Folger Tech 2020 i3 Printer Kit (Official Thread)

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Mindforrest

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tjnamtiw

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Mindforrest
HELP! I just put together my Prussa, and I set it all up except for one major problem: the Z axis won't move at all. I checked everything, its built to the instructions, but it won't move. I have been using the manual control on Repetier, and everything else works, (Fan, nozzle, heated bed, X/Y axis) and I probably am missing a main step or something dumb, but I obviously can't print anything without the Z axis. (And the motors both work, I checked).

Z won't work until you HOME all axes.

Thank you, Tjmantiw, however, I am not sure what you mean, as I have homed the axis' before I tried to move the Z axis. One thing I noticed was that my first stepper driver is way hotter than the rest (I made sure the voltages were as recommended). Not sure if that effects anything.
Thanks!

If your z axis stepper driver is getting hot, the motors must be trying to move, but are unable to. I would check your feedrate and acceleration settings in your firmware.

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Folger Tech I3 2020 Wikia page: [folgertech.wikia.com]

Custom Folger Tech I3 2020 custom search

I switched to a 8gb sd card and now it looks to works fine.

Well I still can't print anything As I don't have received my thermistor replacement nor the fan :/

If someone know if I can find spare parts in Vancouver, bc...

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Cyril
I switched to a 8gb sd card and now it looks to works fine.

Well I still can't print anything As I don't have received my thermistor replacement nor the fan :/

If someone know if I can find spare parts in Vancouver, bc...

I may have a thermistor that will work, I'll check my parts bin in the morning. I am in New Westminster
For a fan, try RP Electronics or Lees Electronics

Steve

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My updated Instructable on our Prusa i3 Build
[www.instructables.com]

Thanks! I think I will stop by lee or rp

Glad to ear that I'm not alone in this area with this kit !

Mindforrest,

Just to be clear. You have successfully homed the X axis immediately followed by successful homing of the Y axis and the Z axis will still not move? Have you run M119 to show endstop status before and after you tried homing? Have you verified that you have power at the Z motors and that they are enabled - tried to turn the Z axis 5mm screw by hand? Do you have all three jumpers installed under the Z axis driver board on the ramps?

So I've done a variety of updates/mods to my system over the the last week which I had queued up, such as the popular 8mm lead screw replacement, A4988 -> DRV8825, and stock extruder/hot-end -> Titan/E3Dv6. I also updated to Marlin 1.1.0-RC6, carefully going through the configuration file and correcting the settings for my setup. I also went through the PID autotune.

I did not, however, change anything about the print bed and am using the same PLA filament, yet I no longer have any bed adhesion at all. Has anyone else encountered bed adhesion issues after upgrading to the E3D? I can't think of anything else which would be contributing to this issue. Everything else appears to be working great after the upgrades, but with this inability to actually print anything other than a ball of plastic, it's hard to tell...

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awmyhr
did not, however, change anything about the print bed and am using the same PLA filament, yet I no longer have any bed adhesion at all. Has anyone else encountered bed adhesion issues after upgrading to the E3D? I can't think of anything else which would be contributing to this issue. Everything else appears to be working great after the upgrades, but with this inability to actually print anything other than a ball of plastic, it's hard to tell...

I didn't notice any change to bed adhesion after upgrading to an E3D V6. FWIW, I'm using a BLTouch for autolevel and reset the z offset in Simplify3D after I installed the new hot end.

I have noticed that the hot end temps need to be a little different than with my last setup. My first couple prints had some layer bonding issues that turning up the heat seemed to solve. Maybe that's what you're seeing in your bed adhesion?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2016 03:22PM by GrouchoDuke.

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 w/Misumi bearings, Borosilicate bed, BuildTak, BLTouch, 12864 LCD, lead screw z-axis, DRV8825, Toranado extruder & E3D V6 driven by Simplify3D and an Octopi.

I definitely saw a change in adhesion when I went to the E3DV6-Lite. I also think it is related to the temperature and difference in the thermistors. I got tired of printing balls of plastic so I went back to blue tape on the glass for now.

