Tutorial: Fix RampsFD v1 bugs to get a highperformance Arduino DUE - Reprap Controller

Hello,

this is my first post. I have been following Reprap-community for years and build already 3 printers. Now it is time to return something.

This is a tutorial to fix most of the problems on RAMPS-FD v1 (Geetech) for Arduino Due. I am not going to discuss the single problems here. I cannot recommend buying a RAMPS-FDv1, but I can recommend Arduino DUE as very good Platform for Reprap with lots of performance. If you are buying your electronics from scratch, do yourself a favour and buy RAMPS-FDv2 or RAMBO for Arduino DUE. RAMPS-FDv1 is bad designed and has serval bugs, but it is cheap and maybe you did the same mistake than I did or became weak by the price.....

Well, if you already have one, if you hate throwing new products into the distbin, if have soldering-skills and some time, this tutorial could help you to end with some useful stuff. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

Again: Do not plan to buy RAMPS-FDv1 and mod it. Only do it, if you already have one. It is better and cheaper to get good quality from source!

I have tested this mod on my setup:
modded Ramps.FDv1 from Geetch with Arduino DUE compatible Controller (Geetech)
Firmware: Repetier v0.92 beta
Printer: Delta-Concept: BIG Rostock

Tutorial to fix RAMPS-FDv1:
Only for RAMPS-FD V1 - Geetech

This bugs will get fixed by this mod:
- Unprecise Thermistors
- Inverted Heater/Mosfet-Logic, which causes Heater turn-on during Reset
- get rid of cheap Mosfets, which get too hot
- weak 5V-Supply from Arduino Due
- missing EEprom

Ramps-FD v1 - Schematic

Bill of Material:
- 4 Mosfet IRLB8743
- 4 resistors 100 Ohm (wired or SMD)
- Some isolated thin wire to make some connections
- 20cm of isolated wire with at least 1mm^2 to improove grounding issues
- external 5V-Source stabilised with at least 500mA (If you are using ATX-Power supply yust use red wire. It is perfect 5V :-))
- optional: 1 EEprom 24LC256 or similar if you want eeprom support

replace:
Q201, Q203, Q202, Q206, by Mosfet IRLB8743
(Maybe you want to remove old Mosfets and install the new ones after the other modifications are done... It makes things easier.)

remove:
SMD-Transistor Q501
SMD-Transistor Q502
SMD-Transistor Q204
SMD-Transistor Q205
SMD-Resistor R510 10k (keep it.... We will reinstall it later)
SMD-Resistor R511 10k (keep it.... We will reinstall it later)
SMD-Resistor R214 10k (keep it.... We will reinstall it later)
SMD-Resistor R218 10k (keep it.... We will reinstall it later)
SMD-Resistor RP1

cut traces:
to Pin 3 of RP3
to Pin 4 of RP3

add:
on position of Q501 - Resistor 10k to Gnd (old removed resistor can be reused on position (D-S))
on position of Q502 - Resistor 10k to Gnd (old removed resistor can be reused on position (D-S))
on position of Q204 - Resistor 10k to Gnd (old removed resistor can be reused on position (D-S))
on position of Q205 - Resistor 10k to Gnd (old removed resistor can be reused on position (D-S))
Connect Q201/Gate with wire to IC U2-Pin 15 (74HC244)
Connect Q203/Gate with wire to IC U2-Pin 17 (74HC244)
Connect Q202/Gate with wire to IC U1-Pin 5 (74HC125)
Connect Q206/Gate with wire to IC U1-Pin 9 (74HC125)

modify Arduino Header Pins on bottom of RAMPS-FD: (Look at Arduino due Pinmap [21stdigitalhome.blogspot.co.at])
We have to break all 5V-Connections and to connect external 5V
Cut Pin 2 of SPI-Header
Bend 5V-Pin of Arduino-Power Header to 90 degrees and solder extenal-5V-cable to it.
Now, if you put together Arduino Due and Ramps-Fd there is no 5V-connection between

Grounding:
solder 1mm^2 wire to thermistor-gnd-pad on bottom side of Ramps-fd
solder other end of cable to gnd of Arduino due.

optional EEprom:
Install EEprom somewhere (I glued mine on bottom side and connected it with copper-wires)
Connect EEprom to Connector I2C-0 on Ramps. This 4 pins give all you need for Eeprom
You will have to connect signals:
Gnd I2C0-Pin2 to Eeprom Pin Gnd/VSS
Power I2C0-Pin1 to Eeprom Pin VCC
SDA I2C0-Pin3 to EEprom SDA
SCL I2C0-Pin4 to EErpom SCL
AddressLines: Connect I2C0-Pin2 to EEprom A0/A1/A2

Firmware-Changes
Invert Mosfet Arduino-Pins in Firmware (D8-D11, they are already inverted in Ramps-FD-V1-config! So reverse the again.)
Hint: in Repetier Firmware you can use Ramps-FD-V2 / 404, there it is already fixed...

