Migbot Prusa i3 Unofficial Support Thread

Alright guys,

I finally got the new ramps v1.4 board installed and everything is working. Now if someone could help me get the home position set I would be very grateful. I am using repetier host and when I hit the home buttons it tries to extend well beyond where it should stop.

Thank you.

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wallygator801
Alright guys,

I finally got the new ramps v1.4 board installed and everything is working. Now if someone could help me get the home position set I would be very grateful. I am using repetier host and when I hit the home buttons it tries to extend well beyond where it should stop.

Thank you.

Try Pronterface. Much more better in my experience.

Got a new development...

Spent some time calibrating the extruder, and switched to a white PLA.

Turns out, the lumps Iv been getting is burned plastic. Anyone able to explain why this is occuring??

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veaceonee
Got a new development...

Spent some time calibrating the extruder, and switched to a white PLA.

Turns out, the lumps Iv been getting is burned plastic. Anyone able to explain why this is occuring??

are you getting a lot of jams too? heat would traveling up the too far above the nozzle. fan look like its going at full speed?

I'm stumped guys! I've made four attempts to print an improved Z axis carriage that the X axis stepper mounts on, using ABS. Also note that I'm printing from the SD card. At some point in all four attempts, the X axis misses step and messes everything up. It's not happening at the same elevation, anywhere from 2 mms to 20 mms. I've replaced the linear bearings and rods on the X. My X stepper is at 0.29V measured at the USB housing and the current pot. I slowed down the X,Y jerk and max speed and I'm printing at only a speed of 50.
Suggestions please!

Josh

Josh have you check to make sure the belt pulley isn't loose? Its sounds like that would be the cause. Check all of them to make sure you have that out of the way.

Iv noticed on mine if X and Y are not set the same (both pots and firmware), or within very close to each other, instead of a cube I get stairs.


Figured out my lumping issue. It was leaking plastic where the throat meets the hotend and dripping onto the print. Tightened it up, recalibrated extruder feed and bed height. Back in business.

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Yakuza
Josh have you check to make sure the belt pulley isn't loose? Its sounds like that would be the cause. Check all of them to make sure you have that out of the way.

I checked all belts and they are tight. Everything is running smooth when I manually exercise the X/Y axis bearings. I did notice some slop in one of the Z axis flange nuts, the one on the left. I think this is causing some vibration and the annoying "click" I've been hearing during printing. I was about to order a couple flange nuts when I realized I didn't know anything about the lead screws. Can anyone tell me what the pitch/lead is for Migbot M8 lead screws? I looked on my original instruction and I don't see where it is mentioned.
Also,I successfully completed a 4.5 hour ABS print yesterday, the trick was to turn the part so the longest distance was in the Y axis. It seems that my missed step shows up when the X is moving the longest distance. This could either be a high voltage issue leading to thermal shutdown or something in the mechanics, belt slop. What is the best voltage to be running these steppers? I read somewhere that the range is between .15 to .40 V? Thoughts?

Pitch is 2mm. X and Y steppers I run at about .7 volts and Z at about .85.

Just update: [grabcad.com]

Hi, is there any expert out there, can help me draw a part and convert it to STL, as i'm not a drawing expert...

Should be easy enough to do, but you need more information adding.
Does the channel go all the way through the object, and you need to add the positions from the edges for the holes

Yes, the channel go all the way through the object, would be good if someone can help... Appreciate very much. Thanks you!

the position of the holes don't need to be very aquire as it's just in a triangle position will do, as need it for my fish pump bracket.

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evetanlm
the position of the holes don't need to be very aquire as it's just in a triangle position will do, as need it for my fish pump bracket.

Here you go, try this.

Josh

Thanks you Josh. Love your work, will try to print once my printer finish the print.

Hi Josh,

here is the pump, hehe. It's beautiful, you are an artist..

Hi Everyone,

I have a question, I have just get a E3D V6 extruder, right now the extruder is fix on my migbot but the issue is it reverse, should be extruder but now it retruder, can anyone advise me on this. Appreciate anyone that can help... Have a nice day!

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evetanlm
Hi Josh,

here is the pump, hehe. It's beautiful, you are an artist..

Hi Everyone,

I have a question, I have just get a E3D V6 extruder, right now the extruder is fix on my migbot but the issue is it reverse, should be extruder but now it retruder, can anyone advise me on this. Appreciate anyone that can help... Have a nice day!

Cool, I'm glad it worked out for you. I'm curious about the three holes, are you going to screw it to something?

First of all i want to thank all of you for posting your solutions and problems here. I thought i was the only one with these problems with my Migbot. I am a beginner with 3d printers and 3d-design so its trial and error for me unfortunately. Hope these help someone.

So i just wanted to share a few of my problem and the "solutions" i found.

The latest problem was the SD-card slot. It did recognize it once i plug it in but it didnt register in the menu when you try to print from it.
**Partial solution - I changed the setting in the firmware configuration.h at the LCD/SD part "#define SD_CHECK_AND_RETRY // Use CRC checks and retries on the SD communication" to uncommented so it would be active. This is where i screwed up a bit... I also changed the microSD to a 8gb one without testing it with the 1gb card that did not work before the firmware tinkering. The SD card is formatted to FAT32 and now it is working every time. So if you are facing the same problem try one step at a time so you find the real solution.

