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Solved Matter Control & Arduino are not connecting.

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by BrooklynBay, Jan 1, 2021.

  1. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If you replace the hobbed bolt ALWAYS do an extruder calibration. It is unlikely you are going to find another one exactly the same so just calibrate it.
     
  2. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    It took a while to figure out how to download the zip library for the controller, uncomment a different controller, then comment for this controller. It works but only when it gets power from a USB cable running into my computer. The screen loses the yellow contrast when I turn on the power to the machine, and only shows blue. The display never receives power from the printer's power supply. Does the Arduino need a separate power adapter to be plugged in for the screen to work?

    By the way, the two cheap Arduino boards from Amazon never worked. The original Arduino, and the cheaper Arduino were the only two which seemed to work. I think that the MKS board had potential but I returned it, and decided to use the regular Arduino with the RAMPS shield.
     

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  3. mark tomlinson

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    The Arduino mega has a regulator to step down the 12v from the power supply to 5v internally.
    When powered from the USB that step is not needed. I would suspect a problem with the 5v regulator.
    You could verify that with a meter (remove the RAMPS board first) and then with no USB cable attached and the power on to the printer read the output of the 5v regulator. If it has no output then it is toast. Internally the Arduino will use the USB 5v supply when that is connected.

    Details on the regulator here: https://www.instructables.com/Fix-a-fried-Arduino-Mega/
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  5. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    The 3 terminal voltage regulator is not working on the cheaper board but the rest of the board works. I have the controller connected to the expensive Arduino board which works. The display doesn't have contrast or color issues, and works from the 5 volt regulator The regulators on the other cheap boards work but the rest of the board doesn't work. This was a learning experience to figure out all of these issues. Just because a part is new doesn't mean that it works. Why don't these things have some level of quality control? I know that they are cheap (around $10), and can't be the same as the $39 board but they should work.
     
  6. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    The two cables which came with my controller are very short. Do they make longer cables or extensions?
     
    #86 BrooklynBay, Jan 18, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2021
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    These are assembled often by machines and the less people time involved the cheaper they can be to make. So almost none of the stuff you get from China has ANY QC involved at all. If you buy an actual Arduino Mega from Arduino.cc then it should have been tested at some point.
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    and this is why when I buy the cheaper boards I buy more than one... last time I needed a RAMPS I bought 4 (from different sellers) and exactly one of them worked. I just sent the others back (Thanks Amazon Prime).

    I have had a few come in that likely were just corrupted boot loaders. I can't be bothered to even redo the boot loader, I just use a different one.
     
    #89 mark tomlinson, Jan 18, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2021
  10. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    I returned the cheap board to Micro Center, and kept the expensive board. I told a couple of people about the regulator issue. One worker said that he will inform the management about it just in case other boards come back with the same issue. They had longer ribbon cables for $4.99 each so I bought a couple of them. They are slightly longer than what came with my LCD. I might have to return them, and get one from the link in the previous post if it doesn't reach or possibly attach them to my original cables.
     
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  11. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    My Flexion extruder uses an 11mm hobbed drive gear. I found out that my options are a 26 tooth or a 40 tooth in brass or a 36 tooth in stainless steel. I use a lot of PLA, ABS, PETG, and TPU, but occasionally I use metal blends, wood, and other abrasive filaments. I know that a brass gear will wear out faster than stainless steel but is there any advantage to using 26 teeth over 40 teeth? Will less teeth grab better than more teeth or vice versa? 36 teeth in stainless steel might be my best option. I might have to recalibrate the extruder for each type of gear.
     
  12. mark tomlinson

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    Stainless (or even better -- hardened) steel is the best choice.
    The default hobbed bolt in most of the R1 styles were rather course (not as many teeth).
    Honestly I see no difference in the ones I swapped in with more teeth -- at least in printer performance.
    You have pointed out (correctly) that the extruder needs to be recalibrated...
     
  13. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    It took a few attempts but I was able to calculate the new steps for the extruder gear. This was the formula posted on Matter Hacker's website:

    (Original number of steps) X (100 mm test extrusion) / the actual amount extruded during the test.
    My original steps were 83.19. I clicked extrude 100 mm but only 59.21 mm extruded with the new gear. This is the new calculation: 83.19 X 100 / 59.21 = 140.4999155480493159939199459551. I rounded it off to 140.50. I measured 110 mm of filament on the spool, then placed a piece of tape at the 110 mm mark. I extruded 100 mm then measured what was left. I subtracted that amount from 100 mm which was 59.21 mm.
     
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  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Sounds like you nailed it :)
     
  15. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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  16. mark tomlinson

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    It says it is a 12864 (128x64) LCD and that is the same size as the RepRap full graphics LCD, but that alone would not make it a direct swap for the RepRap version -- Marlin would need to be able to support it.

