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I have installed the FSRs on my Rostock Max and now looking for the Repeater firmware that supports delta calibration. Thought I'd do this in 2 steps - FSRs first, then swap to Smoothie.

Is the only way to get .92 through the auto configuration crap? What a PIA. I hate that and it constantly seems to change.

I just finished installing the TrickLaser carbon fiber-ball rod end arms on my Rostock V1. I had installed the magnetic ball end arms but over the past 6 months or so they have been failing intermittently at high speed slinging my Kraken 4 nozzle hot end around! The water cooling and wiring for 4 hot ends is not a lot of mass actually but the Bowdens and wiring are "stiff". I had a couple of actual pop offs on some high speed prints and once I had that happen I noticed some artifacts on part printed at high speed.

I've used CF rods and ballends on the Mini Kossels I've built and helped others build and I've been very impressed with the print quality. So, I picked up the TrickLaser set. Being a lazy bum, I decided to try to do the install in situ - who wants to disconnect an effector with all that hardware on it! The V1 platform came in 2 parts, a top and bottom, so I thought I could loosen all the screws and pry the parts apart enough to slide the new axels in. In worked great! Took about an hour and 15 minutes to replace all 3. Although my stock arms were 269mm and my Rostock was well calibrated, when I checked my Z height after installing, I was about .25mm too high. I set my Z=0 and now I'm printing a calibration cube to measure it and see what calibration I need to do.

I also got the Trick Trucks but I wanted to do the install in steps. That way I have a working printer to print my parts without a lot of down time! That and the wheels and other hardware for the trucks hasn't arrived from OpenBuilds yet. Once the stuff is in, I'll bite the bullet and install those. I'm really looking forward to them as I've beat the crap out of my CheapSkates (1000s of hours of printing) and they are starting to show the wear.

cheers,
Michael

int2str wrote:

Eaglezsoar wrote:If you had the time perhaps you could write a blurb on how a new user could upgrade to .91
Don't hit me with a thrown object it was just a suggestion. No one has done this yet.

Have you seen this video? -->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4yMV18oMbw

The video is 8 months old and covers the basics, it's not going to cover the nuances of .91
There are snippets of information all over the forum but no one has created a compilation of all the steps necessary.
Most of it is straight forward but things like the code you had them imbed and other gotchas exist that the usual user
doesn't know about. Because they don't know enough to download a copy of firmware from SeeMeCNC and look at
the configuration.h they have no idea what to plug in for the thermistors, steps per mm, etc. The video helps but is
not enough to upgrade to .91 I have to look at it from the newbies viewpoint because they are the ones I deal with
on a daily basis.

Here is how I mounted the EZStruder to my Rostock. My kit came with the melamine mounts:

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v89 ... 8742-3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v94 ... 8914-3.jpg[/img]

It's a direct replacement for the Steve's extruder.

I recalibrated by extruding 100mm (for better accuracy) and got 92.65 steps per mm. I think Fosion measure 92.68 steps per mm. .03mm is a VERY SMALL difference.

So far, I am really liking this extruder. It grips PLA well (have not tried with ABS yet but it should be fine). And it is very easy to start new filament. It is much quieter too. It seems to grip the filament much more securely as tested by pinching the filament and trying to stop it from moving.

I'll report back after I have more printing experience but so far, it's a winner!

cheers,
Michael

Not sure what you are asking about John? The filament simply feeds up into the bottom of the extruder like with the old style. Nothing more needed. The PTC fitting for the Bowden simply screws into the filament exit "port".

The steps per mm is different for this extruder. I have not calibrated mine but that's easy to do. This time of year is crazy busy with family stuff - graduations, recitals, soccer games, you name it! Makes it hard to get "me time" in!

cheers,
Michael

I am doing some more testing and even manual jogging has a very discrete stutter when I slow the jog rate down. I wrote a quick gcode exercise program so I can test. I have 16 microsteps configured on the RAMPS (3 jumpers per driver) and in firmware and the movement is correct - tell it to move 10mm and it does, just with obvious discrete quick steps.

