Folger Prusa i3 Kit from ebay

Okay guys I got almost everything working but my auto leveling and can't find any useful info related to my problem. My auto leveling is installed and when I type g28 or hit z home, the micro switch touches the glass twice but then gets stuck when the arm swings back because the extruder didn't lift, also when i type g29 ... nothing happens. I attached my configuration.h file for someone to take a look and tell me whats wrong. Thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2015 08:19PM by slanwar.

When I type G29 after I typed G28 I get this:

echo:Home X/Y before Z
Eqn coefficients: a: 0.15 b: 0.00 d: -0.00
planeNormal x: -0.15 y: -0.00 z: 1.00

Bed Leveling

Followed this, worked 1st try. There is a ton of info inside this thread concerning bed leveling.

I did watch and followed the 3 videos but didn't work, I think the arm from auto leveling I download is too short and thats the reason hits the glass after homing I found another one which I'm going to print and I will try everything from that video again.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2015 03:48PM by slanwar.

Got to work.... I just download marlin and started from scratch with config file since my config file was patches from other peoples h file.

Hi guys, me again. I've got all the currents dialed in, everything according to spec. The only thing is that I messed up the connectors for the extruder and the heated bed so I'm getting replacements soon - they are not currently plugged in, but I don't see them being relevant to this part.
After homing, none of the motors move in any direction. I've tried flipping the values of min/max for X/Y and tripping them by hand, but no matter what I try they all home to where the endstop has been defined.

Does ANYONE have any idea why this could be?

OK guys, I have a problem and no its not mental, I think. I've tried different things to get my printer to work. When I connect it to RH, the motors move, the extruder heats up but the bed doesn't and the LCD just lights up and does nothing. I have tried to load the newest version of marlin with the numbers from folger tech, but now I can't even load firmware. I just says that it is compiling the sketch and stays that way for hours. I bought this printer back in Feburary and still haven't printed anything, need help please

I wish I had found this thread before I built my printer. I got the Rev B
I read it all and see that most of us fell into the same pitfalls and came up with the same workarounds that I did as well.I am new to 3d printing so I have learned a lot from Tom's videos and the great advice given here.I just need to tune my printer at this point after reading through the posts.This is an advanced kit not meant for novice users I well knew before I took the plunge into a reprap printer so I expected a steep learning curve and at the price of the Folger Tech kit I was not expecting too much.I was so pleasantly surprised by the machine and it's performance.I think there is quite a bit of improvement to be had for sure but am very happy with my purchase.Some things I did wrong were not reading all the stuff in the google drive before attempting to assemble the unit and only going over them after I hit a snag.I assembled it almost verbatum from the manual and had no problems at all with the mechanicals save for one thing,attaching the drive belts togeather.I just could not get the zip ties into the slot so I just ran the tie around the outside.Now the endstops did indeed give me fits as they did not work as described in the manual.I did eventually get it sorted but it took a whole day of research to understand how they are to work with the firmware and make the changes to Marlin and Slic3r.I have bought the clone E3d v6 from ebay and will be installing it as my first order of buisness as the hotend is the weakest thing about the machine,I am not complaining though as it prints pretty well with the included one but I want something a bit better as the cooling design is not up to what I am going for,Nylon.I tried to mount the heatbreak in the threaded bore for a better thermal exchange as I was getting jams with PLA but did not seem to be able to get it to allign in the left side bore.The right side just has a smooth bore with a grub screw so it just does not have enough contact with the heatsink to keep it cool.The sink is very poorly designed in this respect as the fan does not blow on this area but instead cools another sink that is only partialy in contact with it's cooling block so the only way for the heatbreak to transfer the heat is through the grub screw.To further make matters worse the extruder has about 100x the surface contact with the cooling block so heats it up,making the cooler absolutely useless.And the last issue with the design is that the extruder being in firm contact with the hotend transfers all of it's vibration directly to the print nozzle.Of course I will be looking for an alternative for the acrylic bed as well to run the Nylon but it seems to work fine for PLA,but I am a bit nervous about running ABS at 110 on it.I did put a piece of cardboard with aluminum on both sides of it but still concerned.I am wondering if I could use the extruder as a bowden just by relocating it off the X rails.
Thanks for all the input from the users here and Thank you Folger Tech for making this unit available affordably to the comman guy like me.
Beezer,
Hernando FL
My first print was a discontinued tail light lens that is going for 150 bucks on ebay


The next was the throttle cap also discontinued

I designed an extention for the headlight mount so I could add turn signals and mounted it to my ride
[i1183.photobucket.com]
[i1183.photobucket.com]
And finally tried a 12 hour print of a monster from a game I play a lot of,but failed about 1/2 way though it was looking very good for an organic shape.
[i1183.photobucket.com]

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2015 08:57PM by Beezer.

