After frying that chip because a wire came loose from the "chocolate block" I decided that I needed something better. This longer "barrier strip" I bought was sawed down and drilled with new holes through. If you do buy a chocolate block/european style terminal strip make sure you get the "jumbo" size one because the smaller one I bought won't fit 2 wires in the hole.

The new connector holds the wires in there very nicely. I don't think this one will be pulling apart.

...after a false start I now have the jumper soldered onto the correct board with shrink tubes on the ends and I'm getting ready to test this all out....


Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2010 05:55PM by jkelso.

I didn't want to rush into anything so I decided to put off wiring and testing the unit so that I could lay around and watch TV. Finally, I got it all hooked up and....yes, it worked!
Well, the axis all work and the extruder moves now, but I think I may want to play with the extruder software some more because I'm not getting any heat output. I've decided to order a regular old 100K thermistor tomorrow instead of fiddling around with this complicated AD595 thermocouple board. Maybe I can get it to work, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right by only connecting the one signal wire from the board to one of the TEMP pins, leaving the other pin empty.

Good work! I would take the time and get the thermocouple working,,, you will end up doing it in the end ... trust me don't waste endless amounts of time like I did! I had my "VOID" built with swiftness and then came the extruder...countless hours of Taliban quality torture........... I went to a thermocouple and a heater block...It saved my sanity!. I now can print high quality and will be fully auto when I receive my parts to build the thermocouple for my heated bed. (right now it manually controlled.. I know.... pathetic..)

So higher temps only readable with a thermocouple board are necessary for "high quality" ?
I just ordered these thermistors...


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2010 11:15AM by jkelso.

DanielG I'm trying to compile that extruder.pde file you provided for upload on another thread. I think you said you had this code and you are running an AD595 thermocouple board so I tried it. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I think that's what I read. Anyway, when I compile your code I get this error message:

I know we've talked about this before but I don't remember ever figuring this one out.

I forgot to mention that when I search AD595 on the wiki I get this result, however it's a dead link...

I found this bit of info at the bottom. I'm not sure I completely understand all of it, but at the bottom it says something about there being a misprint on the circuit board about what wires go where. I guess I'll play around with switching the wires around but I'm still not sure I have the correct firmware installed for this yet. Unbelievable.

I switched the wires around, putting the signal to ground and the ground to the temp pin but it seems now the red LED doesn't flash on or off which indicates to me that it was correct the way I had it originally. I'm going to reverse this experiment and double check my software and re-upload it to the board. I tried ramping the heat up for a long time but the temp value never changed and the nozzle never got hot. I'm definitely thinking of ordering another extruder board from Makerbot soon if I can't get anything working soon after the thermistors arrive. Would be nice to finally determine if it's the thermocouple giving me the problem or the extruder board. Shipment is supposed to arrive by thursday.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2010 01:17PM by jkelso.

I'll send you my exact code that I am using when I get home from work today.. It is all set to compile...

jkelso Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So higher temps only readable with a thermocouple
> board are necessary for "high quality" ?
> I just ordered these thermistors...
> [i56.tinypic.com]
I am sure the suggested combo works as some use it but it was not for me..... as soon as I changed to the thermocouple and heater block my extrusion problems went away!

Have you tried repsnapper? if not check it out... i use it for now at least and am getting good results...

I am following the advice from the wiki on testing the thermocouple using a program uploaded to the arduino. I tried all the different possible combinations of pins, taking into account a possible misprint on the circuit board. The best reading I could get from this board is a reading of around 250 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no heat going to the nozzle so this should be reading at room temperature. I do not have a thermistor attached to the nozzle, only the K type thermocouple wire twisted together and cemented around the nozzle. I'm thinking that this wire needs that thermistor next to the nozzle in order to read the lower temps...


Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2010 06:42PM by jkelso.

I decided to try and reverse the polarity of the incoming wires although I don't see how that would change anything and it didn't. Also, I decided to try and pull the signal wire out from the arduino. I thought that the red LED was supposed to come on when this wire is pulled but it doesn't.

After testing the AD595 thermocouple board, I realized that the problem isn't just the inaccurate readings I was getting with the arduino. Even with the inaccurate readings, I'm still registering a 0 temp value in the reprap host software. So it has to be the firmware bad or the extruder board bad also...