Well, it was easy enough to get the RAMPS board set up and firmware configured. Jogging manually is smooth and indistinguishable from RAMBo control. After verifying steps-per, temp calibration (new thermistor), and extruder movement, I attempted to do some simple .5mm calibration cube prints. That's when it all came apart!

There is a very noticeable stutter or jerkiness to all 4 steppers. The machine just does not sound good at all and the delta head actually vibrates. This seems like a typical over-amping the stepper problem but that is not the case. I've run RAMPS on 2 other machines and know how to set the current limit pots - which I did to as close to the firmware setting from RAMBo as I could (.9A). The motors do not get hot when just sitting while energized. And, a G0 Z0 F2500 and subsequent homing are as smooth as silk - as are jogs on the X and Y.

The one theory I have is that maybe I am not getting enough Amps to the RAMPS from my 12V supply. The RAMPs has 2 power connectors - one for the heaters and the other for motors, etc. I only have 1 set of leads from the supply to each. The hot end and heated bed heat up fast with no noticeable differences from when I had the RAMBo.

I have checked my EEPROM settings against a known good set from RAMBo (I did a screen capture of the EEPROM window) and checked and rechecked the Repetier firmware Configuration.h. It will likely turn out to be something simple. But, I can't afford not to have this printer running so I did order a replacement RAMBo "just in case".

Well, I have the RAMPS 1.4 connected and started with a fresh Repetier host download from Git, I configured it from scratch for the MAX. I started with end stops and got those working, now I have motor control and the steppers sound smooth. The RAMPS supports 16 micro steps and came preconfigured that way. Now I just need to hook up the hot end and heated bed.

One thing about RAMPS - the connectors do not lock. I'm using the RAMBo connectors and they fit the RAMPS locations. But they pull out very easily. I need to decide if this is going to be my permanent solution or if I'll replace the RAMBo if I can't repair it. I'm also not happy with the connectors I assembled for the Rambo, there seems to be some fraying where the wire attaches to the crimp connector - probably from opening and closing the door the RAMBo was attached to too many times! You can see that here (attached to RAMPS):

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v87 ... 5524-4.jpg[/img]

Whatever I do, I will mount the board to a stationary location but make sure it can easily be removed for access.

I did get a nice wiring harness kit with the RAMPS that has the connectors professionally attached. I just don't relish re-wiring everything! The RAMPS does support dual extruders and RichRap has a cool mod to support 3 extruders. I also got these pre-assembled for $100 (bought 2) so they are pretty cost effective.

Funny you should ask - I am just doing a series of test to improve print quality. I have changed my firmware to EXT0_MAX_FEEDRATE 100

I had things tuned pretty nicely with no retract and now I am trying to clean up the globbing a bit using retract. I have been debugging a problem with "filament starving" and had not correlated that to retract until this morning. Now I know that retract acceleration is causing a problem with missed steps. The default in Polygonhell's branch is: EXT0_MAX_ACCELERATION 4500

I do have a mark on the small gear on my extruder. This is how my H1-1 and H-1.1 are setup. However, with the greater retract length needed for the bowden setup, that small gear really whizzes and it is difficult to tell where it ends up! So I put another mark on the large slower moving gear at the far left as you look at it. It moves slow enough that it was easy to see that retraction was not returning to where it should. So I've been decreasing the acceleration.

I have a test piece at the 4500mm/s default. Printing one now at 2250mm/s that seems to not be skipping steps or at least not as badly (the test print has a series of very rapid small segments that really put the extruder through its paces!) I will also print one at 1125mms and post results in a bit.

I posted this in another topic but wanted to capture here in my topic too.

Z, Max_LENGTH and Bed Level Calibration

I'm using Repetier firmware and host (on a Mac). I'm assuming you have a heated bed - ignore the pre-heating step if not!

1) Install your build surface (glass plate and/or blue tape, etc) and make sure the heated bed is up to temperature. I print ABS at 100°C bed, so that's the temp I used. The Onyx warps as it heats up so unless you have a flat surface on top of it, you will not have a planar surface to calibrate against. If you are printing on tape directly on the Onyx, do the following steps cold and deal with the warping issue depending on the location of your print, etc.

