Mhackney's Rostock Max

[mhackney]

GeraldO, as I mentioned, I've searched ALL of the Repetier code and can not find that define: DIOHEATER_BED_PIN...

Interestingly, google it and you'll see one hit: https://github.com/repetier/Repetier-Firmware/issues/94 from 11 months ago.

[mhackney]

Well, it turns out part of this may be an arduino / firmware issue too. I posted my problem on repetier's github and got a response that if the firmware exceeds 128kb bank, the compiler inserts bad code (i.e. "!!!" sequences).

https://github.com/repetier/Repetier-Fi ... t-37719880

[mhackney]

Cool, looks like a fix was found and I just tested the latest as of 1 hr ago and I can upload now. My viki less flashed once and I have no display but that is likely a pin misconfiguration I can chase down.

[mhackney]

Spoke too soon! I just hit the reset button on the X3 Pro and the Viki sprang to life!

[Eaglezsoar]

Spoke too soon! I just hit the reset button on the X3 Pro and the Viki sprang to life!

Was there a particular site you used for the Viki to X3 connections or did you do your usual and figured it out yourself?

[mhackney]

I figured them out from the Viki circuit and X3 Pro circuit diagrams. But I am documenting and photographing it so I can pst here. Right now, the Viki display and menus all work but the SD card is not connected. Roy recommended waiting to get the rest working first. I need to chase down 3 pins on the X3 board to connect it.

[Eaglezsoar]

I figured them out from the Viki circuit and X3 Pro circuit diagrams. But I am documenting and photographing it so I can pst here. Right now, the Viki display and menus all work but the SD card is not connected. Roy recommended waiting to get the rest working first. I need to chase down 3 pins on the X3 board to connect it.

Thanks! You are the Man!

[mhackney]

Now that I am using 2 of the 4 hot ends on RAMBo (with my Kraken) I had to sacrifice my part cooling fan. I also needed to figure out how to mount a fan with the Kraken setup. I have 2 RAMBos and was looking at the spare tonight and noticed that the replacement board they sent me has a new connector labeled FAN 2 right below the hot end connectors at the "top" of the board. You can see it here:

[img]http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/b/ba ... n-main.jpg[/img]

This is the layout for the RAMB rev 1.2 board but BOTH of my rev 1.1b boards have this connector. If you have it, you can use it to power a fan to cool your PLA and control it from your host with M106 (on) and M107 (off). Here's how:

Firstly, the connector on the board is not marked for (+) and (-) so I had to figure that out. Turns out the left side is (+) the opposite of the hot end connectors above it. Now that you have it plugged into your fan correctly, you need to tweak Repetier firmware. Close to the top of Configuration.h you will see:

Code: Select all

// Override pin definions from pins.h
#define FAN_PIN   2  //4 Extruder 2 uses the default fan output, so move to an other pin

Yours may be commented out and set to the default "4". Simply uncomment, change to 2 (FAN 2 is on digital pin 2 on RAMBo as per: http://reprap.org/wiki/Rambo_development (search for Fan 2). Recompile and upload Repetier and you should be good to go. You can test by connecting from Repetier Host and clicking the Fan on button and controlling the speed with the slider.

So now I have two hot ends AND fan control. (Of course you could use Fan 1 on hot end 1 but where's the fun in that!)

cheers,
Michael

[enggmaug]

I don't get it, if you use HEAT_0 and HEAT_1 for your Extruder 0 and 1, then you still have FAN_0 and FAN_1... to control the pump, and a layer fan.

Do you have a need for more ?

Me, I believe I will use HEAT_0, HEAT_1 and FAN_0 to control 3 hot ends, FAN_1 for the pump and FAN_2 for 2 layer fans.
I will use a protoboard to extend EXTRUDER 2 STEPPER, And I will be good to go with 3 extrudders.

If it works well, I will then make PCB to try adding a 4th Extruder as I described in my other thread.

[mhackney]

No and yes. In my case I am using FAN_0 to control the water pump for the Kraken cooling and FAN_1 to control a "PEEK FAN" when I switch the Kraken over to my E3D or JHead. I don't want to have to swap connectors all the time or put in a splitter since FAN_2 is available. If you don't have a setup like mine, then you are correct that you don't need to use it.

