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Converting C2 into the FT-5

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by colton81, Jun 5, 2017.

  1. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    im curious if there is a way to take out the shuttle and electronics and put them into my FT-5 i know the FT-5 has to have 2 stepper motors for the z axis so not sure if i could make it work with an extra stepper on it. Also i know in cura i can change the size of the bed but do i have to change anything in the C2 software to allow it to print bigger or does it automatically donit when the gcode tells it?
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Software? Yes,
    Firmware? No.
    I don't think the newer version of Marlin has the MAX size defined in the firmware.

    Look in Configuration.H under the section that starts with:

    //===========================================================================
    //============================== Endstop Settings ===========================
    //===========================================================================
     
  3. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    MAX size is defined by the following code:

    Example taken from Marlin RC6 modified by Robo and placed in their GITHUB repository:
    Code:
    // Travel limits after homing (units are in mm)
    #define X_MIN_POS 0
    #define Y_MIN_POS 0
    #define Z_MIN_POS 0
    #define X_MAX_POS 190
    #define Y_MAX_POS 160
    #define Z_MAX_POS 200
    A max Z endstop can be defined in Configuration.h if your application needs it
     
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  4. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Why would you want to do this to your C2? The FT5 has a ton of Titan Aero mods :D
     
  5. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Ok so make sure im understanding correctly i would just need to change the max pos to my new pos and just save it?
     
  6. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    To save money lol my C2 will pretty much be obsolete once i get the ft-5 up and running so might as well try to use the parts from it plus i would like to beable to keep the shuttle for the aesthetics as well. I figured the electronics are probably better then what comes with the FT-5 anyways
     
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  7. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    It could be that easy, but remember the Robo uses min endstops so it the ft-5 uses a max endstop there is more involved.
     
  8. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Well i took a look more into it last night and i believe the ft5 uses max endstop but not sure yet also realized it uses 2 more stepper motors as well and im going to end up converting it to a IDEX system so im not sure if the C2 board can handle it ontop of being able to heat that large of a bed. Am i able to add external stepper drivers to the main board or does it have enough built in for at least 3 more stepper motors?
     
  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I would honestly look into an alternative board and a SSR to run the heatbed. Getting the robo boards to work running IDEX would be very....frustrating.

    The BCN Sigma is open source (designers of the idex system) hit up their github and look at how they are doing it (I can take some photos of mine for you if you want and its not printing- may take a day or two)

    They still use a board extender, but getting one to work on a proprietary Robo board may prove...frustrating :D
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    There is no data on the custom boards Robo uses in the C2/R2 yet and no way to easily add more stepper drivers.
    You would be better off with an Arduino/RAMPs or some other generic electronics (SMoothie board, Rambo, etc.)
     
  11. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Ok i guess ill just have to suck it up and spend a little momey and get a different board. Yea if you dont mind taking some pictures ive checked out thier github a little i know they use their own custom board as well but from what i understand its a mash up of two different boards into one.
     
  12. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Ok if im not mistaken i think my Ft-5 came with a mks board so maybe better off using that or getting the duet or go ahead and buy the Radds shield for the arduino due i already have
     
  13. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    I think my biggest hurdle here is the programing of it i would say i have a little more then basic knowledge of it but thats about it
     
  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If you go with standard hardware (not as a suggestion, but as an example : Smoothie board) then there is already existing firmware that needs only to be configured to the machine specifics. Otherwise you are writing and rolling your own from scratch :)
     
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  15. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    If I am replacing any current Arduino MEGA2560/RAMPS setups I have a complete set of electronics that I keep as a spare, but from now on I will be using all-in-one small boards such as these:

    RAMPS Compatible (8-bit)
    MKS-BASE-V1-5.png

    Smoothie Compatible (32-bit)
    MKS-SBASE-V1-3.png

    No sense reusing a board that is customized to begin with, and in Robo's case a review of their GITHUB shows that they changed a few of the pin assignments also, so you have to keep track of those too if you are repurposing the Robo board.
     
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  16. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Ok so for right now im just going to use the robo board untill i get the money up for a duet board. So i just pulled it out and started messing with it trying to connect it to the ft-5. The wiring on my ft-5 is different for the stepper motors but i got one of them up and working. But whatbim trying to figure out is i have 2 stepper motors for the z axis and 2 for the Y axis on the ft-5 these are spliced from 2 cables to one cable do you think the robo board will beable to handle it?
     
  17. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Also how do i find out what the max wattage the robo main board can take?
     
  18. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I dont know any of us that have a FT5 ( edit: @MChrisP1 does have one that may be able to assist) but I'd imagine yes you can splice them in, whether they will work or not I have no idea. Make sure if the robo board has stepper drivers you set them.
     
  19. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    If its not clearly written on the board you'd need to talk to Robo engineering as its one of their "custom" boards. I'd imagine it'd be the same as a standard ramps but thats a swag
     
  20. MChrisP1

    MChrisP1 Member

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    I figure it's all about what the Robo board will handle. My guess/hunch is it should be fine. Like Geof stated above, make sure your drives have heatsinks on them. May want to tune your driver to the suggested FT5 voltages as well. Worth a shot. Worse thing you do is have to go buy anew board which you are planning on doing anyway. I'd try it.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

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