12V fan, Z-axis not moving, feeder not working

[TomDeprins 1]

Hi guy's (and girls),

I'm building my own 3D printer with the ultimaker v1.5.7 board. (My design is similar to the ultimaker 2 btw).

But i have a few problems:

1) My 3D printer is connected to a 19V adapter from an old laptop. But the fan output has now also 19V and i need 12V max. I know this is already asked many times but what is the BEST solution? Is there many difference between connecting the board to 12V?

2) My feeder motor (nema 17) won't do anything. I also don't know how to connect it because it has different wire colors than my other nema 17's. (Black, blue, green and red) I tried to connect my other motor to the feeder port but it won't work. So i think the problem is on the board or in the firmware. What are your thoughts?

3) Every time i run a first testprint the X and the Y-axes move like they're printing but the Z-axis stays low. And the hot end is not warming up automaticaly.

Your help will be very helpfull! And i can't wait to hear from you guy's.

I thank you all in advance for your help.

[gr5 2,172]

Doesn't the 1.5.7 board also have a 12V line?  I'm pretty sure it does.  I think the "bottom" fan on the UMO is 12V.

The colors don't matter.  The cables should have 4 wires twisted into to bundles of 2 wires.  Each bundle corresponds to a coil inside the stepper.  Wire it up the same way as one of the other motors pairs of twisted wires are. It doesn't matter which pair is which but it matters that you hook up a pair the same way as the other steppers.

Is the hot end temperature sensor reporting the correct room temperature (about 20C)?  That's the hard part.  Getting the heater to work is easy once you get the temperature working.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Guest

[TomDeprins 1]

Doesn't the 1.5.7 board also have a 12V line? I'm pretty sure it does. I think the "bottom" fan on the UMO is 12V.

No, it's all 19V. (The fan output, the pwm output and the led's output: all 19V)

My wires weren't twisted when i received my stepper motor. But it doesn't work either if i connect an other motor (which has a connector so it can't be connected wrong) to the extruder port so i think the fault is in the board or the fimware.

And the temperature of my hot end is okay. The thing is it doesn't heat automaticaly when i start a print. But if i select preheat it does work.

BTW: my firmware is the ultimaker Marlin firmware

[gr5 2,172]

The extruder won't go unless you have the nozzle over 170C. You can override this with a gcode.

Regarding 12V, you are right - I looked at the schematic. There is a 12V but it only goes to the arduino to be immediately converted to 5v. I don't know if IC1 can supply the current you need for 2 fans but if it can you can use the output of the fan PWM signal "low" side and connect the high side of the fan to 12V. But I suspect IC1 can't supply that much current.

Do you have pronterface/printrun? It's very useful for debugging - you can download it here:

http://koti.kapsi.fi/~kliment/printrun/

[TomDeprins 1]

Pronterface and repetier host won't recognize my 3D printer.

Also what pins do you mean for the 12V. Is there a way to change the max speed of the fan

in the firmware so the output of the pwm never goes higher than 12V and marks it with 100%?

 

The extruder won't go unless you have the nozzle over 170C. You can override this with a gcode

What do you have to change in the G-code?

My nozzle (X and Y axes) move when the nozzle is still cold. But it's the Z-axis that won't move when i run a print.

And how do i calibrate my 3D printer with Marlin? (The Z-axis)

Edited July 12, 2015 by Guest
I forgot something.

[gr5 2,172]

Pronterface and repetier host won't recognize my 3D printer.

 

You should fix that first. It's not so hard. There is a USB driver you need. It was supposed to install the driver when you installed Cura but maybe you skipped that on purpose? The driver also comes with the Arduino IDE software - you might want to install Arduino IDE just to get the latest USB driver for Arduino devices. If you have a Windows machine you should hear a sound when you plug in the USB cable (bah-bump!). Two notes. And when you unplug it the tones go backwards (higher pitch then lower pitch). If you don't hear that something is wrong with usb cable or your arduino or your computer. Get that all working first. Also the port should show up in device manager (if you have wnidows) when the driver is working as COM5 or similar.

 

Also what pins do you mean for the 12V. Is there a way to change the max speed of the fan

in the firmware so the output of the pwm never goes higher than 12V and marks it with 100%?

 

Not really no. The fan power is turned on full 19V then 0V back and forth about 10 times per second. Some 12V fans can handle that but many will burn up in seconds.

 

What do you have to change in the G-code?

My nozzle (X and Y axes) move when the nozzle is still cold. But it's the Z-axis that won't move when i run a print.

And how do i calibrate my 3D printer with Marlin? (The Z-axis)

 

That thing about cold extrudes have nothing to do with x,y.z axis. It only affects the E axis (extruder). So ignore what I said about heating up the nozzle or sending an override gcode.

Did you try homing the Z axis? It might not let you move it until after you home it.