Try insulating with corrugated cardboard, or foam board underneath, and glass on top. Both cardboard and glass are poor conductors, but glass is better, so it will draw most of the heat from the board, and prevent it from radiating downward. Keep the solid copper facing up. Make sure the thermistor is mounted directly against the bottom PCB surface with at least three strips of kapton. Don'tby jcabrer - General
Oh, Also note that Marlin and Repetier both make use of the eeprom, and this can cause interference. If you want to give it another go, upload repetier with the eeprom feature turned off. I think after doing this, if you turn it back on, the default values will be written. In particular, check any eeprom values stored that are zero.by jcabrer - Repetier
I can vouch for the kapton tape you can find on ebay. It's fairly inexpensive too.by jcabrer - General
Repetier uses an autodetect method for the bed. Make sure you didn't. Change a define that you should have left alone. The only thing to specify is the tgrmistor type.by jcabrer - Repetier
Be aware that in repetier, changing values in the firmware source will only take effect the first time you upload the firmware. After that, the values are stored in the reprimand, and can only be changed withinn the host application. You need to bump up the extruder steps per mm. Also, turn down your pitentiometers before you fry the driver chips.by jcabrer - General
Hi DeepBlue, The Wildseyed Simple hot end is my design, just can't seem to interest any admin here in resetting my account. My design copes just fine. If the PTFE is shaped properly, it will never slip out of the brass coupling. Since the couplings vary by region, it's best to keep a caliper on hand and measure the inner diameters and depth before shaping the rod. At the transition from smalby jcabrer - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Flyer2, you are too kind! I'm looking deeper into the MEGA 2650 R3 problem. It seems to be spreading lately. I'm going to see if anything like this is turning up on the Arduino forums. Maybe the USB chip needs to be flashed with an update.by jcabrer - Repetier
Apparently you can reserve code here.by jcabrer - Repetier
Maybe someone here knows where custom M-Codes are being maintained. I will have a look around the RepRap wiki, and see what turns up.by jcabrer - Repetier
check resistance of your hot end. It should be in the range of 5-6 Ohms. If resistance is less, you have a bad resistor.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
Did controlling the RGB LED over I2C make it into the firmware? When using a single color LCD, those two or three signals could be used for other stuff. Maybe via M-Codes?by jcabrer - Repetier
NETFABB Basic allows you to cut STL files into multiples. You can download it from netfabb.comby jcabrer - General
If you mean that you want to incorporate the support structure into the stl, then the answer is not simple. Obviously, if you have the source file, say a SolidWorks model, you can just add supports right there on the model. Doing something in an automated fashion is very difficult to pull off, and have it work for every type of object. That's why you see the slicer being used to add support maby jcabrer - General
Two main approaches to printing hollow are: 1. Disable Fill. Usually will produce single perimeter walls. May not work well if you need to bridge the top of the cube. 2. Leave Fill enabled, but set fill to 0%, and increase the bottom/top layer counts to 4+. Also use more perimeter layers 3+. All this is base on Skein Forge. I do not know the equivalent in Slic3r, but it should be very siby jcabrer - General
Remove the RAMPS shield from the Arduino, and begin by troubleshooting the communications alone. The RAMPS shield does not have any components involved in communications. You did not mention if and how you configured the firmware. This would be helpful in order to better assist. There are forums here for RAMPS, and Repetier. Post in those for better targeted responses.by jcabrer - Reprappers
The reprap wiki has step by step assembly instructions.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
You need to invert the endstops in your firmware.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
the factory default current setting of pololu drivers is way too high. Make sure to start at the lowest current setting that will reliably move the motors. Without getting into the whole explanation of why, it is best to have ALL endstops wired up before testing. Normally open switches can cause false triggers.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
Yes, it could be a short, but I have seen this problem on RAMPS 1.3 a couple of times. The solution is to solder a nice piece of copper across the break. Make sure the resistance on the heater resistor is around 6 Ohm. Less than 5.5 Ohm, and I think it will bee too much.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
The sudden stop you mention, is your Arduino an R3?by jcabrer - General
If you have a digital multi meter, check the resistance between the two wires. Increased resistance can result in lower temperature limit. Also, it helps to insulate the thermistor. Tape it to the surface of the bed with several layers of kapton.by jcabrer - General
remove the belts from both x and y axes, and make sure there is no binding against the rods. Do this check by pushing each axis where it normally attaches the belt, as this point is usually off-center a bit. The parts should move very smoothly with little or no resistance. There are two main causes of skipping steps in the drivers current setting. 1. Current too low. The motor does not receby jcabrer - General
Welcome, With time, all of your questions will be answered. Let me address your post in the most general terms, and maybe someone else can give more specific answers. RepRap machines are hobby-grade machines, but the output they produce can rival, and exceed commercial 3D printers of this kind (using plastic filament). You will not be able to obtain smooth surfaces using any of these printersby jcabrer - General
Most likely, the problem is in the settings for the Slicer. Here is a brief explanation: 1. When pressing the "Extrude" Button on the host software (in your case, it PrintRun), the G-Code command is formed by the host software, and sent directly to the electronics. 2. When you slice an STL file, the distance to extrude for each move is calculated according to the settings of the slicer. If tby jcabrer - General
Measuring to 0.1mm imperically requires specialized equipment if your goal is to be accurate to that degree. Its a bit over the top though since the accuracy of the machine is nowhere near that. The inherent irregularities in the belts/lead screws/pulleys/filament/Hobbes bolts see to that.by jcabrer - General
There is a specific SD reader for RAMPS that fits onto one of the auxilliary headers in the bottom right corner. Chances are that any other device you buy will not be compatible with the firmware. look around for SD RAMPS on eBay, or Lulzbot/Ultimachine and those kind of places.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
That $100 thing at Walmart will not be an FDM device anymore than an iPad is a thin Apple IIe. That little progression from novelty to common place has taken thirty years. I don't think we are going to see some giant leap that soon. Ultimately (or maybe only on the way to something cooler), the devices produced will be fully integrated electronics, built from polymer inks (or garbage?) with vaby jcabrer - General
Well, you are on the right track with the 1284P upgrade. The 644 does not have enough memory to run SD and LCD concurrently. I think if you put a bit of effort into Repetier, you should be able to get it working. Seek out Lincomatic's (West Coast hours), or Repetier's (European time) help on IRC if you need to get over a hump.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
In a similar fashion to the Z-axis, you should be able to drive two motors from the y-driver. Just bump up your current, and put a fan and heat sink there.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
In cases where the wires comning out of the motor body are lined up, you can almost always assume that the order od the phases is (A)(A-)(B-)(, or (A-)(A)((B-). Which one it is does not really matter. If the mototr turn in the opposite direction than that which is expected, you can flip the connector around, or invert the direction of the axis in firmware. If you are using RAMPS, you have theby jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics