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Solved R1+ Chimera Fan Setup

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by BenMac, Jun 15, 2017.

  1. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Hello, I recently decided to take the plunge, and try converting my Robo to dual extrusion. Yes, I know it is likely to be a pain, but I wanted to play with multi-material prints. Anyways, I have pretty much everything "working" except the part cooling fans. I decided to try out the mod that Novice Expert shared on his YouTube channel.
    As near as I can tell, everything is wired up correctly, and the code is correct. Though, I would welcome some discussion/advice about what may solve the issue.

    I purchased these transistors, and one is wired like the below diagram. If I remember correctly, transistors are just gates, so the polarity of the Collector and Emitter doesn't really matter. Even so, I tried to follow the directions to the letter.

    I am having some trouble with my Dropbox, so I can't show a code snippet. I wrote the code on another computer, which I can't access right now. I will post it as soon as possible.

    It is possible that the transistor is simply not operational. It isn't a fun prospect, since it means taking a bunch of things apart. But it is possibly the issue. Thank you for your time, I appreciate any advice that you can give.
     

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  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  3. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Cool, Novice Expert would be a welcome addition to the conversation. :)

    I found this thread as well.
     
  4. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    He isn't around all that much anymore so you may be in for a wait.
     
  5. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    True, he most likely has quite a few things going on in his life.

    On a side note, I finally got Drop Box working, so here is a picture of the code. Though, I guess providing the code itself would make more sense. I have included a zip with the code as well. I made all of the changes suggested in the E3D instructions. I also attempted to follow the instructions from NE.
    I plugged an LED into the pins for the fans, but it didn't light up at all, even on the highest settings. So, I am currently leaning toward it being a software issue.

    Any help that you can give would be greatly appreciated. :)
     

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  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Could try pinging his youtube email
     
  7. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Ok, I did it. Is there anyone else that could help with altering the firmware? Or advice on altering the firmware. A web site, active forum member, or something else. I appreciate your assistance.
     
  8. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

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    how-transistor-works.gif
    The emitter should be near the grounded side. The collector should be on the hot side. And the base is the trigger.

    The polarity absolutely matters. (Imagine that the E-C junction is just a diode and you've put it backwards in a DC circuit.)
     
  9. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Hmm, I guess so. I appreciate the extra info! :)

    The chip that was suggested to me was a TIP31C. looking at it from the front, and starting on the left it has the base, collector, and emitter. I followed the wiring as closely and carefully as possible. The thing is, there doesn't seem to be any signal coming out of the suggested pin on the Ramps board. Though, I don't have an oscilloscope to be certain of that.

    Is there anyone here that can provide some guidance from the programming side of things? If only to point me to an active person that could point me toward a solution. I emailed NE more than a week ago, but have not heard back from him.

    I ordered the fan extender, which is coming from China. So, maybe that could solve the issue if nothing else can be suggested.
     
  10. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I don't know of any active members that have done a chimera upgrade on the r1+, you may be a bit on your own but feel free to take pics and post questions of what your doing, someone may have an idea
     
  11. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Hmm, I was afraid of that. Thank you for letting me know. :)

    I will definitely do that. Do you happen to know of a forum for the base firmware for the Robo? Isn't Marlin the base firmware? It seems like a firmware issue, so maybe someone from that group could help.

    I appreciate your assistance. :)
     
  12. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    It is Marlin. I will say if your using the Robo OEM R1+ board it may be causing you some grief. As I'm unfamiliar with what your doing that is a SWAG but worth mentioning their proprietary board has pins mechanically done differently than a standard RAMPS 1.4
     
  13. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Cool, then I will look for some forums related to Marlin.

    I followed the guide on here for switching from the standard R1+ board to a standard RAMPS 1.4 board. Pretty much everything else seems to be working in some respect. The part cooling fans are the only part that is being truly stubborn.

    What does SWAG stand for? I am not familiar with that acronym.
     
  14. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Silly wild ass guess ;) :D
     
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  16. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Geof - Interesting :)

    Mark - Thank you, I will look around over there. :)
     
  17. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Well, I am not 100% sure what solved the issue, but switching to the firmware by WheresWaldo seemed to fix the fans. It looks like I need to do some PID tuning, since the temperature jumps up, then wavers all over the place. I think I have the nozzles level with each other, or at least they don't seem to get in each other's way. I probably need to tune the extruders' steps per mm too, since it is under extruding. I have it close, as far as filament extruded, it is about 1mm off currently.

    Figuring out the Z offset was interesting. Well, I still need to tune it, but it is good enough for now. I will share a picture below of my first test print with one of the nozzles. I will try some dual extrusion tests after I at least get one nozzle working at least as well as before. Then I will get the second nozzle going.

    It has been a long, painful process getting to this point. But it has taught me a lot. I think it can be quite well worth it to do this upgrade, if nothing else than to learn more about printers. :)

    Though, for the mechanically and technologically challenged, this probably isn't the mod for you.
     

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    #17 BenMac, Jul 2, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2017
  18. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    @BenMac Always do a PID tuning after flashing new firmware.
     
    BenMac and Geof like this.
  19. BenMac

    BenMac Member

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    Thank you @WheresWaldo for your suggestion, and altering the firmware for the Robo. I really appreciate your efforts! :)

    I think I got away with it because I was using the default Robo hardware. After switching to the Chimera, it changed quite a bit.
     

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