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First Printer Build

Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
in General
First Printer build hoping it wont be the last. hoping there is a guide to setting up Repetier for a Prusa I3 build.

Any help would be great really wanting to learn this software inside and out

Comments

  • RepetierRepetier
    Use config tool and read about firmware here


  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    Thank you! I believe I completely overlooked that section.

  • mrtwiztamrtwizta
    hello,
    i have just fin my first reprap wilson xl Ts with ramps 1.4 setup
    loaded host and other support software, 

    loaded stl, sliced and clicked print but nothing happens, seems the host wont send warm up signal to printer?
    if i use cura it does print but with no infill?
    please help :)
    thanks
  • RepetierRepetier
    Make sure dry run is disabled. Configure temperatures in slic3r and select them.

    For infill select on right tab the infill percentage when slicing. 0 = no infill, 100% = solid infill.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    Well, I must be getting somewhere because I have my first questions, and it comes from the firmware section.

    Printer Type:
    I have a Prusa i3 box frame,

    There are six choices in the box and I suspect that either the third or fourth one is the right answer but Im really unsure of the difference.

    Please help.

  • RepetierRepetier
    No, prusa is normally just a plain cartesian printer like most printers. 
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    Awesome, Thanks.

    Really appriciate all the support here and the quick answers. I see that the software supports CNC, I would asume that it would also support a laser system as well given that it would hardware wise be exactly like my 3d printer.

    Safe assumptions?
  • RepetierRepetier
    We hava a laser mode, yes. Currently only speed controlled but works good for cutting paper/wood.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    Ok, so I think I have a hardware issue at the moment.

    I have loaded the firmware and the software on my PC. X axis works like it should and in the direction it should, Y axis is the same, Z axis is reversed and seems really slow and it definitely feels like I have the driver running really "hot" (pot is turned very far compared with where they say to start). However the extruder motor is just vibrating (have to touch it to feel it) Im not sure if I need to crank to driver up or if something is wrong.

    Running an Arduino Mega + RAMPS 1.4 combo

    Whats next?? getting excited here want to run my first print this weekend if I can
  • RepetierRepetier
    Prusa has slow z axis. Lead screws are never as fast as belts. With M8 rods 2-5mm is all you get and 2 motors on one driver reduce power and makes driver hot. If you have 5 stepper and only one extruder you can mirror z motor so 2 drivers for z for 2 motors.

    Extruder needs to be hot or M302 S1 set for cold extrusion (0.92 firmware) to rotate and dry run off and working temperature readings for all. If it vibrates without move power is too high.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    I am only using one extruder so would it be better to mirror the movement on the E1 motor? are there any draw backs from doing this?

    that last part totaly confused me, I have checked the power and it reads well within the parameters but just in case I backed it down to the min. .1 v when read with a multi-meter instead of .4
  • RepetierRepetier
    Mirroring z axis is always best solution, only drawback is that it needs an extra stepper driver. But driver doe snot heat as much and you have more power.

    Your last part also confuses me as I'm not sure what part confuses you and what has 0.4v instead of 0.1v. Both are low for anything I can imagine.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    Followed this guide:

    towards the bottom where it talks about adjusting the power of each driver to .400V

    Extruder needs to be hot or M302 S1 set for cold extrusion (0.92 firmware) to rotate and dry run off and working temperature readings for all. If it vibrates without move power is too high.
    This is pretty self explanitory, the extruder needs to be up to temp before it will move, but M302 S1, what does that mean? i figured it is a bypass of some kinds but is it Gcode that I have to enter or something else?
  • RepetierRepetier
    Yes, it is a gcode that when send to printer disables the need to heat extruder to test motors. So it is more for debugging then real world testing. Our host has for example in manual control a input field to send gcodes directly.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    WOOHOO! Major progress report!

    That Gcode did the trick and the extruder is turning

    I set the end stops and the temps on the bed and the extruder to what the software says should be correct temps however, when I start the calibration test print and the filment is don't really coming out very well I also noticed that the hotend itself wants to swing back and forth in the extruder. I suspect that the movement of the hot end has to do with it melting the extruder, I think I have a fix for this already but suggestions would be great. Its a Wades just in case you want that info.

