Lower the initial speed and acceleration in your firmware. Also clean and oil your bars.by aplavins - General
@gsport: Your glass transition "mushroom" theory is correct IMO. Most designs use the brass screwed into PTFE design, The problem is that the glass transition zone happens at the junction of the brass and PTFE (because the PTFE is such a great insulator). To further the problem, this junction area is most often the only place where the walls of the bore are less than perfect. If the glass transitby aplavins - General
I have some leftover glass wool insulation if you would like some. I use it to insulate the hotend and underside of the HBP.by aplavins - Reprappers
Where are you getting 12v power from? Can you include a picture?by aplavins - Reprappers
use a multimeter to test the leads, there should be 2 coils with the same resistance. The 2 coils may have center taps as well which will be half the resistance of the coil.by aplavins - Controllers
could be one of three things 1. The MOSFET is faulty or has a solder bridge keeping it on. A: replace the part or de-solder the bridge 2. The output pin of the Sanguinolulu is blown. A: pick another one, add a new wire and cut the trace on the board. 3. The pin that is controlling your heated bed has been chosen incorrectly in the firmware. A: set it to the correct one in firmware.by aplavins - Controllers
It's possible that the trimpot that controls the current to the stepper is defective. You can check it with a multimeter when the power is off and it's disconnected. Easy fix is to return it and get another one.by aplavins - Controllers
Ramps + Mega all the wayby aplavins - Controllers
If the coils are wired incorrectly, you will see it turn one way then back again when single stepping. You'll have to re-arrange the wiring, there are tutorials online on how to do this. Secondly, if you have them wired correctly but have the speed set too high, they will also jitter and not rotate continuously. Lower the speed and/or initial speed in your firmware. Try this first (I initially hby aplavins - Controllers
The noise on the steppers can be reduced by lowering the amount of current they are getting. Turn the trim pots for the stepper drivers all the way counter-clockwise and then 1/8th of a turn clockwise. You should be able to hear the difference. As for the "gobble gook", check that the baud rate of pronterface matches the baud rate in your firmware. I think the default for gen 6 is 19200.by aplavins - Controllers
How hot do your stepper motors and stepper drivers get? Do you have heat-sinks on the stepper drivers?by aplavins - Controllers
clean and re-oil your smooth bars.by aplavins - Controllers
Oil the rods with a light oil, Turn down the starting speed and acceleration in the firmware and use 1/16 step if you're not already. set the trimpot to 1/8th of the 270º it will turn.by aplavins - Controllers
If your extruder is able to extrude PLA without the melt zone getting too high (above the PTFE insulator) you don't need a fan on the extruder. Instead attach a fan to the bed or the x carriage pointing down. If your extruder is insulated, you can keep the fan on constant power or wire it to the extruder heater resistor output. You can also connect the fan to the D9 output of the ramps board aby aplavins - General
Make sure your baud rates in firmware match the baud rate in pronterface. Sprinter's default is 115200 and Marlin's is 250000. I'm using windows XP and have no problem running at 250000 baud.by aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
@Komb': I ordered 4 of the trevets from BB&B and I'll let you know how they work for me when they arrive. Thanks for the advice! @Nophead: fredlatesta gave me a sample of his mystery clear filament and I believe it is ABS. I was able or dissolve it in acetone, make a 360º bend in it without it snapping. Using your burn method, it produced a yellow-orange flame that was blue on the bottom, prby aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
If you are printing at high speed, probably. For normal - low speeds, the weight of the glass has no effect.by aplavins - Printing
Maybe you should calibrate your thermistor using a thermocouple in the heater barrel. You can make a new temptable based on the values you record. Nophead has done it before so I would check out his blog, and maybe PM him.by aplavins - General
There is a Toronto RUG meeting at hacklab on monday.by aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
There's another RUG meetup at hacklab on monday. I'll be there.by aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
Ramps 1.4 has an output for a second extruder heater and a corresponding thermistor input (dualstrusion!). This output can also be used for a gcode controlled fan if you only have 1 extruder. It has 4 servo outputs. The extra pins on the mega can be used for SD support, controlling a chamber, powering a speaker to alert you when a print is done, etc. Its got many spaces to solder pins to add thesby aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
It would be interesting if you could direct the hot and cold sides of a peltier to the hot and cold sides of a hotend. I haven't tried these yet b/c they are either too expensive for the area they cover (heatbed) or the wrong shape / size (extruder). I'd like to see your progress though!by aplavins - General
whatever you want them to be.by aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
I would recommend using an arduino mega with ramps. It may be more expensive but the additional outputs are worth it.by aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
Your problem is most likely mechanical, try disassembling the hotend and soaking the metal bits in acetone. (not the PTFE or PEEK) Make sure that they are squeaky clean before reassembling it. PS: If you are able to take it apart cold, you will be able to see what the blockage is.by aplavins - General
Try extruding at a higher temperature. Maybe your readings are higher than they actually are. ABS only sticks superficially if the temp is too low. I extrude black ABS at 250º C and have not yet suffered from delamination. If you are also using 250, maybe you should insulate your hot end or lower your feed/flowrate. Maybe the quality of the ABS that you bought is sub-standard. PS: Do you haveby aplavins - General
You should try printing on glass with PLA, I had spectacular results.by aplavins - Printing
I found an amazing solution to this problem today. If you have failed prints laying around (ABS), dissolve them in acetone until you get a thick liquid. I call it slurry. Spread a thin, even layer on the glass when its cold. The acetone will evaporate and leave an ABS film. You can then heat up the bed and print. The printed ABS sticks extremely well to the film and it also releases with ease whby aplavins - Canada, Toronto RepRap User Group
@lincomatic2: I can make prints, firmware is responding perfectly. Only issues are 3-4 times a print (3 hours) it takes a pause of 5-15 seconds and leaves a blob. I used pronsole to send gcodes and noticed that that pauses occur when you are monitoring the printer and it generates the % completed. On top of that, occasionally / randomly communication just ceases. It wrecks the print mid way throby aplavins - Controllers