Please help me Ramps 1.4 install.

Hi my friends,

I just finished to build a Ramps 1.4 board by myself.

I bought a kit, not assembled one. I soldered component on the board by myself

I would like to ask your help


Here is issue:

when I combined my ramp 1.4 and Aduino mega 2560, aduino is just OFF + no flashing, nothing on ramps 1.4 too.

But when I take out ramp v1.4 from Aduino, Aduino is ON.


I guess there is short circuit issue. because I can hear USB disconnect sound from PC when I put ramps1.4 on Aduion board,

Please help me~!


Amos

HI..

Sounds like you have a short on the ramps board..
Check all your solder joints, maybe even re solder them..
Also check you have the parts around the right way.

Auzze

Did you plug the polulus in the right direction?

Thank you for your response

>>>Did you plug the polulus in the right direction?

Do you mean motor driver? currently I am checking the board is working or not so,

I am using Aduino and Ramps ONLY.

>>>> Auzze

I have check the short circuit in visually, i think it is ok.

Is there anyway I can check more correctly using multimeter?




I tested and found something more:

when the pins on Aduino board (Power: Reset, 3.3V 5V GND GND Vin, Analog In:A0-A15) touches pins on ramps, the aduino is OFF.

Other pins connection does not cause the aduino is OFF.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2012 07:27PM by amoss.park.

Just wondering, is it possible soldering flux cause short circuit?

Flux won't cause a short circuit.

You can use a multimeter to check for resistance (ohms) between + and - (when the power is off!!!) A reading of 0 means short and a reading of infinity means it's ok.

hi aplavins, I am measuring 0 resistance at the psu connection whit the board attatched to the arduino and infinite when i disconnect the arduino. however i get a constant temp reading of 499, even with no thermistor attatched. I'm suspecting a short in the thermistor part on the ramps board, any idea where i can look for?

cheers, tim

please take a detailed (in focus) picture of the bottom of your ramps board and post it in this forum.

tim castelijn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> however i get a constant temp reading of
> 499, even with no thermistor attatched.

If that were your only problem, it would indeed suggest a short from the thermistor connection to ground; the obvious places this could happen are the connector itself and the capacitor next to it. However, that wouldn't explain the other problems you've reported.

thanks for your help guys, I hope the picture is clear

I checked the capacitor and the thermistor connection right away. besides that, the rest of the soldering connections. I could get a clear reading of all the resistor values with the multi-meter. I don't know how i should check the capacitors, but the six thermistor connection pins measure a similar resistance, when i measure it over two pins that belong to one thermistor. All the capacitors seem to converge to a single value, which i think is the build up. The leds measure infinte resistance.



pronterface gives the following message:

start
Printer is now online.
echo: External Reset
Marlin: 1.0.0 RC2
echo: Last Updated: 2012-02-25 | Author: erik
echo: Free Memory: 5629 PlannerBufferBytes: 1232
echo:Using Default settings:
Error:
: Extruder switched off. MAXTEMP triggered !
Errorrinter stopped deu to errors. Fix the error and use M999 to restart!. (Temperature is reset. Set it before restarting)
SENDING:M105
ok T:499.51 B:0.00 @:0

by the way, i've had the test code running (http://reprap.org/wiki/File:RAMPS1.4_TestCode.pde). It does work when I connect a 12v-3,5A PSu but doesn't work with a 12v-8,0A Psu. it is currently controlling just 2 of the 4 steppers, it shouldn't mater that not all are connected should it?

cheers, tim

The error message you are receiving is because Marlin has an overtemp auto-kill. This is in case the heater fails on or the thermistor is disconnected. In your case, either you don't have a thermistor connected or you have one connected but it's shorted out or you have one connected but haven't changed the temp table setting in configuration to match the thermistor you are using.

are you running the code on the arduino without the ramps board connected?

What problem are you trying to solve here? I thought your Ramps was shorted out somewhere?

If the arduino mega's led comes on when it is connected through USB without the ramps board installed on it, It is fine.

Install the ramps board on the arduino and power up the unit with 12V to the RAMPS board (no usb connected) If nothing powers up, or the PSU shuts down, there is a short in the ramps board and you should fix that before running any test sketches.

From the picture it looks like the solder joints on the MOSFETs are a bit rough. That might be a good place to start looking.

