Problems with Gen3 and MK6+
chapulina
I have a batch #11 bot, and I've been without an extruder for a while
since my MK4's PTFE dilated and plastic went everywhere... Recently I
got an MK6+ and am now trying to make it work with my gen3
electronics, mostly based on these instructions:
http://wiki.makerbot.com/stepstruder-mk6-with-gen3
So here goes my questions:
1) Safety cutoff
The motherboard v1.2 doesn't have a place to connect the e-stop, so
I've read in a few places that I should proceed without connecting the
e-stop. Since the machine won't shit down the heater anyways, isn't it
better for me to just forget about the safety cutoff altogether?
Saving space and de-complicating the mess of wires I have now... (Even
though I do have a bad history of letting things get too hot, hope
I've learned with my mistakes...)
2) Relays
So the way my heater is wired up right now is:
Extruder board's A+A- ==== Relay's INPUT A+A-
Relay's OUTPUT A+A- ==== Safety cutoff's IN
Safety cutoff's OUT ==== Cartridge heater
Is this correct? Because things are not heating up... I tried
measuring the voltage on the relay's output as I tried to elevate the
temperature and it read 0V... What is not working here?
3) Firmware (and z-stepper)
I've upgraded my extruder controller's firmware to the one named "v2.6
stepper extruder with relays", but when I connect the machine the
console says "Extruder controller firmware v2.5 (ruder)" - is it just
a typo? Is the firmware correct? Some things seem to be working, I'm
controlling the extruder's stepper with rpm, the fan works, the
thermistor seems to be reading the temperature correctly... But the
heater won't work... And I got a bonus problem, the z-axis stepper got
a bit crazy and makes a high pitch noise and doesn't rotate, only
shakes... The motor and the stepper controller are both working, so I
guess the problem is in the firmware... Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for the help! Since I got my bot I've only finished
one print, and the problems seem to accumulate no matter what
direction I try :( But I won't give up on it! :)
COMPNETDOC
smaller one used on XY - this helps Z drive as the motor is whimpy and
any binding will cause issues. I believe the heater will run off 12
volts - Test it! Its also possible your power supply isnt up to the
task. The one shipped w Cupcake is a bit small once you add HBP etc. I
have a MK5 working, and am building a MK6 as we speak. I will attempt
to assist you even as i make it work here. If you can send me any
notes regarding URLs for build info, i see there is not current info
on the MK6 build instructions regarding the cartrige heater or the
safety cutoff installation on Cupcakes with origonal electronics. Im
heartened that the stepper part and fan work though!. The heater
should be easily made to work, im using relay to control the MK5
sucessfully (heater) of the resistor type and works great. Send me
details - drd...@compnetdoc.com
Aaron Double
Check out JohnA's build for reference: http://3dprinterforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29
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chapulina
I will look for a new pulley as you suggested, but I still doubt this
is the trouble with the z-axis, because if I connect it to the y-axis
output, I can control it smoothly. And if I connect the z-axis output
to the y-axis motor, then this motor presents the same weird behavior
I described later... So yeah, I think the problem is in the
information the motherboard is sending to the z-axis, just can't
figure out why :(
I'll test the heater with 12V now to try to find the origin of the
problem.
The instructions I'm following are these, which include the cartridge
heater:
http://wiki.makerbot.com/stepstruder-mk6-plus-assembly-3mm
Good luck!
chapulina
the relays to the A+A- output of the extruder controller v2.2, even
though it is clearly written here (http://reprap.org/wiki/
Extruder_Controller_2.2) that the heater should go into the B+B-...
I'm not sure which instructions I was following when I did that...
The thing now is that the heater doesn't seem to stop at the target
temperature and the temperature keeps on increasing...
The Ruttmeister
And Mosfet A is for cooling fans (the MBI wiki says it doesnt work,
but I have no issues). C should run the HBP.
chapulina
properly when I changed the Z Feedrate :)
Ruttmeister, I've been running my fan through Mosfet C, and it
responds well to the cooling fan enable box on control panel :) My
Mosfet A is empty now, as I don't have HBP anyways...
Thanks for the help! I'm already printing and now just calibrating
some values to get finer prints =))))
The Ruttmeister
> Ruttmeister, I've been running my fan through Mosfet C, and it
> responds well to the cooling fan enable box on control panel :) My
> Mosfet A is empty now, as I don't have HBP anyways...
