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Multi extruder upgrade?

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Section 31HQ, Jul 18, 2016.

  1. Section 31HQ

    Section 31HQ New Member

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    Hello,
    I read that the R1+ does not have a "standard" RAMPS shield. Is there a reason for the Z motors being handled by separate drivers? Can they be wired in parallel or is the current draw too much for the single driver? I do have an extra "normal" shield and the expansion board (+3 extruders). Rignt now I am in the process of upgrading to an E3D Chimera (dual extrusion) but may want to go with a Kraken later.
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Section 31HQ and Geof like this.
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    There is no practical reason for the change, the standard RAMPS Z driver can accommodate two steppers
     
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  4. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    My r1+ runs generic ramps, both z on one stepper driver with no adverse issues.
     
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  5. Section 31HQ

    Section 31HQ New Member

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    Thanks for the answers guys. I'll be busy this weekend:)
     
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  6. Section 31HQ

    Section 31HQ New Member

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    Sorry to re-open this thread, but I've had "partial" luck with the mod. I had to put it in the back burner for a long while due to stuff happening in my life. I installed a standard RAMPS 1.4 and after following the many threads explaining how to change the firmware (above and E3D's wiki, as well as youtube) I am not able to make either extruder motor work. Both thermistors read fine and the heater cartridges can be activated individually. I noticed that PINS.H has pins defined for the default extruder driver but it doesn't show any for a second extruder. I ran the test both from S3D and the R1+ LCD, which shows only 1 extruder motor in the menu (move axis) but shows the 2 extruders and bed on temperature control. Any ideas on what needs to be enabled in the firmware?
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You should be posting on the Marlin lists, but we can try to help.

    What version of Marlin are you using? The stock firmware version of the Robo is rather old and dual extruder support was really only working after version 1.02 of Marlin (or there about)

    What changes (specifically) have you made?
     
    #7 mark tomlinson, Sep 15, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2016
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    for starters:

    CONFIGURATION.H

    // This defines the number of extruders
    #define EXTRUDERS 2

    These have to match the thermistor type in each extruder:
    #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 1
    #define TEMP_SENSOR_1 1
    ...
    #define HEATER_0_MINTEMP 5
    #define HEATER_1_MINTEMP 5
    ...
    #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 275
    #define HEATER_1_MAXTEMP 275

    ...
    This also has to be set correctly:
    // Offset of the extruders (uncomment if using more than one and relying on firmware to position when changing).
    // The offset has to be X=0, Y=0 for the extruder 0 hotend (default extruder).
    // For the other hotends it is their distance from the extruder 0 hotend.
    // #define EXTRUDER_OFFSET_X {0.0, 20.00} // (in mm) for each extruder, offset of the hotend on the X axis
    // #define EXTRUDER_OFFSET_Y {0.0, 5.00} // (in mm) for each extruder, offset of the hotend on the Y axis


    You are also going to need to change the motherboard definition:

    #define MOTHERBOARD 33

    to, this maybe?

    #define MOTHERBOARD BOARD_RAMPS_13_EEB //Extruder 0, extruder 1, bed

    Some of these a S.W.A.G. since I have not done this

    (but you are almost NEVER going to edit something like PINS.H directly, the MOTHERBOARD #define will handle the compiler loading the correct stuff)
     
    #8 mark tomlinson, Sep 15, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2016
  9. Section 31HQ

    Section 31HQ New Member

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    Thanks Mark. First, I followed this guide posted above (http://community.robo3d.com/index.p...and-rewiring-to-make-generic-ramps-work.8356/) and connected both Z axis motors to the dual connector provided in the standard RAMPS for the Z axis. Functionally the printer can move on X, Y, Z and heat up the bed and both hot ends using software or the LCD panel (reprap discount default). Also followed these guides:
    http://community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/chimera-upgrade-guide-wip.6521/
    http://wiki.e3d-online.com/wiki/Cyclops/Chimera_on_RoBo3D
    Firmware: http://download.robo3d.com/firmware/R1Plus/ROBO3DR1PLUSV2.zip was modified for dual extruder according to guides.
    I am attaching my files (.zip)
     

    Attached Files:

  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    OK, well hopefully someone who has done this can chime in for you.
    Those changes I noticed were just a quick look through the config file ... but those will need to be done (and perhaps more) for Marlin to acknowledge two erxtruders I imagine.

    The generic RAMPS conversion thread is solid, I worked with @Geof on that and it is a working mod (I do not know of any issues he had).

    As for the Chimera upgrade you might want to ping @jtn7040 and see if there is something that was overlooked.
     
  11. Section 31HQ

    Section 31HQ New Member

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    Thanks Mark. Will do. Just for kicks I reinstalled the official firmware and extruder motor 1 moves fine, so you are right that some more changes need to be done before this works.
     
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  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Good, then it is just a firmware tweak.
    While not something I know I do know that Marlin supports it so we should be able to get you going.
     
  13. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    No issue with the ramps conversion :). The dual extruder firmware is...confusing lol.i can't quite figure that one out.
     
  14. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    Mine too since I screwed up the stock board and followed your post to install the generic one :)
     
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  15. Section 31HQ

    Section 31HQ New Member

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    Success! Thank you guys for all the answers. Mark, you were right about the changes being what you remembered. What I did was correct, as others have done the same firmware changes for dual extrusion. My problem started with me having the latest Arduino software, which I found out later is not supported with the firmware V2 (as announced in the firmware page). It seems this somehow corrupted my save and going all the way back to version 1.6.5 it did not want to compile again (tried all other versions as well). So I decided to do a clean install of the Arduino software (1.6.5), deleted my save and re-did the changes on a clean firmware V2 file. I can now control both extruder motors after heating up.

    I figure I let you guys know as it may help someone else. Again thanks for the help!
     
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  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Glad you got it going!
     

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