I found I needed higher temps after swapping to the e3d (full not lite) which is probably due to the thermister reading more accurately. I suspect on the stock one the thermister wasn't making as good contact so the melt zone was actually higher than the thermister was indicating (which would also explain how I managed to melt my stock PTFE liner despite never seeing a temp over 240c on the hot end.)

Once I retuned my temps I was back to getting great adhesion. In fact I haven't bothered with any hairspray on my bed in weeks. Except when I toss in the last of the first roll of PLA I got (orange from folger) which still refuses to stick without hairspray. With MakerGeeks, Hatchbox, and Atomic filaments I'm getting great adhesion even though my bed is a mess and most of it is covered in dust that's blown in from the dust storms we've been having

Sooooo.... I threw my printer together a week or so ago and have been getting some good prints.

My only concern was the X axis chatter and X axis motor temp.... scorching! I was afraid, in my advanced years ( read shaking hands and eyesight) to check stepper voltage. Tonite, I got the nerve to check it.

X voltage was 4.7V! I tuned it down to 240mV and now the thing is whisper quiet!

All others were within spec.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2016 08:17PM by Trilithon.

I had the day off today so finally had some time for the printer.
I started by cutting some glass for the print bed and then leveled the bed.

So now I am finally ready to see if it will print, so I started with the 1CM calibration cube. I really wanted to see if it would print because while setting the the end stops I found that on the Y access when I plugged it into the controller I was offset by one pin, and when I hit the switch there was a puff of smoke. I looked at everything and could not see any burn marks and when I hooked everything up again everything seemed to work. I have a new RAMPS controller arriving tomorrow.

I am using ABS and it was able to get the bed up to 90 degrees in a reasonable amount of time but it just would not go beyond 93 and I had set the print up to use 95 for the first layer so I changed that back down to 90. The hot end heated up quickly.

As the print started the cube was UGLY it looked like is was soft and to hot, and it looked like it was over extruding because along with the heat the sides were bulging. I was using a print temp of 240 for the first layer and 235 for the rest so I backed them both down 5 degrees and tried another cube. The second was just as ugly so I kept tuning and one thing I found was that my filament was was closed to 1.85 than 1.75 so I changed that as well. By the time I got to the 5th cube I had a very clean and nice looking cube. I ended doing the prints today at 225 but think I will go back and try 230 next time because I can see a few area's that look the might be adhering the way I would expect.

When I got the kit I also got the LCD add on so with how nice the cube came out I figured I would print the LCD mounts next. I was really surprised and happy with how nice they come out. It took 3 prints to get 2 good mounts because for some reason I lost communications with the printer on the second one but I got 2 nice ones and mounted the LCD. Now I will need to start using the SD card for printing and not worry about the computer communications.

So after finally finishing the build I am happy with the way the printer works.

Is there any magic trick to getting the filament to stick to the bed? I'm pretty sure it is level. Might have a question about the zero height of Z. I have the tip almost touching the glass. What else might I check?

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WilberMaker
Is there any magic trick to getting the filament to stick to the bed? I'm pretty sure it is level. Might have a question about the zero height of Z. I have the tip almost touching the glass. What else might I check?

Still a newb here, I use Atomic filament - PLA, blue tape the glass, .004" feeler gauge for extruder height, 35c bed temp and have no issues so far.

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WilberMaker
Is there any magic trick to getting the filament to stick to the bed? I'm pretty sure it is level. Might have a question about the zero height of Z. I have the tip almost touching the glass. What else might I check?

You might just have to experiment with different bed and nozzle temperatures. For PLA and many other things, blue painters tape works well, and if even that is not enough try wiping it with some isopropyl alcohol first - it can make a huge difference.

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See my blog at [moosteria.blogspot.com].

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animoose

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WilberMaker
Is there any magic trick to getting the filament to stick to the bed? I'm pretty sure it is level. Might have a question about the zero height of Z. I have the tip almost touching the glass. What else might I check?

You might just have to experiment with different bed and nozzle temperatures. For PLA and many other things, blue painters tape works well, and if even that is not enough try wiping it with some isopropyl alcohol first - it can make a huge difference.

