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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.

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  1. Mauricio Bremer

    Mauricio Bremer New Member

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    Thanks for the pointers, I'll try to switch back to the original board and try with another generic ramps.

    I'll check the steppers calibration too in case something moved
     
    #121 Mauricio Bremer, May 5, 2021
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Good luck, if you have a spare stepper driver you can try swapping that in on the Z as well.
    Other than that it sounds like you are set to figure it out :)
     
    #122 mark tomlinson, May 5, 2021
  3. Mauricio Bremer

    Mauricio Bremer New Member

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    So I did some testing and calibrated the stepper drivers.. now the Z axis is moving, but the motors don't seem to move at the same time.. either it moves too much when I try to move 1 mm or it moves one motor and then the other.

    My multimeter has 2 options for Voltage (700 and 1,000) so I don't think it'll work for this.

    So individually all the axis seem to move (z moves seems to move like 1 mm when I try to move 0.1 mm and like 10 mm when i try 1 mm). But when I try to auto home it jams and makes a mess trying to move the axis.

    I'm noticing when I try to auto home.. the x axis motor starts moving and stops really hard with the beeping sound (it moves fine on its own tho) and no other motor actually moves after that.

    I even tried using the drivers from my other R1+ (working fine) but I get the beeping sound the way they're calibrated.

    I've tried manually tweaking the drivers (increments of 10º) with no luck.

    Finally, I switched back to the original board, plugged the drivers as they were in the other board and it worked fine.. does this mean my new RAMPS is defective?
     
    #123 Mauricio Bremer, May 5, 2021
    Last edited: May 5, 2021
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It is certainly possible.
    If swapping the drivers from the working board did not help that is a good indication the RAMPS itself is the problem.
    It is not absolutely certain (sadly) because the way the stepper motors are driven is a current loop provided by the stepper drivers which convert the digital signal from the Arduino/RAMPS into the current the stepper needs to drive. This is why it helps to tune them on the board you are going to use, but if you were unable to get them to work on the new board even by adjusting the current, it is the RAMPS board.

    The RAMPS is cheap enough I would just swap it rather than invest a lot of time troubleshooting it, but if you wanted to prove it is the problem you would want to go through the stepper driver calibration on the board you suspect is defective and when it fails that proves it is the RAMPS (because you can calibrate them on the original one). Personally -- I think you have proven it :)
     
    #124 mark tomlinson, May 6, 2021
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    And yes, it is not only possible, but often likely that buying a new RAMPS board gets you a dead/defective one. They are so inexpensive that there is no testing or quality assurance that gets done as part of their manufacturing. Last time I had to replace one and I was shopping only for the RAMPS, I had to buy three (each from different vendors) to get one that worked.
     
    #125 mark tomlinson, May 6, 2021
  6. Mauricio Bremer

    Mauricio Bremer New Member

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    Just a note for future people reading this.. always check the jumpers under the drivers!! :oops:

    On the bright side, I now have a spare RAMPS for when one of those annoying MOSFETS burns down again.
     
    #126 Mauricio Bremer, May 7, 2021
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  7. PiecesbyReeses

    PiecesbyReeses New Member

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    Hello all,... I recently had "dead heat bed symptoms" and it seems pretty clear it was MOSFETS to blame so I ordered the recommend replacement by @Geof (or what seems to pass as it) and installed it. (Very thorough walk-through btw). I also have an MSK TFT 28 touchscreen controller on it. I mention that because upon turning it back on, the controller screen doesn't work. (Unless I USB link with laptop or tablet VIA Octoprint) But it seems to only RUN POWER to the screen.
    Tried homing, jogging, heating... NADA. So I decided for kicks to swap the plugs going from my MSK and my SD card mount and try again... NOW the MSK doesn't power on at all... BUT the heat bed responds correctly to a USB/CURA direction to heat up and run Auotune PID....
    That's as far as I've gotten. I'm assuming I got a bad board from Amazon, with only a few things working(since i ordered the cheapest i found).
    Am I on the right track?? Or am I missing something??

    Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
     
    #127 PiecesbyReeses, Dec 22, 2022
  8. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Sounds more like the controller setup is the issue. More so because it sounds like it worked hooked to usb ? The sd card mount wiring needs to be removed and not used when using a controller. Will and can cause issues
     
    #128 Geof, Dec 22, 2022
  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    If the controller worked before the board swap and now doesn’t and you have loaded the the same firmware to the new board then yes likely the cheap board is no good. It happens and has happened more and more over the years
     
    #129 Geof, Dec 22, 2022
  10. PiecesbyReeses

    PiecesbyReeses New Member

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    I havent loaded any firmware since the swap. Is that a possibility to what my new board is missing?

    Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
     
    #130 PiecesbyReeses, Dec 22, 2022
  11. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Did you replace both boards or just the top ramps board ?
     
    #131 Geof, Dec 22, 2022
  12. PiecesbyReeses

    PiecesbyReeses New Member

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    No, just the top Ramps board. I assumed the controller was the bottom.

    Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
     
    #132 PiecesbyReeses, Dec 22, 2022
  13. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    If you didn’t replace the bottom board (arduino) and it doesn’t work with the lcd controller but the lcd controller did work before I’d get a new board
     
    #133 Geof, Dec 22, 2022
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  14. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    The only other thing to check is most controllers have a potentiometer you can adjust to adjust the contrast. If everything works but controller shows nothing but a backlight on the display may look for a sensitivity adjustment, I am not familiar with that lcd.
     
    #134 Geof, Dec 22, 2022
  15. PiecesbyReeses

    PiecesbyReeses New Member

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    I'll order that now, and update to the outcome... It was a pretty quick job, pending holiday delivery .

    Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
     
    #135 PiecesbyReeses, Dec 22, 2022
  16. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Hopefully that takes care of it ! I bought so many kits years ago that I haven’t had the issues the new boards have but I have gotten dead boards. It happens
     
    #136 Geof, Dec 22, 2022
  17. PiecesbyReeses

    PiecesbyReeses New Member

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    Its seems to have a standard visual setting, because it was clear when the OctoPrint fired it up VIA USB.

    Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
     
    #137 PiecesbyReeses, Dec 22, 2022
  18. PiecesbyReeses

    PiecesbyReeses New Member

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    The one you initially linked to isnt in production anymore. So I was guessing to an extent. It did match, but not very reliably... I'll get them to send another but also get another company.

    Thanks for responding so quickly!!

    Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
     
    #138 PiecesbyReeses, Dec 22, 2022
  19. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Something about that sounds funny to be, can you clearly explain if the system worked properly prior to the dead heat bed ? Not using octoprint, just using the machine with the controller everything worked ?
     
    #139 Geof, Dec 22, 2022
  20. PiecesbyReeses

    PiecesbyReeses New Member

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    Yes, I ran everything front the controller. I was mid-print of a production print that I've ran at least 2 dozens times. The heat bed stays at 83*C but this print it had dropped to 41* before it ended. 2 days later I tried to start another and the bed didnt respond all.

    Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
     
    #140 PiecesbyReeses, Dec 22, 2022
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