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Community Favorite Taking the R1+ ramps and rewiring to make generic Ramps Work

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Geof, Apr 22, 2016.

  1. Terry Reilley

    Terry Reilley Member

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    So let’s say you get a 1.6 version board. Note that there is no longer a 4-wire connector for the power supply. So how is this connected on the new board, I.e;

    1. Do you connect the two positive wires together (and the two negatives) and secure them into new connector, or;
    2. Only run one pair from the PS to the RAMPS? If so, which?
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    You should be able to tie them together. The reason for the other setup was more wire could carry more current as the ribbon cable isn't very large gauge wire.
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yea, the standard 1.4 RAMPS is split with an 11 amp circuit and a 5 amp circuit. The 1.6 version is combined (but still less).
    I am not really a fan of the 1.6 boards, most are (as difficult as it may be to comprehend) even worse quality than the $10 RAMPS 1.4 boards :) Still -- if you have it, try it.
     
  4. Terry Reilley

    Terry Reilley Member

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    So I completed my installation of the RAMPS 1.6 and much to my dismay, the printer won't power on. When I plug the USB cable into the Mega, a blue LED momentary appears on the RAMPS, but the PS fan isn't running. I wonder if joining the 11a and 5a (red to red, black to black, of course) caused a problem. I lost my patience and just went upstairs, thinking it's time to buy another printer, sigh...

    When I get home from work today, I'm going to check the AC socket fuse and then my power connections to the RAMPS board. The connectors kinda suck. I hate to give up on this printer, especially because my wife gave it to me as a gift three-ish years ago. That and I've modified the hot end/extruder and the thing was dialed in just right. It worked great until the RAMPS died.
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The power supply is probably two rails (not one) so that may be the issue or ... it could be a bad RAMPS*. I really am not a fan of any of the RAMPS 1.6 boards I played with and I don't use them in any printers.



    *and that is not limited to the 1.6 boards, they are all so cheap that nobody apparently does any QA on them. I have gone through as many as 3 bad (but new) boards at a time to get one that worked. See if the Arduino board is overheating with the RAMPS connected (and powered on). That is a sure sign that the RAMPS is bad.
     
  6. TheOneWhoWhelms

    TheOneWhoWhelms New Member

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    Hey guys, thank you everyone who has contributed to this! This helped me a ton, just replaced the board with a generic RAMPS 1.4 board this morning since my bed wasn't heating up anymore, and it works!

    I do have a strange issue now though, well, not so much an "issue", but my X-axis and extruder steppers seem to be making a lot more noise now than they were before. My prints are coming out beautifully so it's not necessarily a problem, just an annoyance. Any thoughts?
     
  7. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Maybe post a video showing what you mean ? It’s possible your new drivers (assuming installed new) are giving more current (no big deal if your not skipping steps). Could also be your large gear has come loose a little and could be snugged up some ? If all is working I’d just rock it :)
     
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  8. TheOneWhoWhelms

    TheOneWhoWhelms New Member

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    Ahh good call sir, I meant to move the drivers over to the new RAMPS board but totally forgot as the replacement board already had them installed. I'll have to swap those over and try again. Thank you for the quick response!
     
  9. TheOneWhoWhelms

    TheOneWhoWhelms New Member

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    Hey this ended up being my issue. Thanks again for your help through this process, it's working perfectly now!
     
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  10. Jholman05

    Jholman05 New Member

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    I have two robo R1+ my first one I've had for a couple years and after a year of use the heated bed stopped working so I replaced the ramps board and all is well. I picked up a second r1+ that was used and the heat bed wasn't heating, I replaced the ramps board. Everything seems to function properly, except it extrudes about twice the speed that it should now. Having a hard time figuring out what I messed up with the install.

    Any thoughts?
     
  11. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Double check you have the jumpers installed for the stepper drivers
     
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  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Bingo -- the extruder output stepper driver is probably missing some or all of the jumpers underneath it.
     
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  13. Jholman05

    Jholman05 New Member

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    That was it! I read the instructions wrong when it said to jumper 3 of 3. When i needed to jumper the 4th of 3 for the extruder driver. I did a quick 15 minute print and it came out pretty close. I'll need to make some tweaks to the settings and should be good.

    Thanks for the help!
     
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  14. Mauricio Bremer

    Mauricio Bremer New Member

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    Hello everyone,
    I changed my RAMPs for the generic one after one of the MOSFETS burnt in the original one (head bed issues).

    I've done this before with no issue. But this time I changed the board I'm experiencing some Z-axis issues.

    The generic board has 2 rows of pins for the Z-axis motors, however when I connect them both (same polarity) the printer just jams while trying to move the Z-axis. I tried connecting the X and Y motors to those pins to see how they move.. and they kinda move for like 5 mm and then stops and start making beeping noises coming from the motors.

    When I connect only one of the Z-Axis pins it works fine (both pin sets).

    So I'm wondering what could be causing this? Could I just solder both the motor's cables to the same connector and use only one pin set? How else can I check if there's something wrong with my board? I've tried with different motor drivers too.
     
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Not enough current from the stepper driver card for the Z axis.
    Adjust it up or replace it.

    We have a thread here: http://community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/stepper-driver-calibration-information.6466/

    Or there external ones you can refer to:

    https://e3d-online.dozuki.com/Guide/VREF+adjustment+A4988/92

    http://bootsindustries.com/pots-calibration-ramps-1-4/

    There is no reason that the single stepper driver can not drive both Z steppers as there is very little acceleration or jerk involved and they move slowly with respect to the other axis.
     
  16. Mauricio Bremer

    Mauricio Bremer New Member

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    I don't think the stepper driver is the issue, I've tried with different ones (working on the other axis).

    Also, these same stepper drivers work fine in the original board.
     
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If the original board works for the Z then the only thing left to fail is the new RAMPS.
    Not a shock as those boards are so cheap getting one that is high quality is difficult.
     
  18. Mauricio Bremer

    Mauricio Bremer New Member

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    Yea I kinda thought the same but it made no sense to me that both the pin sets worked fine when connected separately but not at the same time.
     
  19. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It is not getting enough current like I mentioned. The two are being driven in parallel so the driver has to generate twice as much current.
    That is not as big a deal as you might think simply because the Z steppers move so slowly and with almost no real acceleration and jerk which reduces the amount of current needed. Each A4988 card can supply approximately 1.6 AMPs to drive the steppers.

    That is going to be the RAMPS not pushing out enough current signal on the Z channel or the stepper driver card is not adjusted high enough.
     
  20. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That is the key symptom. Those are indications that the stepper motor is dropping steps (the beeping noise when it is NOT stepping but should be). It tries to step and the low current causes it to drop one or more steps.
     

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