I have been struggling with the fine tuning of my Prusa I3 for some time now and have finally gotten to a result that (I think) I am pleased with and that I wanted to share. My last post on this topic was "Help with Fine Tuning Print Quality on Prusa I3" where I learned about the acceleration settings in Slic3r. These have proven to not be needed as part of the final solution, though adding a jby Wisar - Reprappers
Alternatively... run a copy of RampsTestCode which will try to excercise all servos. Adjust the set screw on each stepper until the appropriate axis (or extruder) just moves and then go another 1/4 turn. Wisarby Wisar - General Mendel Topics
Not sure if this is the chicken or an egg but I continued to have intermittant problems with the heated bed following the smoke above. I have a new one on order but the old one seemed to still be working...but...it would occaisionally go dark. I traced this back to what I though was loose wiring but it turns out the power in socket was smoked. Not sure if there was a short circuit here thby Wisar - Reprappers
It was the board. New one arrived and things work as expected. Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
It appears to be the board. Strange but it is recognized by the computer as a device but it doesn't seem to want to communicate, either to be programmed, or as a serial device. It had a copy of Marlin already on it but I was not able to reprogram it via the USB connection though I could using Arduino as ISP. In any case even when I downloaded the Ascii demo program nothing was coming from thby Wisar - Reprappers
That is what I thought as well. Am running the same code on the Mega as on my printer and when I connect nothing happens (as in no response back to controller). Same result with Ramps board mated to the Mega. Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
The subject makes me sound a little daft...but here is why. I am writing a web based interface for Printrun that will run on a single board computer (Beaglebone Black) that will reside in a case hanging on the side of the printer. Improvements to my Prusa I3 I am largely there with the functionality but don't get the test time because my printer is busy printing. I want to take a spare Mby Wisar - Reprappers
I do have a fan running across the electronics. When the fuse went it had only just started a job and I don't think it was that hot at all. I am printing PLA so it really has not had to work very hard. I think that I will go the external fuse route and I think I will add a heat and smoke detector to the board as well... Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
Fuse! I did not even check the nomenclature. Thought it looked like a big ceramic capacitor. Will replace it...but...I still dont understand what set it off in the first place! I will check all leads for shorts which I guess is what one would assume happened? Thanks, Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
Had a bit of a scare this morning when my Ramps Board, the capicitor shown in the photo, started to smoke. Printer has been working well prior to this incident. Both the hot end and the heated bed were coming up to temperature/ Resistance across the heated bed is reading 1.7 ohms and the hot end around 5 ohms. I have powered things back up and both the hot end and heated bed appear to be wby Wisar - Reprappers
MrDoctor: I am not sure what you mean from looking at the pictures but I do try to keep the bed level. I have adjuster knobs on each corner and have a couple of calibration prints that I use. At the moment I suspect that it is off a little but should not be much. Here is a print of a 20mm cube. It is 'def not exactly 20mm by 20mm but it is close and the same at the top and the bottomby Wisar - Reprappers
The Doctor is in The House! Thanks for that tip as it did the trick! I am able to print at the maximum speed that I can feed plastic and the quality is fine. A little slower and it is even better...but still much faster than my test case above! I owe you a pint! Cheers, Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
I have a Prusa I3 that I built earlier this year and have running fairly well though not at the speed/quality that I am hoping to achieve. Attached is a photo of two calibration prints and the Slic3r settings for speed. The test case on the left takes almost 70% longer to print than the one on the right but the quality is obviously a lot higher. Test Cases Slow but Good Quality Fast but Nby Wisar - Reprappers
HarveyC: I am working on doing the same thing but with a Beaglebone Black. Here is a photo. The enclosure includes the BBB, a USB Hub, an Arduino that talks to a remote control, and the 7 inch LCD. The BBB can run Slic3r and Pronterface in their graphical forms but too slowly for my patience. I am going to continue to slice my prints on my iMac and use a custom app running on the BBB to driby Wisar - Reprappers
cfry: I had similar problems to what you describe and it took me what felt like ages to get the electronics stable. I went through a Ramps board, and Arduino, and a number of Stepper Drivers. The thing is, my problem resolution process was not scientific enough that I am sure what was really bad and what was a red herring! The good news is that once I got the electronics stable they have stby Wisar - Reprappers
