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Quick Question

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:33 pm
by ellenentwistle
Hi,

I just got my new MakerGear M2 Kit. This is my second M2, however, the first one I bought was assembled. The assembly went well. All of the hard parts were already assembled by MG. (thank you). When I powered it up, I leveled the bed and set the z stop screw. But when I "home all", it ratchets the motors like it doesn't know where home is. Or it thinks that home is somewhere off the build platform. I have reset the zero values for each axis manually, but that didn't work. Any ideas what is wrong? Did I maybe hook up a wire backward or something?

Thanks in advance for any help!

-ellen

Re: Quick Question

Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:16 am
by benavery
I would suggest powering it off, and manually centering every axis (just approximately), then retry the zero'ing, and watch which way everything moves. They should all be moving toward the end-stops. If they are moving the wrong direction, then clicking when they reach the wrong end, it would indicate the motor connections are backwards. If it clicking at the end-stop end, then the endstops aren't working. The wiki has some setup instructions that tell you how to test the end-stops (basically you hit but button to zero the axis, then instantly manually press the endstop. If it keeps going, then endstop isn't working)

Re: Quick Question

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:41 am
by Tim
It's very easy to get the wiring backwards. Some of the plugs and sockets on the RAMBo are specifically designed so that they can be easily reversed, but that's a hinderance when you're trying to build an M2 from a kit. Also the RAMBo has places to plug in both minimum and maximum stops, but the M2 uses only the minimum stops, depending on the software to know not to go past the maximum extents (which is maybe a bit over-optimistic about the software, but it shaves a few bucks off the cost). Have you resolved this issue yet? If not, post an up-close photograph of the RAMBo.

Re: Quick Question

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:45 am
by ellenentwistle
Yes. I had the connectors plugged into the MAX side instead of the MIN. Ooops. It was easily fixed and didn't seem to cause any harm.

Now, where can I find some info on improving print quality when using a 0.5mm nozzle? I have been using a .fff file for ABS that I downloaded from this forum earlier this year that works perfectly with a 0.35mm nozzle but not so well with the bigger nozzle. I am realizing the folly of just using someone else's .fff file now. I don't actually understand how Simplify3D works. I'm like a monkey pushing buttons. LOL It's kind of like following a GPS to get somewhere versus knowing where you are going...

Re: Quick Question

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 2:05 am
by Tim
I've never used a 0.5mm nozzle. I did use a 0.4mm nozzle on an E3Dv6 I had connected to my M2 for a while, but if I missed any critical settings, they probably would not show up much in the difference between a 0.35 and a 0.4.

Make sure you do "Edit Process Settings" in Simplify3D; under the "Extruder" tab, be sure to select "Nozzle Diameter" = 0.5mm. If you did that and it isn't working for you, you will probably need to change "Extrusion Width" from "Auto" to "Manual". Although, if your .fff file had it set to "Manual" for a 0.35mm nozzle, then it would also be wrong for the 0.5mm nozzle. The value (if set to Manual) should be slightly higher than the nozzle size, so maybe 0.57 to 0.60. For starters, just set it to "Auto" and let Simplify3D work it out.

Re: Quick Question

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 2:45 am
by jsc
You can take a look at my Simplify3D settings walkthrough if you don't understand what every little thing does: http://jinschoi.github.io/simplify3d-docs/

The screenshots are from an earlier version, but nearly everything is still practically the same.