Here is the exact firmware that is in my machine....
you only need the thermocouple not both. did you make the thermocouple or buy it assembled?

btw mine is set to work on pin 6 you may need to change that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2010 09:43PM by DanielG.

What exactly do you mean by "set to work on 6 pin"? I got the firmware to upload again after 5 or so unsuccessful tries. Finally, I just pushed the button when it said "binary size" and let go and it uploaded. Still, no change in the temp value 0 in the reprap console. I bought this thermocouple assembled from ebay, [cgi.ebay.com]

Also I inserted this code into my motherboard firmware yesterday..

Seems like I should be getting some reading in the software at least, even if it's inaccurate?
I found a MAX6675 thermocouple board here:
[www.adafruit.com]
I think I'll give it a try, at least there's code written for it on the wiki, I don't see code written for the AD595
Also, lambert andrus sent an email back stating that he's been at the faire and that the extruder board is on the way. I should be getting some answers when these parts start arriving in the next few days..

Analog input pin 6...can you take a closeup of your extruder board? I use a makerbot one so I am not familiar with yours...
Also links to any docs for your extruder...
I will try to help..

BTW I bought my thermocouple from the same guy.....

If you look through this thread there's photo after photo of my extruder board.
My information's just not going in.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2010 11:37PM by jkelso.

No close up's though... I'll look around tomorrow to see if I can find one...

There that was easy... See where it says servos and analog inputs? connect it to A6 make sure SIG,5V and GND are correct.

So signal is set to A6 (I think that's what you mean?) Unfortunately I've never seen that chart before, thank you for providing it.
I'll give it a try.

I was looking through my emails again and there's something bothering me. Last week Lambert stated that he is sending me out a new extruder board and will have a tracking number for me tomorrow. Days go by and still no word back from them about the tracking number. Then I realize he's telling me about a tracking number through hotmail and has not said anything about the tracking number the proper way through paypal dispute email, I still have an open dispute through them. After sending several emails both through paypal and email asking for the tracking number that never came he sends one back through hotmail with excuses and asking me if I still want the tracking number. Isn't that a suspicious question? Do I still want a tracking number? Why would I be continually emailing him asking for it if I didn't want it? I just sent 2 more emails asking why there's still no tracking number as promised.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2010 12:19PM by jkelso.

Once I put the signal wire to A6 I started to get a reading in the reprap console of 000 instead of just 0. I had the +5v and GND to the 12V +/- . Still no heat to the nozzle and no temp readout above 000. I'm going to try switching the power supply for the thermocouple board wires around some more to the pins below A6 and see if I can get any better result. I've not seen the red LED working on this board for several days now, despite testing it to see if I could get it to come on when the signal wire is removed. Wondering now if the board is any good..

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2010 01:22PM by jkelso.

The red led on the thermocouple board is an alarm led. It should only come on under a fault condition, for example if you disconnect the thermocouple.

The other thing to be wary off is I think some versions of the board have the thermocouple connections labelled wrongly. In that case the temperature goes down when you heat it.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Right, I've now tried every possible combination of wire and also tried plugging the board in directly to the arduino. Plugged directly into the arduino, I can only get a reading of around 250 F on the serial monitor. When I unplug the signal wire the red LED doesn't come on any more, it used to. However, when I plug it all into the extruder board it seems to do nothing. The reprap console reads 000. I've taken into account every possible way the 3 connections could have been misprinted and switched these wires around enough times to know it isn't working at either end. The thermocouple board is bad and the extruder board is bad or it's still a software issue....

UPDATE: I just got another long email from lambert andrus explaining all the things they do in the company and the various ways in which their time is stretched. At the end of the email he explains :

I CAN track down the details about your order, but I was hoping that it had simply arrived already and I wouldn't need to take the time to find it.

I am sorry for the trouble this has caused you. We are committed to taking care of our customers, and we won't leave you hanging out there.

Thanks,
Lambert




He keeps saying he can and why they didn't but never comes correct with an actual tracking number

Well if you try every permutation of three wires one of them will reverse the supply which usually destroys most chips. Trial and error is no way to approach electronics as most mistakes will fry something.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]