Good points Animoose. I print my first layer at about 150% of layer height, and start the bed temp (manually for the first layer) about 5-10 degrees hotter than the rest of the print's bed temperature. My nozzle start height is about the thickness of a piece of printing paper. Also, my cooling fan is off for the first layer. So far I have had good adhesion, on glass, with PLA, as long as my bed temp is in the 60-65 degree C range.

Your 65 degree bed temp might not be my 65 degree bed temperature. It depends on the TEMP_SENSOR_ setting(s) in the configuration.h file.

#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 1  // tried 8 beta with thermistortables.h mod;  1 was used in theRippa/Marlin V 1.0.2;  6 was Folger Tech Stock
#define TEMP_SENSOR_1 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_2 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 1

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2016 08:39AM by flatlander.

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WilberMaker
Is there any magic trick to getting the filament to stick to the bed? I'm pretty sure it is level. Might have a question about the zero height of Z. I have the tip almost touching the glass. What else might I check?

''Might have a question about the zero height of Z" >>> This is the PRIMARY insurance for the best chance of bed adhesion. You just can't be 'pretty sure' the bed is level.

Make certain that your nozzle height is 0.1 mm or 0.004" from the bed in all four corners using, preferablly a feeler gauge, or card stock measuring that thickness. Until you have it that close, your chances of good adhesion degrade rapidly. Then make sure your first layer is set for 150% extrusion width, which will put extra plastic down to push it firmly onto the bed.

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 and FT-5 as well as modified JGAurora A5 with direct drive E3D/Titan. All running the BLTOUCH.
Great kits. Having fun and running the heck out of them.
Running Marlin 1.1.0 RC8 on the i3 and FT5. Custom firmware on A5.
Folger Tech Wiki board >[folgertech.wikia.com]

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tjnamtiw

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WilberMaker
Is there any magic trick to getting the filament to stick to the bed? I'm pretty sure it is level. Might have a question about the zero height of Z. I have the tip almost touching the glass. What else might I check?

''Might have a question about the zero height of Z" >>> This is the PRIMARY insurance for the best chance of bed adhesion. You just can't be 'pretty sure' the bed is level.

Make certain that your nozzle height is 0.1 mm or 0.004" from the bed in all four corners using, preferablly a feeler gauge, or card stock measuring that thickness. Until you have it that close, your chances of good adhesion degrade rapidly. Then make sure your first layer is set for 150% extrusion width, which will put extra plastic down to push it firmly onto the bed.

Also a slower first layer can help. I often use 30% of normal speed for mine.

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See my blog at [moosteria.blogspot.com].

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animoose

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tjnamtiw

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WilberMaker
Is there any magic trick to getting the filament to stick to the bed? I'm pretty sure it is level. Might have a question about the zero height of Z. I have the tip almost touching the glass. What else might I check?

''Might have a question about the zero height of Z" >>> This is the PRIMARY insurance for the best chance of bed adhesion. You just can't be 'pretty sure' the bed is level.

Make certain that your nozzle height is 0.1 mm or 0.004" from the bed in all four corners using, preferablly a feeler gauge, or card stock measuring that thickness. Until you have it that close, your chances of good adhesion degrade rapidly. Then make sure your first layer is set for 150% extrusion width, which will put extra plastic down to push it firmly onto the bed.

Also a slower first layer can help. I often use 30% of normal speed for mine.

Forgot that part. I use 50% of normal speed.

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 and FT-5 as well as modified JGAurora A5 with direct drive E3D/Titan. All running the BLTOUCH.
Great kits. Having fun and running the heck out of them.
Running Marlin 1.1.0 RC8 on the i3 and FT5. Custom firmware on A5.
Folger Tech Wiki board >[folgertech.wikia.com]

Well I think my y motor is kind of dead. When I unplug it and turn it by hand, it sometimes gets stuck and I have to apply a lot of force to make it pass this hard point. But this is random... I notice that because when moving the bed by hand it sometimes get stuck in the middle of its course. During a y movement I also notice that the motor skips steps when he encounter a such hard spot.

It's branded casun and not folger tech you can find it on aliexpress for a dollar...

So I ordered a new one on Amazon (20dol)...

