M2 Auto-Leveling Kit (Beta)

[PcS]

No need just mind the polarity on the plug. Mine had a red line painted on positive pin. Line that up with positive on z min end stop and plug in. Good to go from there as far as electrical. The stock m2 firmware. At least for mine did not support auto leveling. I can upload mine when I get home tonight if you want it but it might be late before I get the chance.

[Josh]

The firmware from the original auto-leveling mod (with the mechanical microswitch probe) works for the inductive probe as well - https://github.com/MakerGear/M2/tree/ma ... auto-level . The extruder motor mount is also the same; I just uploaded the inductive probe bracket.

As for electrical modifications - in my testing, the resistor divider to power the inductive probe was not necessary: while at 5V the fall time of the signal is slower than at higher voltages (worst case at 5V was 9200 nanoseconds, while at 24V worst was 148 nanoseconds; averages were 6480 and 94.2 respectively), at standard Z homing speeds it's still fast enough that the travel of the machine during the signal fall time is significantly smaller than the firmware or hardware can resolve (worst measurement at 20mm/s: 5V is 0.00018400mm, while 24V is 0.00000296mm) . All of these numbers come from a single test set with an aluminum surface triggering the sensor by hand (20 tests at seven different voltages between 5V and 24V), but my testing with the inductive probe compensating for bed tilt confirms that it works, as well - with the bed completely un-level a full bed test print was within ±0.02mm thickness all around.

For wiring the plug - 1x3 "flat" connector needs to be plugged into the Z-MIN header on RAMBo, with the orange/red marked pin (brown wire) connected to the + pin.

I think that's all of the unanswered questions I saw - if I've missed anything, or there's anything else you'd like to know, let me know.

[PcS]

Thanks josh. I will have a look at that firmware and just borrow what I need to iron out a few small issues. Then on to printing the parts in whit petg !

[Tim]

I missed the first offering of five kits, but I figure it's just a stock proximity sensor (although depending on where you get them from, they come from China/Hong Kong and can have as much as a month's lead time). . . the whole system (apart from the firmware) is the sensor and two resistors. From the picture, it looks like MakerGear is offering the LJ12A-3-4-Z/BY, which triggers at 4mm, and runs at 6-36V (Josh noted that it appears to run at 5V, only slightly out of spec).

I found one part on Amazon that is an NPN type and a 2mm trigger point. Not sure if the 2mm will be too close, especially as I will attempt to use this with a Zebra plate, which has a copper layer buried about 1mm down (or maybe I'll just get the same model as MakerGear and others are using, from eBay, where a few offerings claim a lead time of only a week or so in spite of shipping from overseas).

Regardless, my more immediate problem will be figuring out how to mount it with the dual extruder setup. Now that I've read up on the hardware and firmware, I see why it's a problem. There's no room. I guess it could be mounted off to the right side of the right extruder, but then it would miss the leftmost quarter or so of the bed. Challenging. . .

[PcS]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Rin2 ... sp=sharing Marlin 1.0.2 Z probe fixed firmware. Let me know if you encounter any problems. Working flawlessly on my end so far.

[PcS]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Rin2 ... cslist_api
video showing slight bed movement. I cannot bring myself to purposely unlevel it ! Lol

[Bratag]

PCS which version of the firmware are you using. Your config looks a great deal different than mine. I am using the 24vr2 version.

Ahh ok you are running the marlin development version. I guess the question is - what versions of the M2 is that compatible with?

Can I just use the regular marlin from the M2 website even though it seems to be lacking the section on the Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING?

[Bratag]

Lost my extruder fan when I uploaded the firmware - ideas?

[Tim]

Your extruder fan (and electronics enclosure fan) is supposed to be "always on". Long ago it was hardwired to the power supply. I think more recent versions are connected to a switched supply, and that may be turned on when the firmware powers up. If you can figure out where on the Rambo those fans are connected, I can tell you what needs to be changed in the firmware. The firmware has some automatic fan controls in Configuration_adv.h:

Code: Select all

 #define CONTROLLERFAN_PIN -1 //Pin used for the fan to cool controller (-1 to disable)

and

Code: Select all

#define EXTRUDER_0_AUTO_FAN_PIN   -1
#define EXTRUDER_1_AUTO_FAN_PIN   -1

However, as you can see from my version, these have been disabled in the past, and possibly they're still disabled and your problem is something completely different (like a loose wire). So keep that in mind. . .

[Bratag]

Your extruder fan (and electronics enclosure fan) is supposed to be "always on". Long ago it was hardwired to the power supply. I think more recent versions are connected to a switched supply, and that may be turned on when the firmware powers up. If you can figure out where on the Rambo those fans are connected, I can tell you what needs to be changed in the firmware. The firmware has some automatic fan controls in Configuration_adv.h:

Code: Select all

 #define CONTROLLERFAN_PIN -1 //Pin used for the fan to cool controller (-1 to disable)

and

Code: Select all

#define EXTRUDER_0_AUTO_FAN_PIN   -1
#define EXTRUDER_1_AUTO_FAN_PIN   -1

However, as you can see from my version, these have been disabled in the past, and possibly they're still disabled and your problem is something completely different (like a loose wire). So keep that in mind. . .

Thanks for the reply Tim. I had actually been looking at those values. Whats interesting is that they don't exist at all in the 24v r2 firmware. I have tried playing around with them, up to and including commenting them out entirely. There appears to be something more at play. If I load back the old firmware (the 24vr2) everything works.