Can only print the 20mm calibration cube

Hi All

I have just finished my RepRap Prusa build using RAMPS 1.4, Sprinter and Pronteface. I was able to calibrate everything and print a very nice 20mm calibration cube. It printed first go and was pretty much perfect. I am now trying to print some parts (I have also tried many things from thingiverse) and once it is loaded and the printer pre-heated and I hit print the motors just turn real slow and nothing really happens. If I reload the 20mm cube it prints perfect at normal speed.....I have no idea what is up.

I know the 20mm cube works, but I cannot work out why nothing else will?

Any insights?

Regards
Scott

Did you generate the .gcode for the cube?

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

Hi Bob

Yes I grabbed the STL from ReplicatorG (which I tried before Pronterface but could not get the extruder to run for calibrations). I loaded the STL in Pronterface, let it slice it up and create the gcode, then print and it works.....nothing else does though.

One thing I have noticed is that for the parts it seems to place them at the very bottom left....If the part is built with the origin of the part at the centre of the part, then the part is half on, half off the print surface in the preview screen. Also once it has finished generating the gcode and gives the estimates it says 0mm of filament are to be used.....Obviously this is wrong.

Regards
Scott

Can you please post the first 100 lines of your 20mmCube.gcode as well as one from the .gcode files that doesn't print!

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

are you centering objects? I don't know where on the coordinate plane the cube is placed, but it you create your own stl files at the origin, and do not have centering turned on, then things will print at the lower left.

I forget he exact screen, but there is one where you set the bed center, and for most repraps, this is at 100,100

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2014 09:54AM by jbernardis.

Scott have you found a solution for this I'm having the same problem and can't find any centering option in Pronterface if you click on the bed it zooms in on the model and shows it half off the corner of the bed.
Dave

It's right on the general printer settings page as shown here. This is not an option in pronterface - it is in slic3r.

Scott I have found that when the item is placed off the bed you can use plater.py included with Pronterface and drag the model wherever you want it or click center then export it and it will be back on the bed, but when I try to print it, it's still not printing, homing, extrudeing etc. But the x and y axis are working but Z isn't. (I'm using skeinforge) This def. seams to be a sclicer problem and doesn't seam to matter which you use.
Dave

Update: I installed the new Slic3r and tried generating the gcode with it from the centered stl I fixed with plater.py and it printed fine!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2014 06:57PM by virgodave61.

Sorry for the tardy reply. I was playing around some more and tried a later version of Pronterface using Slic3r rather than Skeinforge and all is working now.

I am putting it down to an older build of Pronterface.

Thanks for every ones help and ideas.

Regards
Scott