So you got the extruder motor to turn? What did you do? Its always nice to post how you fixed it so other people searching with the same issue don't need to start a new topic about the same issue ( In saying that most will anyway, This forum should be re named to the "Troubleshooting cheap printers") As for your prints, what did you change between the three? its slowly getting better. I wouldby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
This is odd, the only think I can think of off the top of my heard is are the y smooth rods clean? I know lithium grease while good for linear systems it works as a magnet for dust and dirt. Even though the bearings have shields on them you may have caught something in one bearing that is making it bind at random times. For my linear bearings I pack the with a heavy ball bearing or CV grease befoby scottybfg - Printing
1/16 is not the only micro steps you can have on the RAMPS board, the little jumpers under the drivers determine what microscopes will be used. Use the information Dust gave you and this table to lower your stepsby scottybfg - Reprappers
This is the 3ed topic you have started on this, stick to one and you will get help, don't start another just because you don't understand the answer. As Dust has pointed out, your x and y steps look high, I think you main problem is jumping right in, I suggest you do more reading on setup of your electronics and software, then go through a calibration guide then start a simple print.by scottybfg - Reprappers
The prints are starting to look better, Form what I can see you're still not getting nice flat faces on that cube. Have a look at your belt tension and that the pulley screws and tight against the motor. You could also try dropping your acceleration and jerk settings in the firmware and see if that helpsby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
I cant see your pitcher in the post, so just working off your observations. Have you fully "Calibrated" your printer? I ask like this as most people have different definitions of calibration. This guide is great and will really help you out. Link: For the under extrusion jump the the E steps measure section and read on from there (But I strongly recommend you read everything before to make suby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Well if you still like the idea do it, As you said its cheap enough, so build a small test machine then you will know if you like the idea. Use this post as your build blog, would be interested to see how your idea developsby scottybfg - Mechanics
These are mainly used for mounting electrical equipment, not for building frames like the T slot I think the DIN rails would be flimsy until they are mounted against something like an electrical cabinet or wall. Might be 1/3 the price but if you need 3 times as much to get the strength then you are not really winning. What you can do is see if you can get a sample and see how much load it can tby scottybfg - Mechanics
Cheap and fast will make it shit, remember the triangle, you can only pick two Cost, Speed, accuracy / repeatability I would suggest looking at all the designs out there and seeing what you like most, the reprap wiki has most Link: Once you know what you want to build, the documentation should tell you all the parts you needby scottybfg - Mechanics
Its not that hard, distance of y carriage bearing end to bearing end + bed length in the Y = smooth rod distance If you needed help with this maybe just stick to kit buildsby scottybfg - General
Just remember to only change one thing at a time so you can see how it affected the print.by scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
I find the simply3D guide really good to troubleshoot with, The good thing is you dont need the software to use the guide, and it has pitches of the problems to make it easy to use Link:by scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
It looks to me like your nozzle to too high from the bed, home your z axis and use a business card to check the corners and the centre. The card should just catch under the nozzle. Its a good idea to do this when the bed is heated as the bed will warp or bow when temperature is added. You should also try a lower layer height, sounds odd but 0.4mm would be on the max for most nozzles, especiallyby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Your start g-code looks fine, so when does the problem happen. Ill step through the start code and you tell me where the issue is Home all axes lift z axis 5mm Wait for the hotend to reach 200°C lower Z axis to 0.35 retract some filament move to first print point Also when you say "wont allow to print" what exactly happens? sometimes it takes time for the nozzle to be primed and start to flow,by scottybfg - Reprappers
Can you post the gcode file for the part you are trying to print, or the first 20 lines of gcodeby scottybfg - Reprappers
I really dont think its the board, in your first post you say you are on your third control board, ether you are the most unlucky person ever and got three control boards with the SAME defect, or something else is the problem. Testing the motor on a different axis is a good step, so now we know its not the motor. Now as maxoverdrive suggested, remove the motor from the extruder assembly, andby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Regardless of if its a clone or not there are a few things you can try, Increasing the current of the extruder, It might not have enough force currently to keep the plastic moving, thats why its clogging, Reduce the retraction settings, if you are pulling hot plastic into the heat break you may be causing a clog, try with no retraction or 1mm or so tention on the extruder idler, play around withby scottybfg - Reprappers
Ok so you have a fan going, just a quick side not, how do you have that fan wired into your control board? sounds like it is on the same rail as the extruder, causing the dip in current during heating. Conect the fan directly to the 12 volt sauce will keep the fan running at a constant RPM. Where did you get the extruder from? Is it a real E3D hotend, or one of the meany clones that are on the mby scottybfg - Reprappers
Is the fan running when you heat up the hotend? All metal hotends are know for the temp to creep past the heater block and into the heat sink causing the filament to swell and plugby scottybfg - Reprappers
Good find, I had that issue with my original prusa back in the day. If you put a nut (nylock works best) on the end of the M3 bolt, that stops it from pushing throughby scottybfg - Reprappers
Do you have a fan on the heatsink part of the hotend? (The heatsink is the part with the circular ribs above the heat block)by scottybfg - Reprappers
Increasing the current isn't dodgy, its the people doing it when the board is powered on or are not careful with the multimeter probes, short the board out then complain that are dodgy. Have a read, Link: Unplug the control board from the power and usb, turn the extruder driver turnpot clockwise a 1/4 turn, plug back in and take reading. If your smart and safe about it nothing will go wrongby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
How did you check the driver? Did you increase the current, direct drive extrudes will need more torque and power over a geared extruder. Also I cant really see from the images provided on the ebay link, but is there a way to increase or reduce the tension on the extruder? Most have a screw with a spring that will bring the idler pulley closer to the feed gear when tightenedby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Just move the end stop or extend what triggers itby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
You changed too many parameters at the same time to get any useful information. You should change one at a time to see what affect it had, now that the problem has shifted we know its something to do with cura or the acceleration. Try a print changing the acceleration back to the old, if the print looks the same as #2 (shells not joined) then you know its something to do with the shell widthby scottybfg - Reprappers
Yes I did say I would post some links so my response was a bit dick-ish. I find this forum to be filled with people asking the same questions that could be answered with some time and research but me responding like that wont fix anything Link: With that and the M503 command you should be up and printing.by scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Try slowing down your infill print speed, if the infill is printed too fast, it will not have enough time to bond to the outline perimeters. Start at say 60mm/s then work your way back up. I dont use cura myself but seeing a shell wall thickness of 1mm makes me think this could be the issue, with a 0.4mm nozzle try a wall thickness of 0.8mm or 1.2mm and see if that changes the print.by scottybfg - Reprappers
Before swapping out bearing, try loosening both bearing blocks on one of the rails just a fraction so there is a bit of play A good motion system is designed to have fixed and floating bearings, One rail will be for the fixed bearings and the other for the floating that will shift slightly to account for any miss alignment in the shaftsby scottybfg - Printing
I wouldn't go that extreme it could be a wiring issue. As for the firmware change, a quick google should give you all the info you need, its a question that asked about every few days so I should not need to type out the steps and hold your hand. As for things to change, make sure that the correct control board is defined, the correct thermisters, and the movement setting so steps/mm (use the cby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
I agree with Dust, but, You say the temperature is not changing, has the heat bed heated up before? If not check the wiring for the head bed and associated thermisterby scottybfg - Reprappers