2) Calibrate Z at 0,0,0 in firmware. These are listed as the following in the firmware:

#define X_MAX_LENGTH 369.0
#define Y_MAX_LENGTH 369.0
#define Z_MAX_LENGTH 369.0

Here's how I did it: I set these to 375 so they are longer than my actual travel. Then I homed and brought the nozzle down to Z=20mm (G0 Z20 F2000). From there I used the buttons in Repetier host to slowly lower the nozzle (decrease Z) to the build surface. Start with the 10mm and then 1mm and finally .1mm for fine adjustment. I used a piece of cigarette paper (an old machinist's trick, it's about .001" thick) between the bed and nozzle (make sure your nozzle is clean!) to test the "fit" you can use a .001" (or metric equivalent) feeler gauge too. You want to bring the nozzle down until it just "snags" the paper or gauge. At this point, read the Z height on the Z axis display in Repetier Host. Subtract this number from 375mm to get your actual max lengths. For me this measurement was exactly 6.0mm, so 375.0mm - 6.0mm = 369.0mm. If you are using EEPROM settings, you can simply change this in the EEPROM without needing to recompile and upload your firmware. That makes it a lot faster to do and test. Check this at least 3 times to make sure it is reproducible using this process:

Home All - move to G0 Z10 - use buttons to lower 1mm nine times - place gauge - lower by .1mm 10 times - nozzle should just graze gauge

3) With your Z = 0 set you can adjust the planarity of the bed by adjusting the stops at the homing switches at the top of the towers. This is done one tower at a time with the nozzle positioned as close to the tower as reasonable. The process is described in the manual but use the "true" circumference points. These are:

X: G0 X-77.94 Y-45 F2000
Y: G0 X77.94 Y-45 F2000
Z: G0 X0 Y90 F2000

(note F2000 is feed rate to speed things up) These locations came from http://minow.blogspot.com (a MUST read for calibrating!)

At each one of these locations, you move down (using the Z buttons) until you get to Z=0. If you are lucky, the gauge will just graze the nozzle and you are done at that tower. If not, the nozzle will either be above the bed (case A) or the display will show that Z has not been reached (case B).

Case A Measure the gap and set the stop screw at the top of the tower (see a few lines below).

Case B Write down the extra distance the Z could go and set the stop screw as below.

Setting the stop screw: These screws are 6-32. That means they will advance .03125" per revolution. Converted to metric that is 0.79mm per revolution.

Case A - let's say that you measured a gap of .4mm. This means that the firmware thinks the tower length is .4mm shorter than it actually is! So, you need to "raise" the stop screw (lefty-loosey or counter clockwise looking from the top) .4mm - which is about 1/2 of a turn.

Case B - let's say that Repetier host shows (Z axis display) that you still have .2mm to go before reaching Z=0. This means the firmware thinks the tower length is .2mm longer than it actually is, so you need to "lower" the stop screw .2mm or about 1/8 of a turn, in this case righty-thighty or screw clockwise from the top.

That's it! Now you should go back and recheck everything 1 or 2 times to be sure.

Note that there is an advanced planarity adjustment described in the link above. I have not done this yet since my glass plate broke and I'm waiting for the replacement. If your machine is really "off" the re-check step above will show that Z=0 at X=Y=0 will not be correct. I'd adjust one more time through the entire process and if you still have this problem, then do the planarity adjustment. Hopefully I'll be there by Tuesday or Wednesday when my plate arrives!

There is an "auto calibrate" mode/command in the LCD controller firmware in Repetier. I have not had a chance to investigate it. In theory, all of the above could be accomplished in soft settings with the right math. It probably does not hurt to try to calibrate mechanically first though!

DISCLAIMER: there is some probability that there are mistakes or better ways to do the above. This is my first delta printer and I'm only a few weeks in and don't have a lot of experience yet!