Shepp:

What is an RH?

Does the printer work with the Folger firmware as supplied by them?

Thanks.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2015 07:59AM by Ecky.

Beezer:

Being a bike guy myself I appreciate those good solid real world applications for a 3D printer. Keep up the good work.

I used CPU thermal paste between the heat sink and the block to improve the contact/heat transfer and also put a single stainless steel washer on each screw to make a heat break between the block and the motor. Motor doesn't over heat and the ABS extrudes well.

I am personally waiting for an aluminum Y carriage plate I ordered from Australia. Once I have that I will also install a new aluminum bed and the z axis probing so I don't have to level it for each print. I should have all of the parts next week.

A Bowden type extruder is also in the future.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2015 08:22AM by Ecky.

Quote
Ecky
Beezer:

Being a bike guy myself I appreciate those good solid real world applications for a 3D printer. Keep up the good work.

I used CPU thermal paste between the heat sink and the block to improve the contact/heat transfer and also put a single stainless steel washer on each screw to make a heat break between the block and the motor. Motor doesn't over heat and the ABS extrudes well.

I am personally waiting for an aluminum Y carriage plate I ordered from Australia. Once I have that I will also install a new aluminum bed and the z axis probing so I don't have to level it for each print. I should have all of the parts next week.

A Bowden type extruder is also in the future.

Great minds think alike,as those are exactly the tweaks I have in mind for the MK7 extruder.Also I am thinking of adding a few fender washers and thin M8 nuts to the heatbreak and drilling some holes in the aluminum heat sink to let some of the air cool it better.unfortunately I need to buy another hot block since I stripped the threads out from all the cleanouts I did.I have replaced the nozzle as well because in my first few attempts I had the big idea to drill out the tip and drilled it out all the way through even though I was just twising it with my fingers...DOH.The new nozzle is not the same as the original and seems to have less jams,it is a bit shorter and narrower which leads me to think the longer original had a higher pressure requirement.
Also mine worked with the original firmware from FT as well I have a different LCD that works as well when I uncommented the SD/LCD lines in the cfg.I just uncommented all the lines for the different LCD's it had support for figuring it had to be one of them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2015 06:38PM by Beezer.

Rh is the software that runs the printer and have tried a few different versions of marlin including the one from folger tech

Another thing I have noticed is that when I turn the heated bed on, it doesn't show 12v coming out of the connection. The fan shows 12v when on and also the extruder shows 12v when active.

I can see where comments like this would be very confusing for newcomers to this forum or thread. As an FYI Folger tech DOES NOT have any firmware. Folger tech PROVIDES settings for Marlin Firmware.

Quote
Ecky
Shepp:

What is an RH?

Does the printer work with the Folger firmware as supplied by them?

Thanks.

Deleted to save bandwidth and not waste any more time.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2015 12:36AM by Ecky.

Biggest upgrade so bowden conversion with infill 3d's sunburn hot end. I am now getting very reliable high qulity prints. No gaps or the folgertech nightmare extruder skip. I highly recommend the sunburn hot end it is far supirior to most i have seen and fairly affordable prints abs and pla great.

Thats what I want to do with mine where you got the stl for the extruder and the hotend support?

This is the extruder i used [www.thingiverse.com] but to use this one u have to get an MK8 extruder gear the origional folgertech is to large the mk8 gives a stronger bite on the filament as well. U also need a MUCH stronger stepper motor for the extruder the origional is far underpowered for a direct drive bowden. As far as the hot end mount i dont know were that stl came from a friend of mine gave it to me they have close to the same set up and that was the extra, but there is alot of ones that will work fine on thingiverse. U also need a different idler bearing for the extruder 603zz is the size u need. All together between the sunburn hotend,new stepper,misc parts (ptfe tubing,newmatic fittings, 603zz bearing,hardware) it cost roughly 70$us. It was definatly worth it

Hi Folks,

Are there any objections if this thread gets moved to the Prusa i3 and variants forum? That seems like a more appropriate place for it. -Matt

Anyone know of a good print fan mount for an e3d lite6?