Folger tech parts are crap... Fan, thermistor and now a step motor that is kind of DOA...

Thanks guys, lot of good information. Can't wait to try some more. Death in the family early yesterday morning an d I'll be out of state for a couple days. I will revisit this then and sure I will have more questions. One question I have now was setting the Z height. Not sure what exactly controls the height. Setting a .0040 inch height with the endstop could take some time. Is the height controlled with zeroing the "z" or must it be done with the endstop?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2016 09:32AM by WilberMaker.

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WilberMaker
Thanks guys, lot of good information. Can't wait to try some more. Death in the family early yesterday morning an d I'll be out of state for a couple days. I will revisit this then and sure I will have more questions. One question I have now was setting the Z height. Not sure what exactly controls the height. Setting a .0040 inch height with the endstop could take some time. Is the height controlled with zeroing the "z" or must it be done with the endstop?

For manual leveling I use a method similar to the following:

[www.youtube.com]

I have removed the springs in the back of the heat bed and just bolted it tight to the aluminum carriage with aluminum spacers. I twizzle the back left stepper to get the z-height in that corner.

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WilberMaker
Thanks guys, lot of good information. Can't wait to try some more. Death in the family early yesterday morning an d I'll be out of state for a couple days. I will revisit this then and sure I will have more questions. One question I have now was setting the Z height. Not sure what exactly controls the height. Setting a .0040 inch height with the endstop could take some time. Is the height controlled with zeroing the "z" or must it be done with the endstop?

Yes, the normal way of setting the Z zero position is with the Z endstop and adjusting the springs on the bed. Once you get going, you will find there are a lot of ideas on THINGIVERSE that make the task easier with adjusting bolts. Sooner or later, like me, you will swallow your pride in your ability to zero the bed quickly and adopt auto bed leveling. It took me several months but not it's the only way to do it!

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 and FT-5 as well as modified JGAurora A5 with direct drive E3D/Titan. All running the BLTOUCH.
Great kits. Having fun and running the heck out of them.
Running Marlin 1.1.0 RC8 on the i3 and FT5. Custom firmware on A5.
Folger Tech Wiki board >[folgertech.wikia.com]

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Cyril
Well I think my y motor is kind of dead. When I unplug it and turn it by hand, it sometimes gets stuck and I have to apply a lot of force to make it pass this hard point. But this is random... I notice that because when moving the bed by hand it sometimes get stuck in the middle of its course. During a y movement I also notice that the motor skips steps when he encounter a such hard spot.

It's branded casun and not folger tech you can find it on aliexpress for a dollar...

So I ordered a new one on Amazon (20dol)...

Folger tech parts are crap... Fan, thermistor and now a step motor that is kind of DOA...

Having a motor kind of dead is like being 'kind of pregnant'. From what you said, it sounds like your bed has a tight spot, not the motor. Correct? Is this a start up situation or have you been running? Take the belt off of the motor and move the Y carriage. Does it slide easily from one end to the other? If not, you don't have your bearings and/or your rods lined up correctly or your bearings are seated correctly in their mounts.

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 and FT-5 as well as modified JGAurora A5 with direct drive E3D/Titan. All running the BLTOUCH.
Great kits. Having fun and running the heck out of them.
Running Marlin 1.1.0 RC8 on the i3 and FT5. Custom firmware on A5.
Folger Tech Wiki board >[folgertech.wikia.com]

I got the printer going a few day's ago after printing the cube's to calibrate I printed the brackets to hold the LCD.

Then I decided to print Benchy to see how that worked. Most of it printed well with a few spots that looked like it was
under extruded and figured it was cheap filiment because most was OK, but when I got to the stack on top the layers
print very quickly and didn't leave enough time for the layer to cool before the next one is added.
The stack got very soft and compressed some so I am looking for idea's on how to avoid this.

I am using hot end that came with the printer and Folger ABS.
First layer at 235C and the rest at 230C, .4mm first layer and .2mm for the rest, and the speed is 40mm/sec and 50% for the first layer.

