Trying to build my RepRap.
johng
I’ve been a member on this group for a few months now, I feel bad for
not having yet to give a formal hello to you all. Every now and then I
would read messages posted here. Since my job entails the use of 3D
design, I've taken great interest in 3D printing at home. Back in
October my friend and I built a Techzone kit (We have yet to get it
printing). So far we’ve been able to jog the axes but that’s about it.
Just a few months ago we took it to a local hackerspace that’s into
building makerbots. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Since
then its been in my garage collecting dust. Just wondering if anyone
can take a look at what we've done (or correct what we messed up)?
We're at a point where we'd desperately would like to see this thing
work. I'd be more than willing to go where you guys meet to have this
thing running. Any help from you talented people would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Mark Halls
> Hey Everyone.
>
> I�ve been a member on this group for a few months now, I feel bad for
> not having yet to give a formal hello to you all. Every now and then I
> would read messages posted here. Since my job entails the use of 3D
> design, I've taken great interest in 3D printing at home. Back in
> October my friend and I built a Techzone kit (We have yet to get it
> Just a few months ago we took it to a local hackerspace that�s into
> building makerbots. They couldn�t figure out what was wrong. Since
> then its been in my garage collecting dust. Just wondering if anyone
> can take a look at what we've done (or correct what we messed up)?
> We're at a point where we'd desperately would like to see this thing
> work. I'd be more than willing to go where you guys meet to have this
> thing running. Any help from you talented people would be greatly
> appreciated. Thanks in advance.
>
>
Good to hear from you. I don't have any personal experience with
techzone but if you want some help I'd be more than happy to try.
A little history:
Techzone uses Gen3 Reprap Electronics. The most recent version of Reprap
branded electronics is Gen7. That should give you an idea of what you
have to work with. Techzone uses proprietary firmware and host software.
Also the gen3 electronics are generally disliked in the community due to
the fact that it is virtually impossible to add additional features.
From the amount of time you've said you've put into these electronics,
if you have the money, I would recommend going with a different solution.
Something I would recommend you check out would be sanguinololu. It is a
RAMPS (reprap arduino mega pololu shield) derivative that eliminates the
need for the arduino mega, making it less expensive. It uses an
atmega644p core to drive 4 pololu stepper drivers which can supply a
maximum current of 2amps to each stepper motor. The total cost of a pcb
+ components + pololu drivers is around $100.
I sell sanguinololu pcb's and have the equipment needed to program the
atmega.
The first sanguinololu I assembled took about 2 hours to put together
and another hour or so to figure out the best way to program it. Since
you have techzone electronics we can scavenge a few parts from
those(without damaging them) to make the process even easier.
I believe we could have you communicating with the printer and possibly
even printing in 4 hours or so if we did this.
Ultimately it's your decision but I hope I've given you some more info
than you've had to work with.
Talk to you later,
Mark
Whosawhatsis
outdated, it's still the version in use by the most users (especially
if you count Makerbot users), it probably has the most firmware
options, and has a bunch of available I/O on the EC board. The version
numbers are almost entirely arbitrary (Gen 4 was released after Gen 6,
and there is no such thing as "official" Reprap or "Reprap branded"
electronics). The weakest part of Gen3 is the stepper drivers, but
with a little creative wiring or an interface board, these can easily
be upgraded with pololu or gen.4 drivers.
On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 3:43 PM, Mark Halls <fire...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 5/12/2011 2:30 PM, johng wrote:
>>
>> Hey Everyone.
>>
>> I’ve been a member on this group for a few months now, I feel bad for
>> not having yet to give a formal hello to you all. Every now and then I
>> would read messages posted here. Since my job entails the use of 3D
>> design, I've taken great interest in 3D printing at home. Back in
>> October my friend and I built a Techzone kit (We have yet to get it
>> printing). So far we’ve been able to jog the axes but that’s about it.
>> Just a few months ago we took it to a local hackerspace that’s into
>> building makerbots. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Since
Mark Halls
experience with the gen3 electronics. That was my opinion based on the
conversations I've seen in the forums and in #reprap irc chat. My main
point was that if he was having as many issues as he says that perhaps a
different electronics solution was in order. I know based on personal
experience that both RAMPS and Sanguinololu are very simple and
straightforward setups.
As far as my word choice, I gathered from his tone that he wasn't very
familiar with the various electronics options available and only used
"Reprap branded" as a way of linking gen3 and the other "genx" boards
together.
Also, just because more people use something doesn't necessarily make it
better. Makerbot has sold thousands of kits and if you only have one
type of electronics platform option in those kits of course more people
will use them. There are also Makerbot operators that have upgraded to
RAMPS or other solutions because they didn't like gen3. I saw just the
other day a set of Gen3 electronics on ebay for $6 usd. They cost over
$200 new so why would they price it so low?
I'm not saying it won't work but there is a lot of bleeding edge
firmware and software being designed by Kliment and others in the RepRap
community that is specifically with RAMPS or Sanguinololu in mind.
Also, don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to sell anything. I just
wanted to let him know that the option was available for a different pcb
and that it is readily available. I don't make enough on the pcb alone
to make it worth bashing a different set of electronics. I sell the
pcb's because I believe that sanguinololu is going to be a go to
solution for electronics. When you ask in #reprap what type of
electronics you should buy everyone says "RAMPS", I believe since you
save money with sanguinololu that soon that will be the answer.
Whosawhatsis
mean that there is more support available for it. Also, I've used the
main 5D firmware and the makerbot firmware on gen 3 electronics on
both a Makerbot and a Huxley, and I have to say that the makerbot
toolchain produces far better prints almost out of the box than I was
able to get after months of tweaking and calibrating on 5D (though I
understand there have been improvements, including skeinforge
compatibility and firmware branches with SD card support). I've just
ordered a sanguinololu kit so that I can check this out.
Anyway, on the original subject. The techzone electronics are a
version of Gen 3 that comes with 5D (and probably an old version), so
you'll definitely want to update them at the very least. I would
recommend switching them to the Makerbot firmware and using
ReplicatorG and skeinforge instead of the "official" (emphasis on the
scare quotes) Reprap toolchain.
Mark Halls
mainly because 5D isn't great firmware. Also Makerbot uses a version of
skeinforge with their host software so it would be superior to the
RepRap host. Nobody I know in the community uses the reprap host for
anything more than debugging. Everyone I talk to uses repsnapper with
their favorite firmware, usually klimentkip (now called sprinter).
There is also new host software in development called Weaver that will
go with sprinter. The Weaver project started about a week ago and the
backend is being handled by kliment and the front end ui is being
designed by belxjander.
Kliment is one of the most respected members of the community. Not only
does he design great firmware that works great but he actively supports
it on #reprap and if any bugs are discovered he usually fixes them
within a day.
And yes, I would also recommend upgrading the firmware to makerbot
firmware on techzone at least to start with. Also a place the OP should
look is the gen3 wiki. If I remember correctly you have to program the
stepper drivers separately on gen3 which could be part of the issue.
Whosawhatsis
adjust. Gen 3 has a sanguino-based motherboard and an arduino-based
extruder controller that both have to be programmed, but the stepper
boards don't have anything to program.
Fire Raisr
I knew there was more than one board to program just couldn't remember
exactly what it was.