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2014 07:41AM by cocktailyogi.

hello,
Thank you for your tuto.
You have pictures of the board with the modification?
Or used 100 ohm resistors?

Why not wire the fets to the outputs of U1 and U2 via 220k resistors as in the V2 schematic? Also can build a small board to plug into the I2C headers that contains the eeprom rather than solder it to the board. Also your instructions talk about thermistor issue, but no fix for that is mentioned.

Trying to keep it simple:

Can't we just use a 2.2K pull DOWN to override the 10K pullups on /D8_BUF and /D9_BUF?

Between pin 5 and pin 10 as well as pin 3 and pin 10 of the 'HC244 seems doable.

As to the EEPROM, I2C AT24C256 modules are widely available and should be happy at 3.3V?

I'll try the experiment before too long...

David

You don't need to add the EEPROM if you use a small part of the flash memory for this purpose. This is what I do in my fork of RepRapFirmware for Duet electronics. The disadvantage is that you lose the contents when you upload new firmware.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2015 02:50AM by dc42.

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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].

kscharf: The 1mm^2 wire between the thermistor ground and the main ground fixes the thermistor issues. Induced current from the switching of the FETs causes a voltage to appear between the thermistor ground and the main ground, leading to the thermistors giving incorrect readings.

Hello! anyone knows where I can buy the version 2?
Thanks!

Quote
cocktailyogi
Hello,
this is my first post. I have been following Reprap-community for years and build already 3 printers. Now it is time to return something.
This is a tutorial to fix most of the problems on RAMPS-FD v1 (Geetech) for Arduino Due.

Hello I also have the misfortune of having taken a-Ramps FDv1a
You still use this card?
I solved many problems with the FW Marlinkimba4Due
But if I connect NTC 100k I always read 140 ° C
This problem is solved with these changes among those who cite HW?
Unfortunately Ramps FD-V2 is not for sale and only solution 32Bit under 20 € is the Ramps FD v1a

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www.saviot.com Stampante Prusa I3 R2.2 By Nicola P.
Ramps 1.4 Con FW MarlinKimba Fusore HE IeC 1.75mm Con Flusso Canalizzatore Estrusori BullDog XL
Piano maggiorato 240*311mm pilotato da SSR 24V con letto scaldante autocostruito
Lavori in Corso Prossimetro Autolivellamento Z Gestione Remota Raspberry PI 2 con OctoPrint
Rilevamento ottico Fine Filo Illuminazione e Visione AreaStampa Remotata In costruzione Trafilatore TL-Plastic

I'm running a V1 with Marlin4Due, and it's without fault . . . layer fan, automatic electronics fan, delta geometry, LCD, etc. all there and working. About the only issue right now is the Graphic LCD support still causes the same stuttering as on a Mega, but we think we have that identified, considering that Repetier on this card does not have the issue.

Myself, I don't consider this a 'misfortune' - I bought it on purpose, and it is meeting my needs well.

Oh, and you can get blank V2 cards from OSHPark, but would need to build it yourself . . . I may get a couple for grins, but I'm not sure there are any issues making me want to . . .

- Tim

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2015 06:55PM by tadawson.

Quote
tadawson
I'm running a V1 with Marlin4Due, and it's without fault . . . layer fan, automatic electronics fan, delta geometry, LCD, etc. all there and working.

I attach your firmware so I try on my board work temp sensors

I'm trying to port Marlin4Due LCD and SD pictures to see how I solved

To the Limit I noticed that are reversed min and max
and you must enable pullup resistor from FW
for now I have not touched anything side HW


Myself, I don't consider this a 'misfortune' - I bought it on purpose, and it is meeting my needs well.

Quote
tadawson
Oh, and you can get blank V2 cards from OSHPark, but would need to build it yourself . . . I may get a couple for grins, but I'm not sure there are any issues making me want to
- Tim

Talk about this you've seen but expensive to buy and install the single components and not easy disaldare the first and resolder on V2

Thank you

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www.saviot.com Stampante Prusa I3 R2.2 By Nicola P.
Ramps 1.4 Con FW MarlinKimba Fusore HE IeC 1.75mm Con Flusso Canalizzatore Estrusori BullDog XL
Piano maggiorato 240*311mm pilotato da SSR 24V con letto scaldante autocostruito
Lavori in Corso Prossimetro Autolivellamento Z Gestione Remota Raspberry PI 2 con OctoPrint
Rilevamento ottico Fine Filo Illuminazione e Visione AreaStampa Remotata In costruzione Trafilatore TL-Plastic

I'd never consider moving parts . . . if I do a v2 card, it will be an exclusively new build, since the components are easy to get and pretty inexpensive. Granted, for a one-off, it won't be cheap, but it *IS* possible . . .