>
But if you are using ABS, get a HBP. Makes a huge difference.
chapulina
government has been charging 60% import taxes, so I'll wait until I
move somewhere else hehe...
Hey, do you know what could be wrong with my settings? My prints are
coming out really stretched on the z-axis:
http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:10214
My 2x2 lego block measures 13mmx13mmx25mm!
Brian Stott
http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:10214
--
chapulina
the printer the way it is, I'll try to build an HBP!
The Ruttmeister
layer of Kapton on the aluminium plate, then the nichrome, then more
kapton, then cover the kapton with a layer of aluminium foil. The foil
acts as a heatsink and stops the nichrome from burning through the top
layer of kapton.
Its dead easy and works very well.
I used the lid of a die-cast aluminium box for my platform, was
90x110mm but was dead cheap and avalible. Apparently the bare back of
a PCB (FR4) works as well as hot kapton tape though. And that might be
even easier to get.
And 60%... Ouch.
As for your tall print... What driver do you have selected for you
printer? And are you running the standard Z axis. My first suspition
is that either you are using the wrong driver and hence the drive
ratio is wrong, or the machines.xml is courrupted.
chapulina
The driver I'm using I took from this link (http://forums.reprap.org/
read.php?151,40440,41263#msg-41263) as instructed here (http://
wiki.makerbot.com/stepstruder-mk6-with-gen3).
I see the scale="833.398" part - so should I just change it to the
proportion I need?
Whosawhatsis
Mendel. If you haven't changed the mechanical parts for the axes (you
only messed with the extruder), just grab the <geometry> section from
the cupcake driver and use it to replace that part of the driver
you're using.
chapulina
I was kinda suspicious but proceeded anyways... But now it's fixed!
Thankssss
On Jun 12, 2:45 pm, Whosawhatsis <whosawhat...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I thought you said you were using a Cupcake. Those settings are for a
> Mendel. If you haven't changed the mechanical parts for the axes (you
> only messed with the extruder), just grab the <geometry> section from
> the cupcake driver and use it to replace that part of the driver
> you're using.
>
> On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 10:36 AM, chapulina
>
The Ruttmeister
drivers... I added a note to those instructions that should make it a
bit more clear.
On Jun 12, 12:19 pm, chapulina <burajiru.no.chapul...@gmail.com>
wrote:
James McCracken
I've been running a hand-made HBP for a while now (if you look on
thingiverse, you'll see the hbp corners I created to hold it...
working on an updated version soon!)
the raw materials: insulating fabric tape from makergear, ceramic
slurry from makergear (used to make heatcores), 300mm nichrome wire,
thermistor (with bias circuit), and an old computer case.
I traced the outline of a hbp on the computer case and started
cutting. When done, I taped the nichrome wire onto it... all the way
down one edge, across to halfway, back up, across to the opposite
edge, then back down. I tried to line it up so it went right down the
middle of the kapton holding it on. soldered that end to a piece of
wire and ran the wire along the edges back to the original end, and
soldered in the hbp wires to connect to the bot there. Laid down a
thin layer of ceramic slurry all across the board, except one spot
directly in between two of the long runs of nichrome, this is where i
taped on my thermistor. Cured that in my toaster oven @ 120 F for an
hour, then @ 170 F for 15 minutes. So far you haven't used any
materials that should melt even if you get a huge hotspot. My toaster
oven is a convection model, so it heats extremely evenly, but I've
tried to solder HBPs (the makerbot model) in other peoples toaster
ovens with horrible results, so caveat emptor, ymmv, etc
when the original cure is done, I laid on a slightly thicker layer of
ceramic slurry, then laid it between two pot holders and hooked it up
to 12V for a couple hours. Once that had cooled, I set about with the
kapton to tape on a layer of insulating fabric (I cut up the piece of
"tape" supplied in the operator's pack from makergear into several
pieces to do this), then wrapped the bottom with one more layer of
kapton, and applied a superwide piece to the top.
I've printed about 50 hours on it since with nary an issue. Biggest
problem was attaching it to the bot securely, but these solved that
problem nicely (if at a sacrifice of ~ 15mm build area on the x axis,
but only if the build goes all the way to the corners)
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7440
After a couple catastrophic failures trying to print at a conference
this weekend where the nozzle bumped into the corner clamps, I'm
already designing a remix with better cut outs than these. my old
ubuntu disk image died so I have to recreate them from scratch, I'll
try to get it done and uploaded by this weekend.