You can also clean up the rosin with 99% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab.

Keep your multimeter handy and heat up each joint to re-flow the solder and (hopefully) eliminate any solder bridges. Test the resistance on the ramps board between + and - until you get a reading of infinity. You should also remove any stepper drivers or thermistors you have plugged into the ramps board while you are working on it to remove them as suspect.

By the looks of your ramps board, it's from a different manufacturer than mine is and may have some manufacturing flaws. You can't really fix those without testing every connection on the board or having an eagle eye.

i am not too sure but, i did not notice you dont seem to have the + to your end stops wired up at all.

hi guys, i've tested the board with usb power to the arduino not connected and indeed nothing happens (both with a 3,5A and a 13,0A PSU). because it doesn't make any difference whether the thermistor is connected or not i think the problem is somewhere else. When i measure the resistance over the 5A psu connection it gives a reading of definitely not infinity.

i'm going to work on it. thanks guys, i'll keep you up to date

Did you ever get your board working? I am have a different problem and am curious as to what you find.

I was unable to load the Mega with the PSU and Ramps connected. I have loaded the RAMPs Test SW (Available on the RAMPS Wiki) and ran all of the motors. I then loaded Marlin onto the Mega without the RAMPS and reconnected it and I am in the same state you are. No motors running, I do not have thermisters connected and am in a stop state. I will try connecting the thermisters later tonight.

Also now, that I have loaded the Marlin SW standalone and I am unable to reload the Mega (even standalone). I tried to load the "blink" sketch and it hangs during download.

@TimGS

If you are unable to load a sketch onto the arduino mega when it's not connected to the RAMPS board, you may have fried your arduino.

But check these things first,

• Uninstall and reinstall the arduino driver
• Use arduino 0022 or 0023 instead of 1.0
• check that you have the correct PORT and BOARD selected in the arduino window

and find the problem before connecting a new arduino to the RAMPS board.

TimGS,

I have the same problem. When connected to the RAMPS 1.4 board, I cannot upload to Arduino. After loading Marlin FW, it is difficult to upload FW again, even after removing it from RAMPS. I have been able to do it, but it seems like I have to load something else (like blink) first. Even that requires some resets/power cycles. Once I get something else loaded, it will take Marlin with no problem.

Dear RepRap friends:

I have a similar Issue with my RAMPS 1.4 board. My Arduino powers up and loads the software with no difficulties.

When I connect my RAMPS to the Arduino and connect it to the Power Source (Computer 24A / 12V Power Supply), the RAMPS LEDs do not light up.

My board came with a critical weakness in one pin of the F2 fuse. It has been repaired and the area around the new solder joints has been cleaned with Alcohol and a cotton swab.

There is infinite resistance between the 11A +/- pins and a finite resistance between the 5A +/- pins. This is what I wish to clarify from the above discussion - is it these pins that must have the infinite resistance? . The Pololu drivers and other connections have been removed from the board to narrow down the possibilities.

Any suggestions as to further steps to take with this would be most appreciated.

The LEDs on the Ramps board only light up when one of the 3 MOSFETs are turned on. There is no LED to show power on the Ramps but the arduino does have one, it's just hard to see. Both the 11A and 5A power terminals should have infinite or extremely high resistance. You may still get a number register on the ohmmeter because it injects a voltage into the circuit to measure the resistance which could allow small amounts of current through the diodes. I would only be worried if I got a zero resistance (short).

amoss did you ever solve your problem? I am having the EXACT same problem as you - where the arduino works fine, but pluggin in the RAMPS shuts it off. I would assume there's a short in the RAMPS, but I bought mine pre-assembled. I'm going to contact mixshop (where I got it).

Note: I inspected it thoroughly and there doesn't appear to be any shorts.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2012 02:48AM by pwn4.

hi,
i have just put this reprap together with ramps & arguino mega iget steppers to work but no heat at hotend,any surjestions pleease

Hi All,

I have a similar problem with my RAMPS. I had it working with Pronterface briefly before my Arduino shut off unexpectedly. I found that the board is able to work when I install take off all the Pololu stepper drivers. I finally singled it down to one problem Pololu driver which causes the RAMPS to short circuit (or something) but all the other stepper drivers work. You should check this to see if this works for you as well.

Is there anyway to fix the broken Pololu stepper?