Over the past few days I've been having some issues with the extruder on my printer. It will staart making a skipping noise and the filament will get caught. I've fixed it several times by opening up the extruder and removing the mangled and squished piece of filament but it keeps happening. I think that the extruder is the issue but it could also be the filament that I'm using. It's the cheap hatchbox filament from amazon and it has been sitting out for a while so I've sealed it in a ziplock bag with some silica gel packets and I'm going to leave it there for a day or so to see if that helps. Does anyone know of a fix for this or possibly even a replacement extruder that could fix the issue?

Quote
Dnixon123
Over the past few days I've been having some issues with the extruder on my printer. It will staart making a skipping noise and the filament will get caught. I've fixed it several times by opening up the extruder and removing the mangled and squished piece of filament but it keeps happening. I think that the extruder is the issue but it could also be the filament that I'm using. It's the cheap hatchbox filament from amazon and it has been sitting out for a while so I've sealed it in a ziplock bag with some silica gel packets and I'm going to leave it there for a day or so to see if that helps. Does anyone know of a fix for this or possibly even a replacement extruder that could fix the issue?

I had the same issue with the stock extruder, try this one, although you'll need to buy a spring. [www.thingiverse.com]

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widespreaddeadhead

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Dnixon123
Over the past few days I've been having some issues with the extruder on my printer. It will staart making a skipping noise and the filament will get caught. I've fixed it several times by opening up the extruder and removing the mangled and squished piece of filament but it keeps happening. I think that the extruder is the issue but it could also be the filament that I'm using. It's the cheap hatchbox filament from amazon and it has been sitting out for a while so I've sealed it in a ziplock bag with some silica gel packets and I'm going to leave it there for a day or so to see if that helps. Does anyone know of a fix for this or possibly even a replacement extruder that could fix the issue?

I had the same issue with the stock extruder, try this one, although you'll need to buy a spring. [www.thingiverse.com]

Thanks for the reply, I thought about trying that extruder but I can't exactly print it at the moment since the extruder i have on there seems to not be working. Is there anything that you know of that I could try to get the stock extruder working?

Quote
Dnixon123

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widespreaddeadhead

Quote
Dnixon123
Over the past few days I've been having some issues with the extruder on my printer. It will staart making a skipping noise and the filament will get caught. I've fixed it several times by opening up the extruder and removing the mangled and squished piece of filament but it keeps happening. I think that the extruder is the issue but it could also be the filament that I'm using. It's the cheap hatchbox filament from amazon and it has been sitting out for a while so I've sealed it in a ziplock bag with some silica gel packets and I'm going to leave it there for a day or so to see if that helps. Does anyone know of a fix for this or possibly even a replacement extruder that could fix the issue?

I had the same issue with the stock extruder, try this one, although you'll need to buy a spring. [www.thingiverse.com]

Thanks for the reply, I thought about trying that extruder but I can't exactly print it at the moment since the extruder i have on there seems to not be working. Is there anything that you know of that I could try to get the stock extruder working?

What kind of hatchbox are you using PLA or ABS? What color? I've used a lot of hatchbox filament and had a few problems with a few colors of PLA and the stock folgertech extruder. Right now, the best thing you can do is to clean it out, then check the vref on the stepper and make sure its getting the correct voltage.

Quote
widespreaddeadhead

Quote
Dnixon123

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widespreaddeadhead

Quote
Dnixon123
Over the past few days I've been having some issues with the extruder on my printer. It will staart making a skipping noise and the filament will get caught. I've fixed it several times by opening up the extruder and removing the mangled and squished piece of filament but it keeps happening. I think that the extruder is the issue but it could also be the filament that I'm using. It's the cheap hatchbox filament from amazon and it has been sitting out for a while so I've sealed it in a ziplock bag with some silica gel packets and I'm going to leave it there for a day or so to see if that helps. Does anyone know of a fix for this or possibly even a replacement extruder that could fix the issue?

I had the same issue with the stock extruder, try this one, although you'll need to buy a spring. [www.thingiverse.com]

Thanks for the reply, I thought about trying that extruder but I can't exactly print it at the moment since the extruder i have on there seems to not be working. Is there anything that you know of that I could try to get the stock extruder working?

What kind of hatchbox are you using PLA or ABS? What color? I've used a lot of hatchbox filament and had a few problems with a few colors of PLA and the stock folgertech extruder. Right now, the best thing you can do is to clean it out, then check the vref on the stepper and make sure its getting the correct voltage.