Any advice is welcome
Bill

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tjnamtiw
Having a motor kind of dead is like being 'kind of pregnant'. From what you said, it sounds like your bed has a tight spot, not the motor. Correct? Is this a start up situation or have you been running? Take the belt off of the motor and move the Y carriage. Does it slide easily from one end to the other? If not, you don't have your bearings and/or your rods lined up correctly or your bearings are seated correctly in their mounts.

Yes kind of because I thought it was fine :p This is a start situation as I'm still waiting for my replacement parts, so I just adjusted the endstops for now. I notice that during a 'fake' print (without set temperature / without filament).

I thought it was the Y carriage so I disassembled it, packed the bearing with PTFE lithium grease for bearing, (it makes the translation smoother). My Y carriage is now moving perfectly without amy noise.

And I ran another test... same issue, from time to time a tight spot...

So I disassembled the motor, and try to turn the rotor it in my hands (unplugged), I notice this tight spot as well but randomly... in 90% of the case it was turning smoothly but from time to time it just 'grip'. So gripped that I can't turn further with my hands (or I need to go a bit backward and it passes the tight spot...)

So I tear apart the motor, to see if something was inside, I didn't see anything, I clean it a bit with an air duster and reassembled it but the issue persists...

As I'm in Canada, the replacements parts takes weeks to come from the US :/ So I ordered a new motor...


EDIT: I made a video, with the sound it's better: [youtu.be]

EDIT2: I cleaned it up with a toothbrush, looks like its better now, But I can see some damages inside so I will replace it (and the other in on its way).

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2016 07:18PM by Cyril.

Huge thanks to DaveA!
I still cannot get the Z axis to move, but the problem is that it thinks that the endstops are hit on the minimum and maximum of the Z axis, so it refuses to move. Trying to figure out how to fix this software issue.
Thanks!

p.s. Does anyone know how to fix that?

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Mindforrest
Huge thanks to DaveA!
I still cannot get the Z axis to move, but the problem is that it thinks that the endstops are hit on the minimum and maximum of the Z axis, so it refuses to move. Trying to figure out how to fix this software issue.
Thanks!

p.s. Does anyone know how to fix that?

I assume that you either have wired the endstops incorrectly or the firmware is not configured. What version of the firmware are you using? Can you post your configuration.h file?
What side of the printer is the X axis stop located? Can I assume that where the Z axis is currently positioned it is not already on a stop switch? If you manually trip the Z min switch does the red LED light?
If you hold down the Z min switch and try M114 again is there any change?

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DaveA

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Mindforrest
Huge thanks to DaveA!
I still cannot get the Z axis to move, but the problem is that it thinks that the endstops are hit on the minimum and maximum of the Z axis, so it refuses to move. Trying to figure out how to fix this software issue.
Thanks!

p.s. Does anyone know how to fix that?

I assume that you either have wired the endstops incorrectly or the firmware is not configured. What version of the firmware are you using? Can you post your configuration.h file?
What side of the printer is the X axis stop located? Can I assume that where the Z axis is currently positioned it is not already on a stop switch? If you manually trip the Z min switch does the red LED light?
If you hold down the Z min switch and try M114 again is there any change?

The following did it for me after I made sure that my endstop switches were in the correct pin positions on the ramps board:

#define DISABLE_MAX_ENDSTOPS  // uncommented this line since I have no physical max_endstops

You've probably read about the blue smoke/killing the voltage regulator on the mega...caution plugging the endstop switches.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2016 11:42AM by flatlander.

Thanks! I fixed the problem with the incorrect readings on the endstops, but the Z axis still won't move. Mach said that the motors are trying to move, so I checked the firmware/software, and everything seems to be in order, but I don't really know what I'm looking for. The stepper driver above the Z axis plugs gets hot enough to burn my finger(on the heat sink)so I assume something is wrong there.

To address the heat problem when I had a short time on layers I found a fan that will mount on the MK9 so I printed and installed it. I seems do help.

I addressed another small problem where the hot end would sometimes hit one of the clips holding the glass down.
I cut a new piece of glass that was 8 1/2" x 8" so it would hang over the sides of the hot plate. Now I can get the clips
a lot further away from the print area. So far no hits.