Isaac Mendel build

The extruder board just fried when I tried to hook it back up. I thought the polarity was correct but who knows. Now I'm left with just the 3 working stepper controllers and an extra stepper controller that could be used to control the extrusion but I have no idea how to make this work. I think I could control the heat from a separate analog system, but I can't get the extrusion stepper to work at all. Is this controlled from the 10 pin header on the motherboard or something else? Maybe it's a setting I have wrong....

Firstly, why do you have a 10 way ribbon cable from the mother board to the extruder controller. My techzone electronics only needed 2 sets of 2 wires. Take a look at the bottom image in [pdf417.blogspot.com]. As you can see on the left is the main-board with 2 blue connectors on it's left side passing from underneath the boards and going to the extruder controller at the centre (blue connector) and on the top right corner (white connector).

Secondly, I had a similar problem. The problem was the solder quality on the extruder board processor. Take a look at the same blog, there is a close-up image of the processor with solder spewing from everywhere. I told techzone about this and they replaced the board immediately.

P

I think the 10 pin connector is jtag. It shouldn't be used.

Why are there so many headers on there that aren't used? What would REALLY be helpful would be a clear, up-close picture of ALL the wires going into the electronics and ALL the wires going out and a description of where they are going. Why am I clicking though link after link and going to youtube to get a look at how this is REALLY set up? This is the best picture offered for hookups to the tech zone board. Maybe spend a little less time on the professional photography and a little more time showing which wires actually go where.

My camera doesn't take good close ups but there is a large blob of solder on the side of the chip that covers over 3 connections all at once..
I didn't buy the electronics directly from techzone I got them through kimberly andrus who deleted the ebay account right after I paid but I'll try and contact them anyway.

pdf417 thanks I sure could have used a picture like this 2 days ago.....

I sent an email to techzonecom.com and will report back the response, if any. I guess I'll have to put this project away for a while tgtbt

No response from techzone email. I decided to dispute the transaction through paypal directly with kimberly andrus. Once I get the money I think I'll go the the gen6 kit from medel-parts.com unless they offer quick replacements that are tested and work.

Hi Jkelso,

Sorry didn't know that... I would have directed you to the blog earlier. In any case if you need any help please feel free to PM me or post a comment on my blog. I'm no expert by I'll do my best, although I'm having problems of my own! (see forum http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?4,60590)

Solder blobs is the same issue I had and Kimberly is the right person to contact. I'm guessing this is a known issue within techzone as they sent me a replacement, no questions asked.

Hopefully you'll be lucky and get a decent replacement extruder board. I'm on my 3rd board and its still failing to complete a print. Very frustrating! I'm thinking of swiching to a different extruder controller. Anyone can suggest a good one that works with Techzone main controller?

Regards

P

I would consider a makerbot set as well... does anyone know if the gen 6 can use a thermocouple? Also is the heater mosfet strong enough for a block heater design when you are ready to kill yourself over using the nikky wire?

Gen 6 looks cool though...,,, also consider if it gets damaged... all goes,,,,,instead of one board...

I got this email back so it seems I'll be staying with these electronics for now. I may order that gen6 too anyway next month, it certainly looks like it would be more reliable and with the firmware preloaded and everything.

Here's the response:

Certainly! Usually I require the part back to replace one, but if you promise to ship the bad one back I will send a replacement (please tell me which board it is)tomorrow. Just include a copy of this email with the board when you return it.

Thanks
Kimberly
P.S. Sorry about the whole eBay thing. Apparently they do not like individuals who are part of a businesses and business accounts selling the same items. They suspended mine and when I complained and asked why they finally just reinstated it.

The concept of splitting up the boards because "if it gets damaged... all goes,,,,,instead of one board..." I'm not sure if I agree totally. I think there's a cool look of having a bunch of boards all over the unit with the lights and wires, but the gen6 has to be more reliable because there's no chance of wiring it together wrong or accidentally frying the board if a wire pops loose and touches something. If these extruder boards are something problematic that we expect to fry out all the time then I think the board should be simplified. I say take off the temperature sensing components and the heater components and just have a board to control the extruder stepper. The heat control and temp sensors should just be their own board and I think it would make everything much less complicated and more reliable.

