Ramp connection

Hi every one

It my first time to build 3 d printer and I want to ask if i may
about the steps of connecting electronics because i heard that connecting ramp 1.4 With attachments such as (drivers ,end stop ,lcd)on Arduino Mega then connect them to the computer before adding power supply may lead to burn the ramp i tried to figure out this problem because i worried about my electronics so please help me in details

and thanks very much.

Just do one thing at a time - that way you will avoid a complex problem..

Connect the Arduino (without Ramps) to your PC via USB. Compile a "blinking LED" test program and upload it to the Arduino. Does it work ok?
If that works, do the necessary configuration of your chosen firmware, compile it, then upload it.

Remove all Pololu driver boards from the Ramps (if you have already installed them) and all other connectors - i.e motors, thermistors, end stops etc
Disconnect the USB and mount your Ramps on the Arduino. Re-connect the USB and also connect one 12v power connector to the Ramps (outer socket). Plug your hot-end thermistor into T0. Check that the thermistor registers room temp in your host s/w. Connect the hot-end wires to D10. Switch the hot-end heater on in your host software - does the hot-end start heating, and the temp rise show in the host software? ( the LED on the Ramps should illuminate).

If that's all good, you can now connect the other 12v supply to the inner socket on the Ramps and check the bed heating (plug the bed thermistor on T1, connect heat bed wires to D8) and do the same procedure as above. This assumes you have a heated bed in the first place!) Don't leave the head bed on too long as you will still need a heat-sink on the bed Mosfet and a fan aimed at the fuses.
If you get to this stage without calling the Fire Brigade, let us know then we can talk about motor control...

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Waitaki 3D Printer

Hi, I'm new to this as well and I'm having a problem with the nema 17 stepper motors trying to use either sprinter or marlin. when sending a signal using pronterface or repetier host, the motors may turn slightly for a short signal but just screech for a long signal. Using marlin, they do not turn at all.

I believe something in my configuration is incorrect, as using the RAMPS 1.4 test program found here the motors do turn. That makes me thing it's not a problem with the motor potentiometers or stepper drivers. Using the GCode command to check endstop status, the endstops are not triggered. It feels as if the motors are stuck between steps, as they vibrate for a certain amount of time after sending a signal to move.

In the firmware I have only gone through the configuration.h files and believe to have configured it as it is supposed to be for ramps 1.4, 3 mechanical endstops and A4988 stepstick stepper drivers. I can post links to my marlin or sprinter firmware files if anyone is willing to help.


On a related note, can you attach heatsinks to the heatbed mosfet using 1-sided polyimide (Kapton) tape by any chance?

thanks!

Have you cross-posted?

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Waitaki 3D Printer

Thanks very much for that brief and fast respond that encourage me to ask
1- after connecting heat bed wires to D8 you mention that i should do the same procedure as above
what do you mean about this? do you mean to begin from the start and connect the arduino first or from where exactly
2-I having another problem when i am going to build my 3 d printer at first i bought stepper motor 3 A
(Nema 23 ) and also I bought the suitable driver for it which i bought it from eBay and the link for it is
(http://www.ebay.com/itm/271362176776) then after search i found A4988 driver connected direct into Ramp 1.4 so how can i use that driver i bought with ramp 1.4 and also what happened to the ramp if connected
the driver with power supply 24 v 20 A . i think for trying use the A4988 driver with my stepper motor 3A because that driver can connect directly to ramp and i search about the connection of TB6560 driver with ramp alot and i didn't found any thing
but some people warned me to do that as it may lead to burn the A4988 driver and also may lead to burn the ramp 1.4
3-during my research i found that ramp 1.4 need 11 A for hot end heater, 5 A only to drive motor how?

thanks again for your concern

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2014 07:21PM by ahmed sokar.

Thanks very much for that brief and fast respond that encourage me to ask
1- after connecting heat bed wires to D8 you mention that i should do the same procedure as above
what do you mean about this? do you mean to begin from the start and connect the arduino first or from where exactly
2-I having another problem when i am going to build my 3 d printer at first i bought stepper motor 3 A
(Nema 23 ) and also I bought the suitable driver for it which i bought it from eBay and the link for it is
(http://www.ebay.com/itm/271362176776) then after search i found A4988 driver connected direct into Ramp 1.4 so how can i use that driver i bought with ramp 1.4 and also what happened to the ramp if connected
the driver with power supply 24 v 20 A . i think for trying use the A4988 driver with my stepper motor 3A because that driver can connect directly to ramp and i search about the connection of TB6560 driver with ramp alot and i didn't found any thing
but some people warned me to do that as it may lead to burn the A4988 driver and also may lead to burn the ramp 1.4
3-during my research i found that ramp 1.4 need 11 A for hot end heater, 5 A only to drive motor how?

thanks again for your concern

ahmed: To use the drivers you bought, you need to connect the Step/Dir/Enable and Ground lines from the Pololu headers (the sockets the A4988's go into) to the Step/Dir/Enable/Ground lines on your driver. You could probably just solder some wires to some header pins and plug them in. Note that you want to keep the leads to your driver short, to avoid interference.

You'll need to provide power directly to your driver as well, as RAMPS was never designed to work with drivers other than those that match the Pololu form factor.

Note: Many drivers need longer stepping signals than those used with an A4988. You will need to enable this in your Marlin firmware (I know there is a setting, but I don't know which one it is, sorry).

hi every one i use thermo couple(K type) as a temperature sensor for my hot end but it gives analog signal so i had to buy analog to digital converter (Max 6675) to convert the signal i tried to connect it with arduino but i cant ?
because ramp on it so i searched in the schematic of ramp 1.4 on reprap site and i think that i found that i can connect the module to AUX-3 but not sure
Sorry for all the questions, but you've been a huge help
thank

i use max 6675 analog to digital converter for my thermocouple for my hot end
please any one how can i connect it to my ramp 1.4?
thnxs