[mhackney]

My Rostock MAX has been operational for slightly over a year. There have been LOTS of changes from SeeMeCNC over the year and great upgrades from the community (you guys and gals). There have also been many advances in the personal 3D printing world. The most important Rostock enhancements IMO have been the EZStruder from SeeMeCNC, Xnaron's printable magnetic u-joint upgrade (although SeeMeCNC's new delta arms are very nice too) and Gene's amazing assembly manual. I know the basic kit has undergone a lot of tweaks too but even my fairly early kit has been extremely reliable and trouble free (for a 3D printer!). I wanted to share some metrics on what these machines are capable of and what my machine has done, but first, here is a high level overview of how my Rostock is currently configured (you can see all of this in this thread or on my photo build log link):

Basic Rostock MAX kit, Xnaron magnetic arm upgrade, after market 12V and 24V power supplies mounted in base (where original PS was located). The 24V powers my Onyx. My original aluminum heat dissipator on top of the Onyx. It not only dissipates heat but constrains Onyx warpage. I really wish this upgrade had worked out commercially as it has been rock solid for me. I run a borosilicate plate covered with .03" PEI taped on with 3M tape on one side. (PEI is an amazing print surface.) I run the machine with a RAMBo v1.1b with the LCD display. I mounted my RAMBo differently for accessibility. It is also cooled with a fan to prevent stepper driver overheating. The business end is a 4 nozzle Kraken hot end driven by 4 EZStruders. It is water cooled and an amazing device. This is still a work in progress but coming along nicely. I'll be moving to an Azteeg X3 Pro controller to drive all 4 extruders, it's configured for 2 at this time with RAMBo. I've been running the threaded themistors in the E3D and Kraken exclusively and am completely sold on these as an upgrade. Two of the EZStruders are top mounted on printed mounts, the other two are on SeeMeCNC's "side arms". I have a part fan on the effector, used primarily for PLA parts. My hot bed reaches 80°C in less than 2 minutes with the 24V supply and 3 minutes to 100°C. And here are some metrics on what I've done with this machine:

• I've printed well over 1000 parts of all sizes. You've seen some of them in the "What are YOU making?" topic. I've printed some amazingly tall and fat vases (one of my personal favorite items) that took over 12 hours to print down to a little gizmo that is less than 1cm^3 with lots of intricate features. Many of these 1000 parts have been the tenkara line holders that I now manufacture and sell.
• I've printed LOTS of PLA, LOTS of ABS and a fair amount of Taulman Nylon (3 types), polycarbonate, NinjaFlex, Laywood, several soluble support filaments, and a few others I've forgotten about. I estimate that I've consumed about 18 1Kg spools of ABS and PLA.
• I've been running my machine around 8 hrs a day most days for the last 3 months producing commercial parts. That's over 700 hours just for this period. Prior to that I had about 500 hours on the machine. I've not really had to do any maintenance to the mechanics of the machine. I do keep the Cheapskate bearing covers clean (isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip does a great job).
• There were some early reports last year on pre-mature belt wear, broken belt teeth, etc. During this time I've not had a single issue with belt wear. Until Tuesday, I had not touched my belts at all in over a year. Earlier this week I started to notice a little "part offset" at high print speeds that turned out to be a loose belt on my Y tower. A quick adjustment fixed that (the tensioning adjustment screw at the top of the tower was very loose. I do not have any special tension adjustment mods, just the original SeeMeCNC setup. Given that I've only had to adjust 1 belt re-tension in over a year, it doesn't seem like a mod is necessary. My MAX has the original small 15 tooth pulleys that were suspects for poor belt wear.
• I've done a lot of experimenting with hot ends. I've installed and used several J-Heads, a E3D v5 hot end, a self-designed all stainless hot end and now, the 4 nozzle Kraken. the E3D and Kraken are my favorite by far (they share a common design) with the Kraken's water cooling edging out the E3D air cooling by a bit. I'm a big proponent of water cooling now. I've had no trouble printing PLA, ABS, Nylon or polycarbonate with these two extruders. The J-Head is also a very nice extruder. And the updated SeeMeCNC extruder with the new(isn) nozzle design is quite competent too. I've also tried a few other "exotics" like a direct drive Q3BD hot end/

So there you have it, a year in review for my Rostock MAX. I can only imagine what the next year will be like!

cheers,
Michael

[Eaglezsoar]

I just read all that and now I think I need to take a nap. Reading about all that work made me tired.
Thanks for writing it though, it is a good testimonial to the reliability and durability of the Rostock Max.
You'll probably get over 1000 hours in the next year.

[Prozac]

Thanks for that , really good info for us new owners to know how well it holds up over time. I was thinking the belts would stretch and would eventually need trimmed or replaced.