NOTE/WARNING - since posting this on the original topic I tried playing around with the auto calibrate in the firmware exposed in the LCD Controller. Not intuitive and I hosed my configuration! I ultimately had to reupload the firmware with EEPROM disabled to get back to a good state. All sorts of weird things were happening!

The Repetier firmware has an auto tuning command for determining the values (Kp, Ki and Kd) for the PID algorithm. The PID algorithm (proportional integral derivative) is a control mechanism with a feedback look that can manage the heating elements very effectively.

In Repetier, the M303 command starts the auto tune. Here is the command syntax:

- M303 P<extruder/bed> S<drucktermeratur> Autodetect pid values. Use P<NUM_EXTRUDER> for heated bed.

If P is left off, P=0 is assumed - which is normally the hot end. S is the target temperature and should be the temp you would normally want to maintain. So for ABS, 200°C on the hot end is a good target. For the heated bed, 100°C is good. Make sure the device is at room temperature before running the auto tuner.

I ran: M303 S200

After running the auto tune on my hot end, the last set of K values were used to replace the defaults in configuration.h:

/** P-gain. Overridden if EEPROM activated. */
//#define EXT0_PID_P 24
#define EXT0_PID_P 14.91
/** I-gain. Overridden if EEPROM activated.*/
//#define EXT0_PID_I 0.88
#define EXT0_PID_I 0.59
/** Dgain. Overridden if EEPROM activated.*/
//#define EXT0_PID_D 80
#define EXT0_PID_D 93.85

(when I change values in configuration.h I like to comment out the original default and create a new line for my value. That way I can always go back to a known state).

To calibrate the PID for the heated bed, I ran: M303 P1 S100

I also realized that my extruder steps per mm were off by a factor of about 2 (againd due to 16 microsteps for the version 1.1 RAMBo.) So I changed it in the configuration.h:

//#define EXT0_STEPS_PER_MM 292
#define EXT0_STEPS_PER_MM 584

for rev 1 it is 8 for rev 1.1 like mine, it is 16 micro steps as I showed in the previous post.

mhackney wrote:Turns out that the 1.1 Rev of the RAMBo is 16 micro steps. I don't know how long this version has been out but it is what came with my kit. Simply changing:

#define MICRO_STEPS 16

in configuration.h solved the problem and I am now working on calibration.

What value should be in there?
I assume it should be 8 but I need to be sure.

Turns out that the 1.1 Rev of the RAMBo is 16 micro steps. I don't know how long this version has been out but it is what came with my kit. Simply changing:

#define MICRO_STEPS 16

in configuration.h solved the problem and I am now working on calibration.

At this point, I followed Gene's instructions for adjusting the Rostock Max.

First, make sure that the aluminum extrusions are aligned with the laser engraved marks on the base end. Tighten the 1/4-20 Socket Head Cap Screws.

TIP: I'm a big fan of ball-end hex wrenches! They really make this go much easier.

Pick one of the Idler Brackets to adjust first and loosen its cap screws slightly - you need to be able to slide the bracket and extrusion around. Align the top of the extrusion with the laser engraved line. Push the extrusion tight against the flats they rest agains in Top Support Plate and tighten the screws. Make sure both sides of the extrusion are aligned to the laser marks.

NOTE: Gene shows a photo and describes that the extrusion must be flat against the flat area. Try as I might, I was unable to do this. I even disassembled the top and one of the extrusions from the skeleton and tried to align just this single one up. The way my parts are cut, there is a .25mm ish gap on all three extrusions. I figure as long as the lengths are all the same (see the next steps) and slight flair outwards of the extrusions over this distance (about 28") is a very slight error. I may be wrong though!

Now measure the distance between the Table and Top Support Plate. If you use a measuring tape, it is convenient to hook it on the bottom side of the Table and measure to the top of the Top Support Plate. My distance was 28 1/8" - write this down as you'll need it to adjust the other 2 extrusions.

Adjust the remaining two extrusions to match the distance you measured above. It is a good idea to measure on both sides of the extrusion - one of mine was about 1/16" off because these Idler Mounts have a bit of slop in them.

Make sure all the cap screws holding all three extrusions are tight and you are done.