    However, I notice this as one of the customer reviews:

    "This TFT35 V3 is an awesome concept. A touch screen display that is backward compatible to LCD12864 format (in case you need to operate in Marlin Mode)."

    So assuming that is true then you should be able to get it running with Marlin. That same customer goes into more detail about why you should NOT use it that way :)

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...ef=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B081DTV194

    I have no personal experience to add to this, but there are a lot of negative reviews and much complaining about zero support from the company.
     
  17. Rod Smith

    Rod Smith Member

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    I have one of those; however, I'm using it with a BTT SKR Pro v1.2 running RepRapFirmware. The TFT35-E3 is designed primarily as a touch screen display that communicates with the printer's mainboard via a serial connection using g-code. I don't know if it's possible to hook it up to the stock Robo3D R1+ control board (or an exactly equivalent replacement) in this way. (Perhaps @mark tomlinson would know about this.) If not, you wouldn't be able to use the color touch-screen functions; however....

    The device also has a 12864 compatibility mode, and you could run it that way full-time. With this mode, it would require a simple breakout interface board, just like a conventional 12864 display. (I don't see one pictured in the ad, and mine didn't come with one; but if you've got one or can get it cheaply, then this isn't an issue.) I've never used mine in its 12864 mode, since the necessary ports on my SKR Pro are in use by a WiFi module. Thus, I can't say from personal experience how well it works. I can note, however, that the review to which @mark tomlinson linked was written in September of 2020, and there has been a lot of activity on the display's github development site since then. I certainly can't promise that the bugs referred to in the review have been fixed, but there's a good chance that they have been. You might need to update the firmware as soon as you get the device to get these bug fixes, though. If you're concerned about these bugs, then you may want to ask elsewhere, but I can't suggest a specific forum.

    Although the device has the same general size as a 12864 display, the mounting holes aren't in quite the same place, so it won't fit in a case designed for a 12864 display. (At least, it didn't fit in my old 12864 display housing; I needed to print up a new one.) Thingiverse has lots of designs, but few or none designed for a Robo3D R1+. I used a generic one and then glued on a mounting bracket that I designed myself.

    The specific listing to which you linked includes a WiFi module that plugs into the LCD panel. I've never used this specific product, but reviews I've read suggest that this type of module works, but is likely to be so slow when uploading files that it will be next to useless for that purpose. It might be OK for monitoring a print's status and otherwise controlling the printer remotely, though. See, for instance:



    If you're looking at this device for its WiFi features, you might want to go another route. OctoPrint running on a Raspberry Pi works reasonably well with a Robo3D R1+. (Before upgrading my motherboard, that's what I used.) Perusing Amazon, it looks like getting the LCD panel without its WiFi module will save just a couple of bucks.

    Overall, unless you can use the color touch-screen mode, I'm not sure the BTT TFT35-E3 is a good choice for an otherwise-stock Robo3D R1+. Without that mode, you won't get any advantages over a 12864 display, and those are less expensive; for instance, here's one for $13, vs. the $45 for the one you referenced. For that matter, I've got my old 12864 sitting around unused; I'd be willing to ship it to you for the cost of postage, if you're in the US. (PM me if you're interested.) OTOH, if the TFT35-E3's color touch-screen mode can be made to work with the Robo3D R1+, then it has some advantages (like being color, having touch control, and having a UI that can be easier for some tasks -- it's easier to find the preheat options on the TFT35-E3, for instance).
     
  18. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    I was looking into other options because the 12864 which came in a kit from Amazon has display issues. The page creeps, and you see half of the page along with half of the following page. Sometimes it freezes, and you can't control anything. Hitting the stop button crashes it, and doesn't restart.
     
  19. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    I saw a TFT E3 V3.0 going very cheap on EBay with an option to make an offer. I made an offer, and got it even cheaper but I can't get it to work. Marlin emulation mode doesn't work. The display won't start unless my desktop computer is on. It's supposed to be a stand alone controller so that it doesn't need a separate computer connection. When the computer is on, the display says that there's no printer attached. My Reprap full graphics controller reads the information from the printer immediately after the printer is on, and doesn't need to have a desktop computer attached. Both controllers are supposed to use the same setting in Marlin configuration.h. I don't know why this new controller isn't connecting to the printer.
     
  20. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Hmm, While I am not certain (I don't have one to play with) that sounds suspiciously like the display is getting power from the USB connection and not from the Power Supply via the control board. That would not have anything to do with the firmware (the power issue). The "no printer attached" is more concerning...

    Are you using the Ardiuino/RAMPS or something else (sorry -- I can't recall)?
     

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