Can the post the gcode file for the printby scottybfg - Reprappers
Has the extruder motor worked in the past? Have you checked the stepper current? Are you trying to extrude filament into a cold hotend? What type of extruder do you have, Direct drive, Geared or a bowdenby scottybfg - Reprappers
If you dont like the finish on the bottom of the part you can try printing a 1 or 2 layer raft. that way the bottom of your part will not come in contact with the tapeby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Im going to say you have more than one problem. To me it looks like over extrusion, an uneven bed and maybe printing too hot or not enough coolingby scottybfg - Reprappers
Don't worry mate, I'll try and get you up and printing if not someone else should be able to jump in and help out. So what is happening now is thermal runaway. If the temperature of the hotend doesn't change over a set period of time, the printer suspects there is something wrong and shuts off. Its a safety feature. Few things to look at, first have a look at the wiring, there could be a badby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
OK, by saying arduino mega 2560 im guessing you have a RAMPS shield on top. Did you try increasing the stepper current on the Z stepper driver? What host software are you using (the program you use to control the printer) If its pronterface you can lower the federate and see if that helpsby scottybfg - Printing
There are no hard and fast settings for this. You need to find what your machine is capable of and make sure you limit it to that by setting your firmware values. It all depends on how well the printer is designed and assembled and to some point the quality of the parts. Because of this no two printers will be the same. As a guide start low then work your way up after a few test prints these areby scottybfg - General
You get +1 for being a mechanical engineer (I'm also a mechanical so understand your pain) So to make the changes you can do it offline and save (always make a copy of the old file so you can roll back if you F it up), but you will need the control board plugged in to upload the compiled code. Do not have the printer connected in your host software (what you use to control the printer), its noby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
120!!!! you should bolt that thing down, try a print speed of 40 mm/s to 60 mm/s The feedrate is the max speed set in the firmware. its a good idea to set this as it will always cap your machine to this speed, even if the gcode is set to a faster speedby scottybfg - Reprappers
If the printer is all over the place try bolting it down!!! But no really, that doesn't in any way describe what you are seeing, sort of makes it hard to help. The only thing that should change when setting a smaller nozzle diameter is the amount of filament extruded. As for the shifting layers, what print speeds are you printing at and what is your feedrate? Try a lower max feedrate setting inby scottybfg - Reprappers
the first thing to check is the stepper current without any information on what control board you are using I'll just going to guess its a RAMPS like board (most common in new builds). On the stepper driver you will see a little turn pot, turing this clockwise will increase the stepper current. You want about 80% of what the motor is rated to. Be careful when doing this as you may short the driveby scottybfg - Printing
I agree with Dust, I posted a reply yesterday about this to your same post in the Prusa i3 and variants area,by scottybfg - General Mendel Topics
Im at work so cant do it right now, but have a go your self, doing is half the fun of this project and its how you learn. What you need to do is swap the pin numbers for the 2 extrudes in the pins.h for your motherboard. there will be three numbers you need to swap, (think its E1 and E2 but could be something different, they come after X Y Z so should be easy to find) #define E1_STEP_PIN #defby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Yeah ok, cant change the stepper driver out on it then. One thing I never liked about the all in one boards. What firmware are you using and we will help out with changing the extruder motor pin for youby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
What is bad? bad doesn't describe much. Please take a pic and post here and we will try to help you out. You can also refer to the simplify3D troubleshooting page to help diagnose the issue. You dont need to be using the simplify3D for the troubleshooting guide to work, It has pitches of the most common printing issues and suggests settings to change to fix them. Link:by scottybfg - Reprappers
What control board are you using? if its one with removable stepper drivers like the RAMPS then try swapping the drivers. I suspect you could have damaged the stepper driver, cheap and easy fix and saves playing around with the firmwareby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
loose the set screw on the pulley and move it further up the shaft, the belt should be sitting in the middle. One way to find the correct spot is the looses the set screw so the pulley is free to move, and move the bed from one end to the other a couple of times, watch the pulley and you will see it move and stay in the ideal locationby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
A slant in the x tells me that ether one of your z motors have missed steps, or that your bed is at an angle. Both are an easy fix. Go and grab a string level (should be a few $$$ from a hardware store) and place it on your x axis, then rotate the low screw by hand till the bubble is in the middle. Then level your bed to the the adjusted x axis. If you are using 4 point bed leveling (a screw onby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
You could always try sending the printer the following G code to make it extrude, just change the F for what speed you want to test at if it goes faster then there might be a cap in how repetier send the command from using the manual buttons G1 E10 F400by scottybfg - General
I would not play with the micro stepping or steps per mm, The slicing software needs the maximum acceleration for print information to put a feedrate into the gcode, The firmware that interprets the gcode looks at the given feedrate and if it is grater than the maximum it will cap it at what is set as the maximum in the firmware. So yes you could say maximum acceleration per axis has the highestby scottybfg - General
That is the old way to "calibrate" a reprap. In the early days of the builds when problems came up sometimes a quick solution was used, Now that the builds have gotten a lot better we don't need to do this any more but people still stick to the old solution. Same as using the 20mm calibration cube to get perfect dimensions. Lets say you use your 20mm cube dimensions to "calibrate", its printingby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
I dont know about testing with an LED, but if the motors make noise when given a command I'm going to say that they are ok. Try changing the current and lowering the feed rate then report back if you are still having issuesby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Ok to fix your Z option there are 2 main upgrade options. The first is cheap and simple, get rid of the threaded rod for the z axis and buy some lead screw that is designed for linear motion. I dont like normally suggesting options that cost money but but threaded rods are never truly straight and are not designed for this use. Now you could print some shaft couplers or buy the aluminium ones thby scottybfg - General
Ok Do the motors still chatter after you did the re wiring? If they do it could be a number of things, the first is the stepper current without any information on what control board you are using I'll just give general information. On the stepper driver you will see a little turn pot, turing this clockwise will increase the stepper current. You want about 80% of what the motor is rated to. Be caby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Hi there, So I cant help with the reperier issue, But I will try and help you get the correct print dimensions. First step is to look into the firmware and see what the steps are currently set too. Looking at the Geetech I3 Pro B the motors are 1.8 deg with 1/16 micro stepping, just check that all three jumpers are under the motor drivers. The count the teeth on the pulley and measure the pitcby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
I find the triffid hunters guide on the reprap wiki to be a good set of setup instructions for beginners. (I posted a link im my last comment but ill post again) Link: When you have your printer setup and getting prints, the simplify3D has a great troubleshooting guide is a great way to get some great looking prints. You dont need to use their software to use it, it has pitchers of the commonby scottybfg - Printing
Ok, so from my understanding your issue is, when you give a height command only one of the rails moves. What happens when you home all,do all motors move the rails to the top in the homing position at the same time, or is it one by one? If this is the case then your firmware might be setup for a Cartesian printer and not a deltaby scottybfg - Reprappers
Just buy some drill bits and drill them out. I like having the holes come out smaller because I can drill them out to the correct size, get a good finish and know they are the correct fit. Its much easier to fix an undersized hole then an oversize holeby scottybfg - Printing
Read through the calibration guide and pay close attention to the e step setups and slicing settings I would say your layer height is too low, try 0.2mm and when you start to get better prints drop it to 0.1mmby scottybfg - Printing
The above method works well for the e steps and thats about it. Use this calculator to calculate your true steps per mm If your print is still off, look at belt tension or maybe speed settings or stepper current. Tom does a good job of explaining why the above method is old and out dated See also the reprap calibration guideby scottybfg - General Mendel Topics