Hi Bob, The file format is AutoCad 2010 DXF with a PDF view giving dimensions, see attached. Milly.by Milly - Controllers
Hi Bob, I still have the file I used to get the perspex cut, not sure if its SVG. My computer is currently with Apple at the moment as it had the dreaded vertical white lines problem on the LCD. In fairness to Apple they immediately offered to repair it free when I took it to the Genius bar and thats despite it being 5 years old and the fact they knew I had taken it apart to swap out the hardby Milly - Controllers
Well, as I mentioned, I lost a capacitor whilst I was installing the display and keyboard. I knocked the thing and it fell off taking a piece of the pcb with it! The capacitor in question is C1 which is a 100uf one I am assuming is for smoothing of the voltage supply. There is an additional 100uf capacitor (C2) across Vcc and GND as well as two 100nf capacitors. Do these extra capacitors provby Milly - Controllers
I'm not actually using spacers other than to lift the motherboard and extruder controller off the black plastic sheet, I'm using bolts with nuts to hold the acrylic at an adjustable distance from the circuit boards. I guess spacers would be easier but I didn't have any to hand! Milly.by Milly - Controllers
Bob, I decided on transparent acrylic because it allows you to see the status LED's on the two boards, and also because I worked so hard to learn SMD soldering techniques and those two boards are the fruits of my labour and I wanted them on display! There is sufficient distance between the acrylic and the boards that I can easily reach the reset buttons, although I am hoping I won't be needingby Milly - Controllers
A quick look at the pins.h file shows the following: #define X_STEP_PIN (byte)15 #define X_DIR_PIN (byte)18 #define X_MIN_PIN (byte)20 #define X_MAX_PIN (byte)21 #define X_ENABLE_PIN (byte)19 #define Y_STEP_PIN (byte)23 #define Y_DIR_PIN (byte)22 #define Y_MIN_PIN (byte)25 #define Y_MAX_PIN (byte)26 #define Y_ENABLE_PIN (byte)19 #define Z_STEP_PIN (byte)29 #define Z_DIR_PIN (byte)30 #define Z_by Milly - Controllers
Here's a quick update on progress. I've now attached the display and keyboard to the reprap, it sits nicely over the motherboard and extruder boards in some transparent acrylic. I decided to mount it so that it was still possible to get behind to plug/unplug leads and reach the reset buttons on each board. I've also rewired the extruder so that it takes a feed from the x/y endstops rather thanby Milly - Controllers
Thanks for the replies. I have done a quick test with the Makerbot firmware and the i2c interface worked well enough for the LCD screen to display its address. I did not try operating the extruder with the new firmware on it, but will look at Bob's solution as it could potentially mean I can run the newer reprap firmware as well. The link is interesting, very similar to what I am trying to doby Milly - Controllers
Is it possible to activate the i2c by using the makerbot firmware for the motherboard and extruder?by Milly - Controllers
Hi, I am trying to integrate a LCD onto my gen 3 motherboard using i2c. I've not modified the firmware yet but have tried connecting the LCD controller to the i2c connectors on the motherboard and found that the display is not recognising the existence of the i2c bus (I'm using a BV4618 so the screen should display the i2c address on poweron). The controller detects the presence of i2c by checby Milly - Controllers
Hi, I may have missed this in the build instructions, and a quick search on the forum didn't yield the answer, however I apologise if this has already been covered or is blindingly obvious! Once the mendel is setup and calibrated, how high above the printbed should the tip of the nozzle sit? Millyby Milly - Reprappers
Hi, I will be shortly putting together my extruder nozzle and am getting hold of the various bits and pieces I will need. I am wondering why high temperature tape (kapton) is used to hold the thermistor in place when the resistor is secured using high temperature glue or fire cement. Is there a good reason why the thermistor can't also be glued rather than taped? I only ask because its one leby Milly - General
Well, I took an accurate reading on the resistor (R6) on the extruder board and it has a resistance of 4510ohms which is inside 5% tolerance. I tried sticking this more accurate resistance into the python script and re-flashed the extruder with the new lookuptable. To my surprise I am now getting more accurate readings at room temperature, it gave me a reading of 20 degrees (although replicatorby Milly - General
Thanks for the interesting comments, would the beta value alter the accuracy in a given band, i.e. is it likely the thermistor will be more accurate at higher temperatures and if I mess with trying to change the beta value by measuring the resistance over two different temperatures and recalculating the beta is it therefore more likely to be accurate in the band I measured it? Millyby Milly - General