- Yim

I would consider buying a medium run and selling out the extra boards i do not need if someone wants to go in with me on a purchase.

I have been thinking the same thing . . .

- Tim

I do not dare to assemble weld a clean sheet FD V2
or Fix modificationt my FD V1a
I ordered a Smart Ramps hoping that his final solution.
The FD preferred it to the third driver and setting steps of Smart Ramps
there are but otherwise appears to have everything also the EEprom

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www.saviot.com Stampante Prusa I3 R2.2 By Nicola P.
Ramps 1.4 Con FW MarlinKimba Fusore HE IeC 1.75mm Con Flusso Canalizzatore Estrusori BullDog XL
Piano maggiorato 240*311mm pilotato da SSR 24V con letto scaldante autocostruito
Lavori in Corso Prossimetro Autolivellamento Z Gestione Remota Raspberry PI 2 con OctoPrint
Rilevamento ottico Fine Filo Illuminazione e Visione AreaStampa Remotata In costruzione Trafilatore TL-Plastic

Here is an alternate mod that is WAAAAAY less complex and solves a number of issues.
#1 nothing wrong with the original MOSFETS since they are driven with 12V gate drive- they are fully on and into best case RDS on resistance.
#2 Yes, inverted logic is annoying but not impossible to deal with. Simply ensure the RAMPS-FD board has onboard regulation for logic voltage supplies should the DUE board fail.

Anyway, it's a 2 part mod. The pull up resistors is stupidly easy This solves about 90% of the safety aspect
[groups.google.com]


The local voltage regulation to handle complete DUE failure or if the DUE board was unplugged while the RAMPS-FD remained powered- this ensures the MOSFETS are always default off state.
[groups.google.com]

In all the fix could be done for under $2 if you had the parts in hand. It's that simple.

Quote
Jetguy
Here is an alternate mod that is WAAAAAY less complex and solves a number of issues.
#1 nothing wrong with the original MOSFETS since they are driven with 12V gate drive- they are fully on and into best case RDS on resistance.
#2 Yes, inverted logic is annoying but not impossible to deal with. Simply ensure the RAMPS-FD board has onboard regulation for logic voltage supplies should the DUE board fail.

Anyway, it's a 2 part mod. The pull up resistors is stupidly easy This solves about 90% of the safety aspect
[groups.google.com]


The local voltage regulation to handle complete DUE failure or if the DUE board was unplugged while the RAMPS-FD remained powered- this ensures the MOSFETS are always default off state.
[groups.google.com]

In all the fix could be done for under $2 if you had the parts in hand. It's that simple.

Just beware that neither Marlin or Repetier completely supports the inversion . . . they claim to support the card, but it's drastically incomplete, and I have been working on this (close!) in Marlin4due, and also had to make modifications to Repetier to even get layer fan functionality to be sane . . . As you said, doable, but not all there yet for those considering the card.

The noise on the thermistor ground may still be a problem, but it's easy to fix, and myself, I changed Mosfets (quick, easy, and cheap) anyhow since the Chintastic parts provided really are pretty crappy, and for $1.25 (or was it $.85 . . . memory fade) each, it just didn't make sense not to while the board was being worked on.

- Tim

[doku.radds.org]

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Mein Club: [hackerspace-ffm.de]
RADDS-Shield -> Commercial [max3dshop.org]

Open source it and publish the schematics and I might be interested. Otherwise, I won't run anything I can't service (or have docs to modify).

- Tim

The best price I found for RADDS was $57. This seems a lot for a few mosfets and connectors, which is basically what it is. I would still need to add an Arduino Due and 4 drivers. For $7 less I can buy a Duet from Replikeo, which is also based on the Arduino Due but has everything included on the board, plus an Ethernet port (which the Arduino Due is sorely lacking) and a good web interface. So I don't see the point of RADDS.

[EDIT: and wirth RADDS you still need to use those horrible pots to adjust the stepper motor currents, whereas Duet and MKS SBASE give you software control of motor currents.]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2015 05:17AM by dc42.

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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].

This price is pretty nice. Maybe I will try this Duet on my next printer. With shipping to germany only 52,99€.
The proximity sensor they sell, is that the infrared-sensor from your design, dc42?

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Triffid Hunter's Calibration Guide

--> X <-- Drill for new Monitor

Most important Gcode.

Quote
Wurstnase
The proximity sensor they sell, is that the infrared-sensor from your design, dc42?