I'm thinking of renaming the unit to "the millenium falcon"

So I got an email back from techzone giving me the address to mail the board to. But, there's something telling me not to. First, there were the problems ordering from botmill, techzone's business partner. Then, the order had to be canceled the 2nd time because I couldn't get any timely emails back regarding if and when the product would ship. Then, I finally ordered it from kimberly andrus through ebay because I know the purchase will be covered if it's a rip off. The only reason I might think it would be a rip off is because the initial order became such a problem that I could see them sending me a bogus board as some type of petty revenge. I've had difficulty locating these extruder boards in-stock anywhere, so now that I have one I'm reluctant to give it back to them because I worry it could be another way to jack me around. Now that I have the board, I'm done playing these games with them. If they send me a good working board, great. I'll send the other board back. But, I was told that I'd have a tracking number today and I'm still waiting for that even. So for now I'm holding on to the precious board and if necessary I'll send it off to an uninterested third party for repairs.

Well, it's nearly 6pm here and I'm still waiting for that tracking number as promised by kimberly andrus. The day isn't over yet but the post office is closed so there's still a little time left for that tracking number but I'm not holding my breath. By tomorrow morning if I don't hear back I'll send the part to ACS for repair.

It's 9 pm now and still no sign of that tracking number I was promised. kimberly andrus sent a message to the paypal dispute center denying the refund and stating that we agreed to an exchange on the extruder. Also, there was another message sent to paypal claiming that techzone has sold over 400 of these kits and they claim they have documentation showing the amount of cable I was sent was the correct amount. Maybe if I mounted everything all up at the top there's enough, but there certainly wasn't enough if I was to mount the boards they way everyone normally does with the motherboard on top and the drivers at the bottom. I'm skeptical of the 400 kits sold number.

The only reason I might think it would be a rip off is because the initial order became such a problem that I could see them sending me a bogus board as some type of petty revenge.

Nope. I've sat down at dinner with Kimberly and Lambert (Bay Area Maker Faire). They're good folk. Firstly, they wouldn't deliberately send you a broken board because it would violate their personal and professional ethics.

Secondly, they wouldn't deliberately send you a broken board becuse you'd turn into a nightmare customer for them who would loudly and vocally nuke their reputation from orbit.

As may be happening now.

To a slight extent.

But, I was told that I'd have a tracking number today and I'm still waiting for that even.
Drat. Techzone are good folk, but as entrepreneurs, they're still web 1.0, and don't do the "always on" comms thing. This is a pity.

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Solder blobs is the same issue I had and Kimberly is the right person to contact. I'm guessing this is a known issue within techzone as they sent me a replacement, no questions asked.

Techzone had some quality issues several months back; they had a clever teenager do some soldering for them, and he did a good job while Lambert was with him, and a poor job whenever Lambert was not in the room. This created issues which have been addressed, to the extent of my knowledge.

The extruder board just fried when I tried to hook it back up. I thought the polarity was correct but who knows.
Damn. So, the docs are unclear or do we need redesigned cabling/a connector with polarity built in?

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-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

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Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

I'm surprised you're having communication problems with Techzone. Although I'm still having trouble getting my extruder board to work properly, they were always very responsive (replied within a day or two). I agree with SebastienBailard in that they are more like web 1.0 but hey, so is RepRap as its far from reliable at this point and there a lot of work needed (Eg. improvements on the software)

Hang on in there buddy and don't give up.... you'll get there in the end.

I checked back to the email this morning and still no tracking number as promised. When you tell a customer that you will have a tracking number for them tomorrow, then tomorrow comes and goes with no tracking number, you've "nuked" your own reputation. The problems with the order started weeks ago when I was full of optimism and excitement about ordering from them. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you're trying to turn it around on me here, calling me a "nightmare customer", looking to loudly ruin their reputation. I have no interest in ruining anyone's reputation, I'm just reporting the facts as they happen. I was ready to "pop the bubbly" the other night and apologize for being "such a pain". All I want here are a working set of electronics, it's all I've wanted from the beginning. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone on the forum who can vouch for my ethics or social skills at dinner on the forum, but I paid hard earned money for this and if they say they are going to do something (I.E. give me a tracking number "tomorrow") then they don't do it, what am I supposed to think? The fact that they are arguing via email through paypal about the length of cabling tells me they are more interested in bickering than making the transaction right with me.

Also, I think it speaks volumes about the company that they would blame their faulty products on the incompetencies of a teen. So they just ship things out that they pay people to make and then when someone dares speak about it on a forum it's all blamed on the stupid teen they hired. What do they do? Watch football on TV and hope everything goes OK with the company?