Hi, I am just coming to the end of a long reprap build and am currently trying to get the extruder board to measure the temperature through a thermistor. Its not plugged into a nozzle at the moment as I am still waiting for the workshop to finish knocking up the extruder nozzle parts. So I thought I would try getting the extruder to measure ambient room temperature. At the moment the extruderby Milly - General
Hi Jonny, I can't answer all your questions as I am still in the process of building mine so haven't actually been able to print anything yet. I currently have just the extruder to finish off and to get me to this stage has taken about a year. Many people build a lot quicker than that however! it has taken me so long for a variety of reasons, not least having to keep down a busy full time jobby Milly - General
Thanks for the info, my Mac wasn't showing anything connected to the USB port, even after several reboots. I also tried booting into Ubuntu and a quick check with usb-devices shows nothing plugged in. I paid only five quid for the unit off eBay, it was a UM232R clone so I have bitten the bullet and bought a proper FTDI device in the hope it will be more robust. In the mean time, whilst I awaitby Milly - Controllers
Hi, I have been building my Mendel and using a USB to Serial interface I purchased off eBay that uses the FTDI232 chip. I was able to test all the boards and briefly run the Mendel once it was fully constructed but quickly the USB to Serial interface gave up the ghost. I purchased a replacement through eBay which again worked fine for several days but now seems to be completely dead. If I pluby Milly - Controllers
Yeah, was very strange, board was drawing more current and none of the lights would illuminate. And yes, I do mean the indicator LED, not the IR one. The diode had very high resistance in both polarities and was not lighting up. I've studied the schematic and can find no reason for this behaviour and can only conclude that there must have been a dry joint on one if the other leads that I rectiby Milly - Controllers
Well, I swapped the broken opto endstop for another one to test the x axis and was pleased to see the carriage motoring back and forth. Having now completed construction of the frame I had a bit of spare time to look at the broken board. Firstly, I checked all the joints and gave one a touch up with the soldering iron. I then ran the multimeter across the various components and found the LED hby Milly - Controllers
Hmmmm, thanks for the replies, I don't really believe a component could just go like that so I am assuming that I either i didn't test it correctly in the first place or managed, at some stage, to short something or connect the board using the wrong lead. Frustrating, especially as the H21LOB is so hard to come by in the UK!by Milly - Controllers
Hmmm, not possible with my setup as the connectors will only connect one way round. I've used the same lead on all the boards and its only this board, after a long lay off, that is now refusing to work! Thanks for the tip though. Milly.by Milly - Controllers
Hi, I'm having issues with one of my opto-isolators. When I originally built the thing it tested fine, but when I wired it up to my x-axis and tried to apply power to the stepper controller it would not work (no power light and drawing much larger than normal current). I tried swapping the end stop and it works fine so I've obviously got a defective endstop. Is it common for these things to bby Milly - Controllers
Thanks for the reply, I've been doing some more research and I think you are spot on. The gearing for the Z axis is such that the motor does need more activation time than the X and Y axis. I'm awaiting some final parts for the mechanical side of things and then I will be able to bolt it all together and give it a good shake down! Milly.by Milly - Controllers
Hi, I have been testing my recently built electronics now I have sourced some stepper motors. I can successfully run the X and Y axis steppers using the reprap software, stepping the motors and returning to home. Its a different story with the Z axis however as the behaviour is different and I'm not sure if this is correct or not as I am still able to step the motor. With the X and Y axis theby Milly - Controllers
Bart, Thanks for that, unfortunately I've already sourced a pair from the US. Maybe this could go on the Sale forum as others may well be trying to get hold of these hard to find (in the UK) chips! Milly.by Milly - Wanted
Okay, the I managed to upload the firmware using arduino on ubuntu rather than mac. When uploading the firmware is it necessary to press the reset button? I didn't, it took a little time but arduino IDE did say the upload was complete. After that the debug light was flashing and one of the lights underneath one of the mosfets was on steady. Does this sound correct? Millyby Milly - Controllers
Reinstalled Arduino IDE and its compiling now, but arduino crashes when I try to upload... sigh...by Milly - Controllers
Sweet, Thanks for that, I've soldered everything up and now got the bootloader burnt onto the microcontroller. I've run into a snag with the reprap firmware though, when I try to compile the code in Arduino I get errors: /Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/pins_arduino.c:70: error: 'DDRA' undeclared here (not in a function) /Applications/Arduino.apby Milly - Controllers