No, it's the RepRapPro one, which is a simple modulated IR sensor, as used in their Ormerod, Huxley and Mendel printer kits. It is normally used with white targets on the corners of the bed, because the trigger height depends a lot on the reflectivity of the bed surface. So it's not suitable for delta calibration or more than 4-point bed compensation, unless you have a white build surface, or something close to that.

---

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].

So did you give up on RampsFD?

Quote
hellorous
So did you give up on RampsFD?

Who?

---

Triffid Hunter's Calibration Guide

--> X <-- Drill for new Monitor

Most important Gcode.

Sorry .. I ask what is the difference between a RampsFD V1 by a RampsFD V2 ?
As, I can recognize it ?

Quote
Delta
Sorry .. I ask what is the difference between a RampsFD V1 by a RampsFD V2 ?
As, I can recognize it ?

Yup, the easiest way to recognize this is can you buy it? If so then it is a RampsFD V1 and not a V2. The V2 is not for sale, it's board only and would need to be assembled by you after you buy all the raw parts.

Hello.
I have a question on Ramps-FD.
It's many different descriptions on net on this control board.
I have Ramps-FD ver. 1 rev. A by Geeetech.com which will be run only on 12V power supply.
I would like to simply ask what I have found to confirm which is better (1 or 2 or some combination of it ) and it's enough due to safety reasons on Ramps FD+ Due:
1. Link one :
Resistor pull--------- groups.google.com/d/msg/wanhao-printer-3d/Ol3WnLaut8A/7ryLgMwsCAAJ
Power add for Ramps FD------- groups.google.com/d/msg/wanhao-printer-3d/Ol3WnLaut8A/u2GUXTQuCAAJ

2. Link two: The pull up and down------ kreature.org/projects/3d_printer/rostock_plus/ramps-fd/

There is a need of installing so many pull up's and down's or part of link 1 is enough?
After this modification, can I use firmware as Ramps FD ver2 without additional invert?

The above links seems to be similar in pull up and pull down modification, seems easier then description in first post, this will give same effect (for me looks as similar solution)?

Do you know where to find description of serial pins and servo's to attached the external steering and ex. Wifi?
I have tried on Geetech.com to download schematic, but pdf was with some error.
Thanks.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2015 05:35PM by j.fabianski.

Quote
j.fabianski
Hello.
I have a question on Ramps-FD.
It's many different descriptions on net on this control board.
I have Ramps-FD ver. 1 rev. A by Geeetech.com which will be run only on 12V power supply.
I would like to simply ask what I have found to confirm which is better (1 or 2 or some combination of it ) and it's enough due to safety reasons on Ramps FD+ Due:
1. Link one :
Resistor pull--------- groups.google.com/d/msg/wanhao-printer-3d/Ol3WnLaut8A/7ryLgMwsCAAJ
Power add for Ramps FD------- groups.google.com/d/msg/wanhao-printer-3d/Ol3WnLaut8A/u2GUXTQuCAAJ

2. Link two: The pull up and down------ kreature.org/projects/3d_printer/rostock_plus/ramps-fd/

There is a need of installing so many pull up's and down's or part of link 1 is enough?
After this modification, can I use firmware as Ramps FD ver2 without additional invert?

The above links seems to be similar in pull up and pull down modification, seems easier then description in first post, this will give same effect (for me looks as similar solution)?

Do you know where to find description of serial pins and servo's to attached the external steering and ex. Wifi?
I have tried on Geetech.com to download schematic, but pdf was with some error.
Thanks.

Sorry, I dont get it..... What is the question?

Yogi

I just want to check with someone who already modified the Ramps-FD following things:
1. The modification in example (link 1 or link 2) is enough to provide secure for ramps driving mosfets D8-D12? Or this modification is not ok?
2. If modification is done example acc. link 1, when I use directly firmware repetier with Ramps-FD ver.2, I need to modify it or it will just work normal with this modification?
3. If someone have schematic / link with servo and aux pin out Ramps-FD description because I want to connect wifi module and relay steering.

Thanks.

Sorry if this is a bit unrelated... I am thinking of ordering a ramps-fd/due combo from aliexpress. How can I tell if it is RAMPS-FDv2?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2015 12:58PM by realthor.

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RepRap Lander concept on Concept Forge
RepRap Lander concept on RepRap Forums
My Things, mostly experimental stuff

I'm not sure that will help you, but so far during my searching, I have found link to v2 board -------oshpark.com/shared_projects/aShozohP and other on forum-------forums.reprap.org/read.php?219,449522
At the firs link on picture on top, ex. Q101 is (near jumpers E2) it's different then V1 and top of the board where 12v-aux is also different.