Circles not rounded

dotty37

Im new to Repetier. I got a used DaVinci 1.0a with Repetier 0.98 already installed on it.
Ive been using it with Repetier host on my Mac, and also printing from the onboard SD card.
I think my shapes are not printing right, but it is most noticeable with horizontal circles.
They are coming off more like ovals.
The circle below is the 3DBenchy-Multi-part-Single-Chimney_top-3DBenchy.com.stl from the 3DBenchy boat at thingiverse.

The full boat is here below, and the circle can be seen at the top.
My eyes also say the actual boat is skew a little but hard to notice, thats why I focused on the circle.
I have printed it on ABS and PLA, same thing, in multiple colors and multiple settings.
I tried with other models, circles are the same, always skew.
I checked that all belts and rods have tension and are straight and the motor screws are tight.
Not sure what else to check or how to adjust an offset on Repetier that could correct this.
Is there such a think as this offset im talking about? do I have to do it on the firmware and loaded on the DaVinci again using Arduino IDE? (my printer came with Repetier so I dont know if reflashing is possible)
Thanks

Repetier

Original DaVinci has no repetier as far as I know. There is a project on github providing a davinci port of repetier. From a user luc... . You would find if you google.

Your images look in deed like serious backlash. Also you can compile in backlash support it is not really a nice solution. Better is to find the hardware reason for it. Belts, Pulley got loos at motor shaft, extruder mount got loose or some (partially) broken part are the typical reasons for it.

dotty37

My DaVinci came with Repetier. I bought it used.
About the backlash support, does it need to be 'compiled' ? there is no option to do it via LCD or Repetier host or GCODE?
How do I know if my problem above is on the X or Y axis?

Repetier

In host you see in eeprom editor parameter for backlash if it is compiled with support.

The backlash in the small direction of the circle as it needs extra motion to start moving. So if x axis is smaller it is x axis having the problem.

dotty37

So, if I see it there when pulling the parameters from the Host, then it means it was compiled when the previous owner flashed the DaVinci, right?
Now, in case it was compiled, can I make changes there in the host and the changes will be permanent?
If in the other hand I dont see the parameter, how do I get my firmware to have them? do I need to compile and upload the Repetier firmware again? Can that be done eventhough it was done already by the previous owner? (I dont know if the flashing is a one-time-deal or it can be done as many times as needed)
Thanks a lot

Repetier

Yes, if you see a eeprom parameter named backlash it was compile din and setting it in eeprom makes it permanent.

If not you need to recompile and flash again. You can do many uploads until board breaks. As developer i do this more frequently then others and never had a broken board from it. Officially it must work at least 1000 times but in reality it works even more often so do not think about that problem.

dotty37

I dont see the backslash parameter on the eeprom, so I guess it was not compiled (hard to see the parameters, Im using a Mac and the dark theme on Repetier host force me to select each item before I can see them).
I guess all those parameters were set by the previous owner, what will happen when I reflash? will I lose them?
How do I back them up before?.
Maybe it doesnt even matter, I will have to start from scratch and it will be ok?

Repetier

You may loose eeprom values (also you can make a backup in Repetier-Server). If you have the original configuration.h used it would be quite easy only changing that parameter. Without you need to select right hardware. I think best would be to find the repository on github.com for the davinci fork from luc... don't remember the full name. I think there will be good presets.

dotty37

I found that a backup of eeprom can be done on Host for Windows (didnt realize before because my primary machine is Mac and I dont think there is an Export option there).
Yesterday I came across luc-github Repetier for DaVinci, the latest he has is 0.92.10 Beta, I didnt know if luc-github is somehow 'official' or 'expected to work' so I didnt move forward but now that you tell me I will use that.
I noticed there is a 1.0.3 version of Repetier firmware, but luc-github doesnt have it pre0configured. Do you know if anybody uses that with DaVinci? should I go that way instead? (Now that IM refreshing it might be a good idea to get the latest, maybe I can wrote to luc-github and ask if he has that version for DaVInci)
ONe additional question regarding that, my screen says 0.92.10.M and not "BETA" like luc-github, where is my 0.92.10M coming from? is it the same as luc-github?

On the other hand, I took the side panels apart yesterday and under close inspection I realized my X belt tensioner was cracked, so I printed a new one and it improved a little the circles.
Then I also realized the X Axis was shifted!, so I found a video on YouTube from XYZ on how to fix it and I did that too. The circles improved a little more.
I think i still need the backlash setting.
Thanks a LOT for the help.

Repetier

If you send M115 to printer you see the firmware version you currently have.
The luc github is what I meant. It is not official as there is no official firmware for DaVince except their own. What he did was taking 0.92 form us add a config and he also made some modifications to integrate the hardware better. Since you had repetier on it I guess the previous owner also has used that.

It is up to you to use that oo just use the confuguration.h to see which pins and settings to use and use it on 1.0.3 or dev version. Especially the dev version has some nice new functions like improved linear advance and host rescue system if you use our server. But both versions will print and have backlash included. But as I said it is better to find the hardware reason which you succeeded already a bit.