Azteeg X3 Controller Pre-Order. Limited time pricing.

I like the look of this board, especially the screw terminals.
Might be a silly question but have you had it printing from the SD card? reason I ask is I bought a couple of Printrboards with this in mind but have never managed to get them to work due to a well-know hardware conflict with the y-axis limit switch. You mention above that it needs to be enabled in the firmware so I'm wondering if it has been proven to work yet. Or do you have a tired and tested set of Marlin files handy?

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Host software?
(From Buildlog) You can either use Pronterface(printrun) or repetier host for this.

Is this the same as ReplicatorG?

Sorry for the dumb ? just trying to understand all the software needed to use this board before I jumpin and purchase one

Well I placed my order for an X3 this evening so I'll report back when it arrives. I am building a MendelMax 1.5 and I am still waiting for a few remaining parts before I can start assembling it so the week or two it takes for this to arrive will suit me fine.
I just sold my first printer, a V2 Prusa yesterday so I am now down to one working printer, a Prusa Pro, and my "project" printer.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Received mine yesterday, along with the heatbed.
Quite a fast ocean-crossing, as USPS says it left LA 2 days before that only.

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Wow, the shipping cost was not that high either, just shows how much some guys profit from shipping on fleabay.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

The X3 is pin to pin compatible with the RAMPS and the SD slot is wired similar to the SD RAMPS and yes it works with out issues. Only difference is that the X3 has card detect pin which kinda makes it easier.

I personally have not tried ReplicatorG but if it works with RAMPS it will work with the X3.

If you find any issues with your order or cant geting something to work please PM or email me.

I will update the wiki for instructions after I get back from MakerFaire NY

Thanks

DeuxVis Wrote:
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> Received mine yesterday, along with the heatbed.
> Quite a fast ocean-crossing, as USPS says it left
> LA 2 days before that only.


Same here (Argentina), it left LA on 25th and arrived home today, sadly i was not here, so i will have to wait untill monday.

how can we had an lcd on it ?

Still waiting (patiently) for mine, can't be far away.
It would be nice to do away with the workshop computer altogether and run straight from the SD card controlled by an on-board LCD panel, even better if you could network it to other computers and download straight to the SD card on the machine.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

@shocker you can use the expansion pins defined on the wiring diagram then change it on pin.h on marlin or you can wait for this..





@wired1 yours is coming. Thanks for waiting.

Yes like that, very clean.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

What is function of optional 12-24v booster module? Is this available and cost?

I have ordered X3 controller with Helios heated pad. If I plan to power using 24Vdc what will be output for Heated pad, hot end heaters/power resistors, and Fan. Controller steps down to 12V for these connections? Stepper motors power supplied with 24V? Please clarify.

I have Nema 23 motors and manufacture has suggested to use 24vdc for higher torque. Extruder hot end heater and heated pad are rated 12Vdc.

Thanks.

The 12-24v booster power supply is used to power the motors with 24v but leave the bed and hotend at 12 v without using an external supply. I only made a limited run of these and dont have some right now. If you need the same function at a higher current for your nema23s you can use an external 24v power supply and use the secondary power input for the motors. I am working on the documentation for this configuration. But its basically just removing the shorting tab on the top cover to allow a separate power supply to be used.

Also, please note that at 24v these drivers are more susceptible to higher voltage spikes and back EMF which increase the chance of failure compared to using 12v.

Mine arrived today thank Roy, came with lots of bits and I love the hot bed but what is the webbing for?

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Its a thermal barrier to put under the bed. Cut it, peel the paper and stick it to the bottom side of the bed, after installing the thermistor!

That display looks VERY nice! You should have a enclosure ready on thingverse (or your site) at the ready when you release so people can print and mount this properly!!! They will love you for it!.. also will it come in a dark color as well?

I like the way the thermistor connects to the printed wiring, very tidy. Just to clarify, I am suspending my heater on spring adjusters, so should I still put the self-adhesive webbing on the underside? ie is it there for insulation ?

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

I think you still should put some insulation under the bed, would it only be for efficiency's sake.

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Yes that's my thinking too - very nice board but a bit short on information...

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Hi Guys,

I just added the user guide for the helios Heated bed on the web page.

Helios User guide

Helios Heated Bed webpage

Brilliant thanks, good job.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Made a holder for it for my new printer today here: Thingiverse

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

That really looks awesome!

Can I use that pic on my website?( and wiki page)

Thanks

Roy

Yes go for it I'll shoot a video of the printer running later too.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Got my new printer running on the Azteeg X3 today after every possible problem. Motor pairs wrong, some motors direction wrong, the limit switches wrong (they are normally-closed not normally-open as the documentation says - note to Roy ) but finally got it all dialled in. I didn't have the lead screw pitch so I emailed Nate at Techpaladin and he emailed me straight back so how's that for service? especially when you consider we're on opposite sides of the world.
I am using GT2-3 belts and pulleys so I had to make a guess at the belt pitch, should be 3mm but I will print something to fine-tune that later.
The Azteeg is very easy to program compared to the Printrboards I have been using and the SD function works spot on. The screw terminals make it a lot easier to wire up too. To be fair I would say the screw terminals are a bit small for the motor wires but I managed to get them in and the documentation does say to use ferrules which would have been easier. The controller has a lot of well thought out features like the outputs for led strips and fans from the board plus all the screw terminals for the power supply, hot bed and hot end.

There is a problem with the heater bed interfering with the serial link somewhere, if you are running the board directly from Pronterface and turn the bed on it drops the serial link out after three or four seconds and it won't print from Pronterface directly, only from the SD card. This may turn out to be a Marlin fault so I will try to sort this out even though I normally only print from the SD card with any of my printers. Anyway, it looks pretty cool and if I add the new controller panel these guys are promising it wouldn't need Pronterface in any case.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2012 02:10AM by Wired1.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

@wired! thanks for your inputs. Make sure your power supply is up to snuff for the heatbed. It might be dropping the voltage when the bed turns on. This could mess up the power supply on the board, also noise from the power supply at this load could be interrupting the serial communication. Check that your USB cable does not criss cross with the power lines of the power supply, a USB cable with filter bead would help.

Thanks

Yes spot on diagnosis thanks Roy - the power supply is fine but the serial lead was picking up the high frequency noise from the switch-mode power supply. Once I routed the serial lead away from it all it worked fine. I now have it all working perfectly printing from both the SD card and Pronterface direct.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Hey Roy I am running on marlin firmware and i cant seam to be able to turn on my bed either by pronter or by the lcd any clue of what i am doing wrong ?

That sounds a lot like the problem I was having early on with the power supply. When you turn the hot bed on it drags the voltage down so low that the controller stalls. You can test it with a volt meter on dc volts across the power supply input to the control board. It will be 12 volts or more without the bed then if its like mine, drop to 11.5 volts or less with the bed on and stop the board working.

I've just signed up for one of your controllers on Kickstarter Roy so can't wait for that early in the new year. I'm still having some sporadic problems with my heat bed and serial coms and think it may have more to do with the power supply now. I bought a 500W atx type switch mode power supply but I'm now thinking it needs more power as the helios bed seems to draw a heap of power when it is going. I think I'll get a 750 Watt supply for the next machine I'm buuilding.

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Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

As Wired1 mentioned the bed can draw around 11-12 amps when cold and if you are using a PC power supply it may not have enough power on the 12v line and drop the voltage. Also check that you have a good sized wire going into the controller. I would suggest #12-14 AWG for longer than 12inches of wire. If you are thinking of getting a new power supply, get a dedicated 12v switching power supply 20-30A should be more than enough.

@wired1 Thanks!