Help with extruder stalling issue

Video o extruder stalling issue

Hello RepRappers,

I'm hoping someone can help me with an issue.

I have two versions of the Longboat Prusa. They are known as Metamaquina2 printers (I live in São Paulo, Brazil). Last night a problem emerged. This has never happend on the other machine and I'm really not sure what could be causing it. My knowledge about how repraps work is still limited. I'm also unsure where to start investigating for troubleshooting.

The problem:
The extruder stepper motor works fine at the end of the x-axis. If the x-axis moves in closer to its zero position then the extruder starts to stall. I uploaded a video on Youtube showing what's happening.

Has anything similar ever happened to anyone here? Any tips on what to check first?

Thanks for any help.

Sincerely,

Leo

Can you post a link to your video?

Loose or near-broken wires on the extruder which disconnect when the X axis is near zero?

Unlevel bed in the X axis? (Assuming this happens on the first layer)

MM2 extruder stall
[youtu.be]

://youtu.be/6zA6gzhL38Q

Hello Frank,

Thanks for the help.

Here's an update:

I took the extruder apart and removed the stepper. I checked the wires that control the extruder stepper motor. I used a multimeter to check for continuity. Each of the four different wires signalled that they are ok.

Then I remade the connections and attempted to test the motor while controlling it with Repetier-Host. For some reason nothing would happen when I clicked the extrude button. I checked if the other steppers were working and I was able to control them fine.

The next thing I think I should check is if the output pins on the RAMBo board are working when I run the extruder when controlling it with Repetier-Host.

What is the proper way of checking if the output pins are working correctly?

There are four pins. I've uploaded a photo. [flic.kr]

Should I check for a potential between pin 1 with pin 2 or pin 1 with pin 3?

Basically, I've never had to check any of these and I don't know exactly how stepper motors work.

Thanks for the help once again.

Link to picture
://flic.kr/p/uiA9rr

First thing I'd try would be to switch the connections so that your (say) Z-axis stepper is connected to the board's extruder connector. Now, when you tell it to extruder, does the Z-axis move? If not, the problem is at the board.

To confirm, you could connect your extruder stepper to your (say) Z-axis connector. Remove the filament from the extruder (other wise this may try to push filament into a cold hotend). Tell the board to move the Z-axis up/down. Does the extruder turn? If not, the problem is in the extruder stepper motor or wires to it.

Thanks Frank.

I tested the the extruder stepper with the x-axis output from the board and it worked fine. So the motor wasn't the problem.

Then I went straight to connecting it back to its output on the board and it worked fine again.

So now I just have to assemble the extruder back on.

I guess it was some problem with the wires. I'm going to do some test prints now and see what happens.

Thanks again.