. I did not see an option for movements... maybe I have the wrong version? In the simple tab, on the bottom, it says version unknown.

Have you tried some newer host software? Is there a reason you want to use an old version of repsnapper?

i am open to anything that works with this monotronics chipset. I thought repsnapperwas the only thing that was compatible. thanks

I did use repsnapper to print, but I guess I used a newer version than you. I also used skeinforge to do the slicing, because repsnappers slicing wasn't giving me good printed results.

I see. Are there any other alternative options for windows host software and firmware for this board? It seems it is obsolete and with older servo drivers as well. I just want to make the most of my investment and am trying not to feel ripped off cause of the company going under with no support. If I could just get it to print I would be very happy. Where can I get the version you were using? I downloaded the version I have now recently from the github site which is supposed to be the newest one but it looks totally different than the one on the youtube vid. I dont even see the Lua tab and the beta does not have host support. Thanks

Jojo, maybe you should try the old repsnapper version : [www.reprap.org]

I'll check when at home which exact version I use - I built it from sources (but for linux), and kept those sources, so I can check the svn or github tag so you can get the same version.

A year ago I found that only repsnapper would work properly with my TZ huxley, but I haven't tried the other hosts recently.

---

Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

DeuxVis: Yup that is where I downloaded the one I am currently running. I just noticed both links to the repsnapper old are to the same file. I have been reading and found that the latest working version is the r.351 but I cant find that one available to download anywhere. Will the newer hosts work? The firmware is so out dated is it not? I am open in any/all suggestions at this point. lol. It is so aggravating to see it all assembled and not working...

This worked for me:
Follow the link to Kulitorum version
Follow The latest windows build from the svn code is [svn.kulitorum.com]
Download and run the file.

Cool. Downloaded it and got the servos to move and it stopped overheating too... now my problem is how do i tune the extruder, x,y, and z? the movements are way off. Also the endstops in x an y dont seem to work but I may be testing it wrong. When i test them i home them individually and used of piece of paper to break the connection. Only z stops when i break the connection during home but the other 2 axis x and y just keep moving and eventually stop but it is odd because they both stop at the same time interval with or without an endstop hooked up. I know I wired them correctly. Thanks

If you activate the endstop it should only be possible to move in one direction and if that is the wrong direction you should should change the wires, so that the servo moves opposite.