[geneb]

The GT2 belts actually have fiber strings embedded in them so they won't really stretch. Kind of like how a "V" belt for a car is made.

g.

[Tinyhead]

Awesome to know how well these things hold up. Thanks for the write up!

[mhackney]

This is a cautionary tale! Currently, different versions of Repetier firmware has different pin configurations for the second and third hot ends and thermistors. If you forget to edit Pins.h to fix this and IF you have 24v on your heated bed, you WILL blow your heat cartridge on hot end 1. How do I know, I did it twice unknowingly and the "second time was the charm" in terms of investigating the cause! This is how Repetier .91 is configured (on GitHub) and is BAD, BAD, BAD! Do you see why? HEATER_PIN_1 is the same as HEATER_BED_PIN (pin 3). That means the hot end will get the 24V to it unintentionally.

#define HEATER_BED_PIN 3
#define TEMP_BED_PIN 2

#define HEATER_0_PIN 9
#define TEMP_0_PIN 0

#define HEATER_1_PIN 3
#define TEMP_1_PIN 2

#define HEATER_2_PIN -1
#define TEMP_2_PIN -1

This is correct:

#define HEATER_BED_PIN 3
#define TEMP_BED_PIN 2

#define HEATER_0_PIN 9
#define TEMP_0_PIN 0

#define HEATER_1_PIN 7
#define TEMP_1_PIN 1

#define HEATER_2_PIN -1
#define TEMP_2_PIN -1

[enggmaug]

MHackney, I don't understand how it could blow your heat cartridge. It will not send 24V to it.

The pinning is just to inform the software which pin to trigger to heat up, and which one to read the temp on. if both are on the bed pins, in my oppinion, it should just heat up the bed when you ask it to, and heat up the bed when you ask the hot end1 to.
The thing is you will ask a higher temp for the hot end than the bed. So it could damage the bed, or anything related to the bed control.

Can you tell me more about your wiring, because I really don't understand what happened to you.

However, I fully agree. it is BAD (BAD BAD).

[mhackney]

Good point. However this is two times that these pins were set incorrectly and the cartridge blew.

Pretty standard wiring that I posted here last week. I have hot end and thermister 0 hooked up exactly like they have been for over a year. I've hooked up my second hot end to hot end and thermister 1 terminals on RAMBo and heated bed is on the heated terminals. Nothing fancy. I am constantly changing firmware working on a couple of different things. When I grabbed the latest repetier yesterday I forgot to configure pins.h and when I ran, I got no heating of the 2nd hot end. So I started debugging. When I hook up hot end 1 to the hot end 0 port and vice versa verifies that the cartridge originally in hot end 1 is inoperative. That also validates that all the wiring, etc is fine (which has been working for over a week now). Then I checked the pins.h configuration and found the incorrect setup there, so I updated pins.h. I have not re-installed a new cartridge to validate that it will work but having done almost exactly this same sequence earlier, I am pretty sure it will. There is also the possibility that I have 2 bad cartridges - although they came from 2 completely different sources and one was a year old or more.

But now that I think about your comment, I agree that the pins configuration should/could not have affected this hot end!

[enggmaug]

If in the end, you get to understand what happened to your cartridge, then please, let me know...

[dpmacri]

I thought the SeeMeCnc version of Repetier 0.91 had (has) a modification that assumes the PEEK fan is attached to HEAT 1. So I thought it turned HEAT 1 on to 100% as soon as it starts heating up Extruder 0. Could it be that just applying 100% power to the cartridge has burned it up?

[mhackney]

Not sure and I am not using the default configuration since I am experimenting with multiple extrusion. However, oddly, this morning I was checking some things and determined that this cartridge is fine and is working properly installed on the Max now. But, I have been using the .91.7 version of Repetier, enabling the precision delta calculations, loading Marlin, etc. I have noticed some very odd things with the .91.7 causing unexplained translations in X-Y and seeming "frozen" only to have an Emergency Stop clear everything up. It's possible it was operator error or some communication anomaly that I've been experiencing with .91.7.

[Renha]

mhackney, what firmware would you recommend to use with azteeg X3 pro and kraken? Could you put somewhere your tweaked firmware files with some comments please?

[mhackney]

Renha, I'm, using the latest Repetier. I'd be happy to post the info but I am at the airport traveling to Warsaw, Poland for the week! It will have to wait until I return.

[Renha]

Ok, thanks! I hope your voyage is (or was) good!

[Renha]

How are you? Is all ok?