    As far as the filment, Im not sure what to do here as the temp on the hotend is already set at 240 and the it does print some material out but its really slow, should I set the feed rate lower or the flow rate higher?

    help help help, I am really excited to start printing on this bad boy!
  • RepetierRepetier
    Do not change flow rate so early. First just check the steps per mm and calibrate that. That has a big influence. So print 100mm slowly (feedrate 1mm/s) and measure how much is sucked in. The change steps to
    stepsNew = stepsOld * measuedDistance/100

    Also make sure the motor is not loosing steps and pressure on filament is enough to transport it down. Use right temperatures (right sensor type selected?). If you get too hot it might cook up and block nozzle. If it is not hot enough it is hard to press through. So find the right temperature range.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    Im not sure its getting hot enough to push the filament out. Im thinking this sample stuff I recieved isn't the best in the world. where do you recommend going to get proper filament from?

    I will do the calc on the rest tonight
  • RepetierRepetier
    For measuring you can also unmount the hotend part so it just moves filament.

    Best PLA I have is from Polymaker, but that is not cheap. With proper tweaking and 0.4mm nozzle you can print nearly all filaments more or less good. Some string more or are less equally in thickness giving worse print quality or have bad coloring that is nearly transparent. But there are also quite some good filament vendors. Colorfabb is an other well known.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    This might sounds dum, but how do you tell the difference between PLA and ABS? I cannot seem to find anything on that on google.

    Im wondering if I have ABS instead of PLA and that is the problem.

    I went ahead and ordered a spool of PLA, seemed a little pricy but if it works right then its worth the added expense.
  • RepetierRepetier
    ABS stinks if heated and has toxic fumes. So if you want to open windows it is abs. PLA has nearly no smell at all and normally melts at 160°C-180°C and gets more and more fluid the hotter it gets.
  • Rumblebelly5Rumblebelly5
    Think I have a batch of ABS then, it had a smell but not much and it didn't really get fluid at 220 but I couldn't really tell if the temp was right, can you point me to a guide on how to check my thermistors for accuracy?
  • RepetierRepetier
    Most important part is selcting the right thermistor type. Most have 100K at 25°C but differ greatly at high temperatures. Also make sure the thermistor has good contact to the metal or it reads too low.

    ABS will print around 245+/-20 depending on thermistor error and type.
  • Jeff_TJeff_T
    This might be the wrong section - but hopefully some printer builders might be able to answer.

    Firstly - which pins on the Arduino 2650 does the XMin and XMax on a Ramps1.4 board  connect with?

    Next - my z level sensor (orange tipped) seems to have stopped working. The red led that used to light when it got close to the aluminium plate now does not light up.

    Last: My delta has a 200mm x 3mm aluminium plate. I've got a 200mm heat bed. I have a beefy 12vdc lab power supply and control circuit/thermistor to run it. I'm not sure how to fit the heated bed physically.   The tracks visible on one side of the heatbed are the same side that the 12v wires would be connected to. I'm assuming the track side goes topside to meet the aluminium plate. I could cover them with Kapton tape but that seems a really flakey idea to me. Also the wires are 2mm thick - so this would mean a 2mm gap between the heated bed and the aluminium plate on one side . That does not seem a  sensible way to go.

    So is there something I should put between the heated bed and the aluminium which would allow the wire spacing ?
  • RokoRoko
    @Jeff_T my heated bed had solder pads on both sides so I soldered to the opposite side.
    "http://www.geeetech.com/wiki/index.php/Ramps1.4"  is for a RAMPS board, endstops connections shown are for Min, go 1 set of pins to right for corresponding Max connection if needed (usually on a Delta printer) The pins are shown connected to a switch only. My endstops are mounted on a small PCB w/ LED and mine has a 3 wire cable. My Red wire (+ 5v) goes to the pin on the inside that is not used in the picture on that link. Don't ground that pin or you will probably lose your 5v regulator on the Arduino board (smoke test) . ALSO note that their connection to a Laser driver on D9 is where your software controlled cooling fan will connect to. I don't know why they show that because the description below mentions the fan connection. If you look at the silkscreen picture of the PCB below, you can see the pin descriptions for the endstops. (from top to bottom - S, - , + (5V) ).
    Sensor I don't know,maybe check wiring first?

    @Rumblebelly5 here's a link to g-code:
    "http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code"  Its pretty good, also in the Repetier firmware package of files, the file Repetier has a description of some of the g-codes implemented in that release also.
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