Right now I'm using white PLA, I've got some samples of a few ABS colors that I could try to use. I also read that the problem might be heat coming up from the hot end and making the filament too soft, is there any sort of insulation or something that I could try to prevent this?

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Dnixon123
Right now I'm using white PLA...

My stock extruder jammed on Hatchbox White PLA, and I've since changed to an e3d lite 6 hotend and have had zero issues with clogs. A lot of people were mentioning this to me, but at the time I didn't really think it was necessary to spend more money on something. Eventually I ordered the e3d lite6, installed it and have been a huge fan ever since. Just something to keep in the back of your head.

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Dnixon123
...I've got some samples of a few ABS colors that I could try to use...

I'd clean out the hotend and extruder and try some prints in ABS, just to make sure it's working as it should.

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Dnixon123
...I also read that the problem might be heat coming up from the hot end and making the filament too soft, is there any sort of insulation or something that I could try to prevent this?

Possibly, could you take a picture of your hotend with the threaded rod leading up to the extruder? One thing that might help is using some of the kapton tape that came with your kit to wrap around the heater block on the hotend, and that will insulate it a bit. Another thing you might want to think about it getting a PLA cooling fan for your hotend. There are many designs, such as these [www.thingiverse.com] & [www.thingiverse.com] that will help cool the plastic and possibly help with your issue also.

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widespreaddeadhead

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Dnixon123
Right now I'm using white PLA...

My stock extruder jammed on Hatchbox White PLA, and I've since changed to an e3d lite 6 hotend and have had zero issues with clogs. A lot of people were mentioning this to me, but at the time I didn't really think it was necessary to spend more money on something. Eventually I ordered the e3d lite6, installed it and have been a huge fan ever since. Just something to keep in the back of your head.

Quote
Dnixon123
...I've got some samples of a few ABS colors that I could try to use...

I'd clean out the hotend and extruder and try some prints in ABS, just to make sure it's working as it should.

Quote
Dnixon123
...I also read that the problem might be heat coming up from the hot end and making the filament too soft, is there any sort of insulation or something that I could try to prevent this?

Possibly, could you take a picture of your hotend with the threaded rod leading up to the extruder? One thing that might help is using some of the kapton tape that came with your kit to wrap around the heater block on the hotend, and that will insulate it a bit. Another thing you might want to think about it getting a PLA cooling fan for your hotend. There are many designs, such as these [www.thingiverse.com] & [www.thingiverse.com] that will help cool the plastic and possibly help with your issue also.

Thanks for all your replies, It's been jamming less over the past day or two so I can use the printer again. I actually lowered the hot end tube down farther away from the extruder, decreased my print temps a little bit, and started the fan before I began heating my extruder. Since I started doing this I haven't had problems but I'll also try wrapping the block in kapton tape. I was also looking at getting an e3D lite6 but had a question about how to mount it.

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Dnixon123
Thanks for all your replies, It's been jamming less over the past day or two so I can use the printer again. I actually lowered the hot end tube down farther away from the extruder, decreased my print temps a little bit, and started the fan before I began heating my extruder. Since I started doing this I haven't had problems but I'll also try wrapping the block in kapton tape. I was also looking at getting an e3D lite6 but had a question about how to mount it.

I was going to recommend lowering the tube after I saw a pic, but it looks like you beat me to it! I noticed you probably have your fan wired to the RAMPS board so you can control the speed like how the manual wants you to. One change I would make is wiring that fan straight to the power supply so that it's always running. If you have a question about installing the hotend let me know, I did mine a week or two ago and it was very easy and the results are fantastic.

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Vanbot

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Nargousias
Had my printer since last November... Still reading this thread.... and re-reading......

Yep. While there is a ton of information in this thread, the utter lack of organization makes it less useful than it could be. Sometimes it's like asking someone where the gas cap release button is on your new car and being handed the service manual complete with instructions on how to install pistons rings and every complaint every mechanic has ever had about working on that model of car.

Agreed! Wish there was a way to make sub categories for everything. Its to hard to sift through this thread looking for your answer. Thats why there is a lot of the same question being asked over and over.

Just got my FT Prusa i3 printer about 2 weeks ago now. Been making some good prints so far after a few bumps in the road. Quality is pretty good, not perfect, but I think with a few tweaks I should be able where I need to be with the current setup. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the wealth of knowledge in this thread (though I agree above, a lot of sifting through the same questions / same answers). Loving the 3D printer world so far and looking forward to a lot of the upgrades talked about in this thread.