Capacitor did the trick. Seems to require an electrolytic capacitor of a reasonably low capacitance. E.g. 47uf worked but at a 1000uf the fan ran but at full tilt (without the capacitor it would not run at all unless asked to run at full). Did not seem to care about the voltage specification? In any case the fan now responds to the PWM speed command. Thanks for the help, Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
Thanks Dust, will try that as soon as a couple prints of PLA stuff finish. Running the fan at 100% works for PLA but I need more control for ABS to keep the bed from cooling to the unstick point! Will post a result when I have one. Cheers, Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
Starting at full speed then issuing a second command for a slower speed results in the fan turning itself off! I have another fan that I will try ...or...I will try hooking up the fan that I want to use to another motor driver and see if it plays with PWM. In the meantime I am printing a fan duct to try and force the air flow where I want it and vent some of the 'extra' to where it does not mby Wisar - Reprappers
Doop! Crucial missing data. D9 on a RAMPS 1.4 board...is that just a 12V supply? How should it be wired? Thanksby Wisar - Reprappers
I have a Prusa I3 that I am driving with Marlin. I have a cooling fan mounted on the extruder assembly but am unable to get it to run at other than full speed. I use slic3r to generate G-code and can see the M106 S99 command but it is being ignored. At the console I can get the fan to run but only if I exclude the S99 (speed) part of the command. Without the speed component the Marlin codby Wisar - Reprappers
Thanks. I had missed that post but still understood that the green wire needs to be connected to PS_ON. What I did not understand was the behaviour of the readings that I was getting. With M80 triggered I was expecting a closed circuit between PS_ON and ground...which is what my mechanical switch delivers. Unless I was metering something wrong I did not see that...however....when I connectby Wisar - Reprappers
I want to control my ATX power supply with the M80 and M81 commands but am confused by how to do the wiring to the RAMPS board. I currently have a switch connected that connects ground to the on/off pin of the ATX power supply. Close that switch and on comes the ATX. I had assumed that the PS_ON pin would behave in the same manner...issue the M80 and I would see the circuit between the PS_ONby Wisar - Reprappers
I think you will likely want to go through this guide to calibrating your printer once you have a slicer setup... Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
Snipor: It is a shame no one answered your last couple of questions. I took a break from printing PLA, and tried a new ABS hot end. I am getting jams just as you describe. Am back to PLA until I get a chance for some more testing. Wisarby Wisar - Printing
I wonder if the act of replacing my Ramps board might well have reseated a loose connection in my wiring...which is closer to a bowl of spagetti than to your example. Future project to clean up the wiring... Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
Hopefully final update. Just finished a seven hour print with no slips. Am assuming that it was the Ramps board and that, hopefully, it is going to be ok now. Wisarby Wisar - Reprappers
Waitaki: I have run the pots at a variety of settings from 1/8 turn above the stall point, to 1/4 turn above the stall point, to a 3/8 turn above. The voltage at 1/4 turn is .25, .25. .87, .61 (x, y, z, ex). All the steppers have heat sinks and I have a mongo cooling fan running on top in addition. I don't feel anything particularly hot when this occurs. I have now swapped out the Ramps boaby Wisar - Reprappers
Interesting idea but what would the possible source of the EMI be in a home office environment and how does one protect against it? On a similar line I was wondering if my AC power was clean. Wonder if a UPS inline to the printer would help? Have connected printer to 1000W power regulator and am doing a print that has not finished to date. Is past points of two previous failures but notby Wisar - Reprappers
I have a Prusa I3 that is still new to me since the beginning of this year. It went through a period of printing stability and still has its moments.....until an axis decides to randomly slip or skip. I have been working on this for weeks and have tried everything that I can find on this board (at least I think)! As I said, the printer will have moments of stability where it will print for hoby Wisar - Reprappers
SniporBob: I am no expert but did read that black was particularly bad with impurities. I had also read about people having issues with PLA but it has been much easier for me to work with. Less warping and bed adherence issues and the heat being lower means that I spend less time waiting for stuff to reach temps. Ironically I am having an extrusion issue as we speak but it is the first withby Wisar - Printing