Did you try calibrating the printer as instructed on the reprap wiki? http://reprap.org/wiki/Triffid_Hunter%27s_Calibration_Guide It could be a lot of things. A video of the printing process would help. Also what settings: velocity max, max acceleration, did you properly level the bed, nozzle just touching 80grams printing paper. Retraction speed looks a bit high, I'd use 20 to 30mm/s. 10mm retrby imqqmi - Printing
The corners problem could be that the temperature of the hotend is set too high. You could also try adjusting jerkxy, if the printspeed is much higher than jerkxy it can cause overextrusion in the corners. The reverse is also true, if jetkxy is set too high it could under extrude in the corners. Another cause for uneven layers is overextrusion. If you have an lc display, you can adjust the flowby imqqmi - Printing
I'm not sure if reading the angle is supported, why do you need to? Setting the angle is all that matters, with a bit of trial and error. The servo isn't capable of reporting back the angle as far as I know. If it would work, likely all you'd get is the angle you've given in. I've looked at the source code, it will give an out of range message if you set S but don't set P which is the servo indeby imqqmi - Reprappers
You must use P0 with the command: m280 P0 S100 Use positive numbers only. See this guide: http://zennmaster.com/random-things/auto-bed-leveling-for-the-makerfarm-prusa-i3-part-3-final-setupby imqqmi - Reprappers
I had the same issue with nylon, at 280 degrees and fast extrusion the temp couldn't be maintained. I use a fan controller and a low speed low noise maglev fan. It's barely audible but cools very well. I tuned pid for slightly more power as well, which helped too. Now it maintains 280 degrees with no problem.by imqqmi - Printing
It could be a communication problem, usb cable, interfering usb drivers, data error etc. If you're certain its not stepper driver or the nozzle hitting something. Do you have pets? Belt tension? You didn't provide any details like accelertion, max. velocity, jerkxy settings, slicer software and settings etc. It could be a good idea to put a webcam with audio input and record the prints you're gby imqqmi - Printing
If you can print abs, you can also print hips. It mainly depends on how high the temperature on the hot end can be. It's limited by - PEEK cold end used in many jhead hotends, max safe temperature below 240 degrees, you may want an all metal one like all metal jhead or e3d - abs and nylon may need 260 degrees or higher depending on the filament and layer adhesion - ptfe tube liner that goes deepby imqqmi - Printing
Thicker cables have lower resistance and will not heat up as quickly with the same current, so you don't need glass fiber insulation. The fet should be able to handle it, though the 5v gate-source voltage will not fully open the fet, so the Rdson is higher and will dissipate more heat than a fet that is fully open at 5V. If the heated bed is on and it's too hot to touch, it's above 60 degrees aby imqqmi - Prusa i3 and variants
Maybe you've accidentally abled presxure management. It's an experimental feature. Try turning it off and see if it improve your print. You can turn on extrusion width simulation in repetier host, you'll usually see the over extrusion clearly.by imqqmi - Printing
Looks like a bad connection, which increases resistance, which in turn heats up to burning point. The wires to the heater seem too thin to me, though the picture isn't very clear. I'd use at least 1.5mm diameter multicore cable, speaker cables would do. To find out what max. Current the control board can supply look it up on google. Ramps 1.4 can handle 11 amps, which at 12 V translates to 12xby imqqmi - Prusa i3 and variants
Did you follow the steps outlined in the link above? I don't own the board but its ramps 1.4 compatible. The documentation says you need to download the updated driver, maybe that's why it can't connect. Make sure you pick the correct com port.by imqqmi - Reprappers
Please attach the image, don't embed it in a word document. Please go to this page to install fw: http://reprap.org/wiki/MKS_BASEby imqqmi - Reprappers
If the power supply can't handle the load, get a supply that can. Take a PSU that can provide twice what you're asking from it. Hotend = 40W, heated bed = 150W, stepper motors max. = 5x12x2A = 125W. Total 315W. Get at least 500W. If you get an ATX PSU you need to dimension it even bigger, as about 30-40% of the wattage is for 3.3 and 5V lines. I use a separate 300W 24V PSU for the heated bed (wby imqqmi - Printing
Frying cables and usb interface chips seems to me a switching psu problem. What type of psu is it? I'd buy a couple of extra arduino boards and a different psu. Also get an power extension cord with hub/splitter and powerswitch. Use the switch instead of plugging/unplugging power cords. Between two switching psu ground levels can be a high voltage. It may damage anything you connect to it. Make sby imqqmi - Reprappers
A thermocouple with the external thermocouple board is the most reliable, but a bit more expensive. A thermistor can be very accurate but often needs to be calibrated. I used my multimeter with thermocouple to calibrate rhe thermistor for the heated bed and changed the lookup table values in tempsens.h IIRC. I've also checked the hot end thermocouple with the multimeter and gives the same temby imqqmi - Reprappers
