Hello all,
Just bought this kit from a UK supplier on Ebay (comes with a UK plug) anyways after researching online about 3 hours later its all built, and all wired up! Proud moment to fire it up and i have cracked the Y axis and the x axis (axis with the printer nozzle) however my main issue is now the Z or vertical axis. I think the left hand motor is not working but it may be both which have gone. Any and all help would be appreciated folks!
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Enza3D
2
@Retrohomeslice,
What exactly is going on with the printer?
Hay, Thanks for getting back to me. So in the mean time i have taken things apart. The left hand lower motor is being run from the cable (its disconnected) the right hand lower motor looks like its not running but when i hook it up to the left hand side it runs, thought i could rule out if it was the motor causing the issue. Could it be the cables are causing the issue not powering the right hand motor or maybe something on the board?
When I put my machine together, it took several days of trying to figure out what went wrong with the axis. In your code, there’s a section where the Y, X, and Z axis values are listed as either -1/1 or something like True/False. I think its in the second tab, and says something like “mendel”. I had to flip those, because my printer’s Z axis was upside down. Eventually I was printing cats and bears though, so don’t give up!
FWIW, I think I ended up flipping many many things related to the axis, and I learned you need to zero your axis with the XYZ home buttons before you are permitted to move the Z axis around. I think this is a bad code design, and my hot end plowed into my project today during an emergency stop because this “feature” exists. Zero is constantly redefined by the end stops while tracking home. You can push them manually. I’ve also heard that some people have motor issues with their voltage. Something about wrongly wiring 3 volts vs. 5 volts or something. If you are most lucky, its just the mendel Axis problem. Semi-bad is if you have your voltages wired wrong. Worst case scenario you have a faulty motor or you fried your arduino board, and will have to order new parts.
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if you have ruled out your motor itself as the issue, then it might be a power supply issue in the way you have it wired. try swapping the motors in the way they are plugged, since each motor has its own connections, and see if “right motor” works in left slots, and vice versa. That way you can tell if its the board and not the motors.
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Thanks for this, it’s been playing on my mind most of the night and I agree, if the motor swaps okay and works- can’t be a motor fault which just leaves a wiring issue, fault with the power connection to the motor or board or connection to the board itself. If the board has a fault is this generally an easy fix or best to replace for new? I’ll give this a go after I get in from work. I’ll let you know how I get on!
Just to say by the way massive thank you in advance for the help folks
Sorry I didn’t see this comment! I’m on mobile and it only displayed the bottom reply! When I get home I’m going to try what you suggested. Process of elimination!
Something else worth mentioning when it comes to dialing in your freshly built kit and testing it’s first movements, would be the checking the driver voltages and adjusting the trim pots. I’ve found that most times, the driver trim pot screws need to be tuned for proper voltage to get your motors moving properly, smoothly and quietly, while not becoming too hot during normal use either.
This can be done by measuring the voltage with a multimeter, but most times I’m able to adjust trim pots by ear and get excellent results. Symptoms of under, or over current from the driver with your Z axis motors, would include stuttering, buzzing or even only one or neither motor moving at all. Any adjustments being made to a trim pot on the driver modules must be made with either a ceramic screw driver (one is usually provided with a DIY printer kit), or a small piece of PLA filament pinched flat to make a flat head screw driver. Do NOT use a metal screw driver to adjust your driver trim pots as this can ruin the driver module. Adjustments made to the trim pots are extremely small, and if doing by ear instead of with a multimeter, you can move the axis in question via the control panel while very slightly adjusting the trim pot screw (1/32 turn increments to be safe) up or down, while listening and watching the motor(s) for proper sound and movement.
This is worth a look as many of the kits we’ve built have needed the drivers adjusted prior to achieving proper, or any movement at all for that matter. If this isn’t the issue, then it could indeed be wiring or the board, but since the driver can push one Z axis motor at a time, then it may be your voltage setting on the driver itself.
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Its alive!! Okay so update. I got home and basically stripped all the wires, all the motors out but left the frame and bed in place. Then i started to connect everything and when i knew it was working i fitted it in place. This time around the 2 Z axis motors both worked in sync with no issues. I think its been a wiring fault on my end. Looking back i think i have mized the print head cable with the Z axis power cable which is why i wasnt getting a response.
So now for calibration!
Thanks for the information! I have managed to get the wiring setup with all axis working. Without printing anything off so far its very quiet when the motors are in use.