Tech-zone and Kim = Total failure in my book... I order crap loads to of from all over the web including Ipod / Nintendo parts from China and even China blows them away for communication / support. By FAR they were my worse transaction for as far as I can remember.. I don't normally bash companies... but Tech-Zone and Kim take the prize!!!!
Dan

Hmm, Techzone replied to my e-mail, but they said I have to wait till mid next week cos the guy that can help me is at an exhibition. I can wait till then. Its not a matter of life or death, but I'm eager to get this printer working.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and build a heater controller that is independent of Techzone electronics. See blog for build details (http://pdf417.blogspot.com)

However I still had other problems. This time the extruder motor stops working for no reason. This proves that my Techzone extruder controller is faulty (again)

Right now I just realized that maybe it's possible I can get this thing going after all. I was sitting here thinking about it and the chip that fried on my extruder board is one of the 2 large chips near the terminals for the stepper wires. I'm betting this chip that fried controls the stepper terminals. I found a how to on the wiki regarding how to hook up the extruder with an external stepper. I'm going to give this a try and see if I can get it to work. First I'm going to attempt to clean up the solder blob from around the main chip. If this doesn't work I see that there are a few more options out there now to purchase extruder boards through ebay and in stock from Makerbot.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2010 10:02PM by jkelso.

I've been looking over the link in the wiki [reprap.org] about how to hack this system to use an extra stepper board but the problem is that I'm using a Makerbot stepper board and the instructions are for the tech zone stepper board. I know beggars can't be choosers but would anyone be willing to draw over this picture in photoshop and tell me what wires go where on this photo? It would help out so much.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2010 10:36PM by jkelso.

I don't remember the pin #'s for step, dir, and enable, but this should give you the general idea:




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2010 11:05PM by tbfleming.

yes~ ! using a fourth stepper is the way to go anyway!

OK I think I know what I need to do. I'll get some supplies for connecting these wires and report back later how it went.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2010 11:02AM by jkelso.

The white ones are for controlling temperature; they go to the extruder controller's 2-pin connector.

Todd

OK I got it. First off, I decided to get rid of the blob if I'm going to keep this thing. I laid the board down at an angle and when the solder got hot it traveled down and reformed on top of one of the flat rectangular metal spots arrayed around the chip. It didn't seem to be touching the neighboring squares so I clipped off the excess solder with a small side cutter tool. It looks like the solder problem might be fixed.

OK here's the actual diagram for hooking this up (I think...)

I decided that since I needed a few things at radio shack that I would take advantage of this $10 off coupon that they hype every time I'm in there. My printer died a while back and since I get to use the printers at school for free I've been putting off getting a new one. They emailed me a coupon, so I called down to radio shack and asked the guy if I could print the coupon out in the store. He said they couldn't do that. What I think he meant was that they WOULDN'T do that. So I drove all the way down to the fedex printing store to print it there. I got a long winded tutorial on how to use the self service copier, inserted my credit card, inserted the usb card, only to find that the device doesn't recognize jpg files, only things like pdf and word document. Then I ended up standing in line for 10 minutes while the guy talked to someone on the phone and got him to print the page for me for .10 cents. Then I realized that the coupon says "for purchases of $40 or more". Useless. What he meant to say was "go online for a coupon worth up to 25% off purchases over $40" NOT "go online for a $10 coupon". Finally, I get to radio shack knowing that the coupon deal was a lie and that these jerks wouldn't even print it out for someone willing to spend over $40 in their store. I go to the aisle to look for heat shrink connectors and this guy comes over and asks if I need help. I start to speak and he all of the sudden interrupts me and says "They're fighting on the field!" I look up and see that his eyes are glued to the TV set that is on in the store and he's watching a scuffle on the field. I looked at him like he was crazy and after that he couldn't really bear to help me any more. I didn't share his enthusiasm for the manly game of football, I was only some nerd looking for cheap electronics bits. He told me that he didn't know anything about the electronics and that he mainly stays over in the cell phones and stereo equipment area of the store. The other guy who knew about it was busy talking on the phone. Finally, I just grabbed what I needed off the shelf and went to pay. The guy started hyping the ambiguously worded "$10 off coupon" and I told him I already know it's for over $40 and that I had called down and asked them to print it and they said no so why would I want to spend $40 in a store that won't even print out a coupon for me? He told me to have a good day.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2010 02:40PM by jkelso.