Could it be over extrusion? The first layer can be fine if you used higher than normal z offset, which should be about the thickness of normal copier paper, about 0.1mm. The next layer is with correct z distance. So get the first layer to look the same as second layer by adjusting z offset in case of auto bed leveling or the bed height or z endstop, then adjust extrusion multiplier down quite a bby imqqmi - Printing
I'd first get the firmware from your friend who built it. Then compare the configuration.h and pins.h between your downloaded and friends version and work out what settings you need to copy and what parts are new in the configuration.h and what settings needs some attention in your case. If I were you I'd just upload the old 'tried and tested' firmware and get back to trouble shooting hardware fiby imqqmi - Reprappers
Have you done some checking if all the motors move as expected? It seems that when the z motor is raised, the y motor is doing the moving instead. Can you move the z motor at all when moving it manually in repetier host for example? You can also send some gcode (manual control tab), this will try to move at 300mm/s, the firmware should limit this to at most 150mm/s: G1 Z10 F18000 Keep changingby imqqmi - Reprappers
What happens to the hot end temperature when you extrude? You may need to go through the PID tuning process to get enough power to the the hot end in order to stay stable enough. Extruding will put 'cold' filament into the nozzle cooling it down. If it cools down too much the filament turns solid and will jam until it's warmed up again. see http://reprap.org/wiki/PID_Tuningby imqqmi - Reprappers
Yes, replace the step up converter by your dedicated 24V psu, that should do the trick. To avoid confusion, you say straight to the heated bed, which would mean without wiring it to the ramps board, that's not correct. You just need to wire the 24V to the 11A connector and the heated bed to it's own connector as is described in the wiki, to connector D8.by imqqmi - RAMPS Electronics
If you look at the ramps board below, the power block on the lower left has 4 terminals to hook up the psu. The lower two wires are for the hotend and motors, 5A current max, the upper two is a separate supply line just for the heated bed at 11A max. You can hook up the 24 V dedicated psu on this. In the firmware you need to enable the heated bed and set the corresponding ntc or thermo couple tby imqqmi - RAMPS Electronics
Seems like that one you link to is a bowden version. Make sure that you order the correct one. You could try taking the thermistor out and find any markings on it to know what thermistor setting you'll need. You could also try contacting the seller. As for thermistor, I'd use a multimeter with thermocouple to check what the temperature gradient is every 10 degrees C. Either create a new profileby imqqmi - Reprappers
What temperature settings are you using, does increasing, lowering change anything? Speed settings, what slicer, what nozzle size, PLA or ABS. Did you do the calibration on this page: http://reprap.org/wiki/Triffid_Hunter%27s_Calibration_Guide? Is the e steps calibrated? Seems like some under extrusion but until the printer is fully calibrated it could be a lot other things. It could also be meby imqqmi - Printing
You probably both need to (re)set z offset in firmware or on lcd, and store it in eeprom. Go to menu control/motion z offset. If you don't use display/eeprom look in configuration.h of the firmware. Just homing isn't enough, ABL may introduce a different offset. With z offset at zero, the z home position is the same as the probe, not the nozzle, unless both are at the same height. If you have aby imqqmi - Printing
Did you setup the print bed size correctly in repetier (menu config, Printer settings, Printer shape tab)? Also check the start g-code in the slicer settings. See if it tries to move beyond your actual print bed size.by imqqmi - Reprappers
It's probably trying to home the x axis, but since it moves away from the endstop it just keeps going. Flip around the x motor connector, this will reverse the x axis direction. Alternatily you could flip the direction in the firmware, but that's a bit more complex, however at some point you may need to make some changes in the configuration, to add a heated bet, increase max allowed temperatureby imqqmi - Reprappers
You can find the Z offset here: In the menu => control => motion => Vmax z. Make sure you store settings in control => Store memory to make it permanent.by imqqmi - Reprappers
First check if the x axis can move smoothly without belt. If the smoothrods are not perfectly parallel the x carriage will bind. Next check if the x motor runs without the belt. Next place the belt and check if the belt can move without problems and that there's not too much tension on it. As for feedrate, I'd set x and y to 150mm/s for now an z to 3mm/s. Acceleration I'd start with 1000mm/s2 foby imqqmi - Printing
In addition to kre8, check if the extruder isn't slipping, seems you've got some underextrusion on the top. Do you use auto bed levelling? Increase z offset in 0.1mm increments. It will be closer to the print bed. Make sure you use the correct thickness of paper or gauge to level the bed when doing this manually. 80g printer paper works best, or a metal 0.1 gauge.by imqqmi - Printing
The z vmax in pronterface is set differently from the printer vmax setting. You may be able to set it using the lcd if eeprom is enabled in firmware. You didn't mention the type of printer or firmware so can't be more specific.by imqqmi - Reprappers