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Unresolved Extruder stepper not spinning gear *With Video*

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Element18592, Jul 27, 2015.

  1. Element18592

    Element18592 New Member

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    So ive only printed once with this and it seemed to work fine, they were the wood filament platform lifters you can see in the video. Im sure it has nothing to do with it but it happened when i turned it on while my da vinci was printing and tried for the first time running both at once, robo using matter control and da vinci using repetier. (Just figured i would mention it for even the slightest chance.)

    However with the pc and robo restarted, the da vinci off and unplugged, now for some reason the extruder stepper doesnt want to spin.

    Here is a video showing what ive done to troubleshoot so far...



    Any advice would be great.
     
  2. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Open terminal

    Send these two commands

    Code:
    G91
    G1 E50
    
    Also if the stepper has a connector for the wires be sure it's plugged into the motor
     
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  3. Element18592

    Element18592 New Member

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    No connector that i can see unless its on the inside of the motor. As for the commands i get physical response when they are entered.
     
  4. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Might be a bad stepper driver then. You can try adjusting the potentiometer to see if it's just under current but I'd start a replacement part request from robo

    I don't think I saw it in your video, but did you try moving Y axis from the extruder spot?
     
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  5. Element18592

    Element18592 New Member

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    Y axis will not move while connected to the extruder pins so i guess it is the driver then right? Also i purchased this unit on ebay used so i doubt its still under the replacement period, or if it even transfers ownership but where would i go to purchase a replacement stepper driver and would it essentially be plug an play just swap with the old/bad one? Thanks a lot for the info thus far bud.


    Edit: Just added the smart lcd (xxl version) to the printer and heated it up via the onboard controls then tried extruding from matter control and it seemed to work fine however i still dont think im out of the water just yet as this has happened once before about a week ago but it started working again once i restarted it so i shrugged it off. Also the gcode that matter control sends shouldnt be any different that the gcode presets that the smart lcd sends correct?
     
    #5 Element18592, Jul 27, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2015
  6. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    I don't know why it would work with the LCD but not matter control

    The point of the gcode commands i had you send was it overrided any settings.

    G91 sets the printer to relative mode, thus a G1 command would add onto it, ie G1 E10 and G1 E10 would extrude 20mm, but in G90 absolute mode, it would only go to 10mm.

    So when you do a G91 then a G1 E100 it will extrude 100mm regardless of where it thinks it is.

    MatterControl is really crappy though. I suggest repetier host or Cura 15.04 to see if that fixes the issue
     
  7. Element18592

    Element18592 New Member

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    Ill switch to repetier as have experience with it from my other printer. Thanks for the help and info, ill leave this as partially resolved for now as i do fear this issue will arise again very soon.
     
  8. Element18592

    Element18592 New Member

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    And it was short lived, halfway through a print the extruder stepper stopped and im back in the same boat, using reptier and the gcode you mentioned previously as well. Is there anyway to test if it is the driver by swapping one from another axis?
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, that would be a decent test.
    They are the little daughter cards mounted on top f the RAMPS (which is mounted on top of the Arduino).
     
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  10. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Could be overheating. Is your ramps fan running?
     
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  11. Element18592

    Element18592 New Member

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    It is not, when removing the bottom plate, truly didn't think the fan was necessary despite the fact that they took the measure to add one in the first place, well that's my stupidity. Ill pop a 12v fan under it tomorrow or the following day then continue troubleshooting if needed. Thank you both for the replies and sorry it took so long to respond back, been very busy here lately.
     
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    They originally did not have a fan (the betas had no fan). Granted, the way the mounted the fan they DID add was a little odd, but it does help.
     
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