Next thing, the heatbed. It was painfully slow to warm up out of the box. It took ages (+1h) to get 99C, after that i didnt even bother trying to get the ABS temperatures. Now i put some insulation under the heatbed-element and use a fire-extinguishing cloth on top of the heatbed while warming up so now it takes about 15-20min to reach 110C. I measured the resistance of the heating-element and it was something in 1.4-1.7Ohm in room temperature and after a brief visual inspection i did not find any damaged rails on it.

Getting the prints to get centered i just used a shortcut in cura and added the lines in the gcode. It took a few tests to get it centered but finally i got it pretty centered on the bed(large bed).

Also i had a problem with higher temperatures with the heatbed in the form of "THERMAL RUNAWAY". I think the bed didnt keep up with the set values so it shut everything off. I had to change the values with the bed also to get it working. Now it is:
define THERMAL_RUNAWAY_PROTECTION_BED_PERIOD 60 //in seconds

define THERMAL_RUNAWAY_PROTECTION_BED_HYSTERESIS 10 // in degree Celsius

So far i had the best results in ABS printing with blue painters tape and extra strong hairspray with 110C temperature. With PLA the sweetspot it was about 55C for few spools i had with only blue painters tape. I use the metal plate what came with the printer.

The only modification so far i made is changing the original power cable to a one with a on/off switch, adding a fan to the circuit board and insulation under the bed. For the future i planned on changing the acrylic frame to a lasercut aluminium frame and the underside threaded support rods to 12mm ones for added rigidness.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2015 08:44AM by w4rdaddy.

the 3 holes i putting the sucket in, to let the pump stick on the side glass tank.

Hi Josh,

do you know how to change the extruder from retrude to extrude?

my sd card slot is only recognize one type of card call transcend, others never. see attach for reference

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evetanlm
my sd card slot is only recognize one type of card call transcend, others never. see attach for reference

Seems that te Migbot is a bit sensitive with SD-cards. I had a bunch of old cards and i tested few of them and some worked and some did not.

So if any of you are having problems with it, i think the easiest solution is to test with another card.

Any body else have one of their end stops, stop working? Today my X end stop, I am not sure is working. During homing all of a sudden extruder just jamming into it making loud noises.

I tested the end stop it self and there is resistance when its closed, so seems to be functioning. Also no changes since my last print. I am confused.


Edit: So I forgot I had the extra endstop for Z since I have the autolevel sensor as the Z right now. So I swapped x-stop out for that one and it seems to be working again. Strange, since when I test it with the multi-meter it seems to be the same resistance as the working one. Still confused, but atleast its working again for now.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2015 07:14PM by gatorNic.

I usually test the microswitches functionality with the beeper on my multimeter, you hear the problem immediately I have had both x and y carriage endstop broken once. Well actually it was the soldering that broke off not the switch itself from the root of the pin. After the second one i made some modifications on the cable harness and now problem free for few months.

We also had to re-solder the terminals on ALL THREE (X,Y and Z) Limit Micro-switches. Then we coated them with a silicone paste and made sure they DON'T MOVE.

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3DST
We also had to re-solder the terminals on ALL THREE (X,Y and Z) Limit Micro-switches. Then we coated them with a silicone paste and made sure they DON'T MOVE.

Yeah I have a feeling the switch is still good based on the muti-meter test but it did seem intermittent compared to the other one. Probably need to solder like you did.

The printer was finally printing great, so when all of sudden it malfunction I was like "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo, what the, it was just working!"

Ugh...dang ABS, why can't I print it as well as PLA? Getting nice looking ABS prints but they can be pulled apart, how do I get the layers to stick?
FYI: I had an ABS print that took a couple hours to complete, de-laminate on a few layers so I clamped it (layer compression) and wicked in some thin CA adhesive. Worked like a charm!

Josh

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jbehan
Ugh...dang ABS, why can't I print it as well as PLA? Getting nice looking ABS prints but they can be pulled apart, how do I get the layers to stick?
FYI: I had an ABS print that took a couple hours to complete, de-laminate on a few layers so I clamped it (layer compression) and wicked in some thin CA adhesive. Worked like a charm!

Josh

I just switched over to ABS to print replacement parts and its been printing very well. The recommended temp for my ABS was 230-240. I started with 235 and was getting delamination. Went to 240 and was much better, but I ended up going to 245 to play it safe and make sure it was strong. So far no problems, its been printing great. This is also with a bed temp 105 for first layer, 100 after that. I tried 110, but the bed has a really hard time making it up to that. I couldn't seem to get past 108, so 105 seems fine and it warms up to that reasonably fast.

I think the fact its been pretty warm here in CA lately is probably helping. For you if you have a cooler environment I would think about building an encolsure to regulate temp, I have heard many times its a huge difference maker. I am think of building one soon, may be needed in the winter and for larger parts.

I will try a higher nozzle temp, I think I'm at 240 C already, will bump it up 5 C. I do have an enclosure in place and I've been using a bed temp of 110 C, lowering to 90 C after 1 mm. Are you doing anything with the cooling fan?

Thanks for your feedback.

Josh