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Solved 'Beta' Original Robo 3D - Connected But No Control

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by gearprinter, Nov 14, 2020.

  1. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  2. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    I'm going to check the thermistor wiring. Just curious how much does a new one cost? Is it more likely the wiring is bad or that the part failed? Is there any way to push forward with the print and temporarily ignore the error? If I look at the readings in Matter Control the temp is barely fluctuating (couple degrees every 1-2 seconds).

    When I click home in Matter Control why does it go center-left instead of dead center?

    Bed temperature is fixed, ty for your help!!
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well, since you have the E3D hotend you can buy one anywhere that will fit the E3D. The Model of the E3D matters a little bit but if it is the type that uses a small glass bead style thermistor you can get them for <$10 many places -- one example:https://e3d-online.com/products/thermistor-replacement-kit

    If it is the style that uses a metal cartridge around the thermistor those are fairly cheap too -- one example: https://www.amazon.com/E3D-v6-Thermistor-Kit/dp/B014G85HKO

    If you do not know -- take a picture of the hotend down where the nozzle and the wiring is and we can probably tell you which kind it is.
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The Robo firmware does not home in the center -- it homes at X = 0, Y = 0, Z = 0 and that is the left-front corner :)

    Other than custom editing the Marlin firmware to disable that error I am unaware of a way to push through it. It is Marlin itself raising that error and it is effectively shutting the printer down for safety.


    there are some details here under "Thermal Protection" that may apply: https://marlinfw.org/docs/configuration/configuration.html
     
  5. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    Other than the thermistor (assuming it's faulty) is there any other stuff I should order? Things for general maintenance, like grease to apply to the threaded rods? A pick to clear the nozzle, acid to melt plastic off the nozzle or something like that?

    I might need to buy some filament too. I'm going to be printing gears, right now I'm setup with PLA, what's the ideal material?
     

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  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Lithium grease is a god choice for lubricating the rods. Don't put anything up inside the nozzle -- the filament path is a polished surface to avoid clogs and if you scratch it then you will have a lot more clogs. If you need to clean the nozzle remove it (which means heating it to 250-ish, loosening it, cool it down, remove it the rest of the way) and then clean it by baking it :) Putting it back is the reverse, mount it back on the heater block with it cold, just finger tight. Then heat it to 250-ish and hold the heater block with one wrench and snug the nozzle down with another -- DO NOT over tighten it. Just firmly snug is good.

    Or just swap in a new nozzle (same procedure, goes on cold, then snug it down a bit with it hot). Brass nozzles are cheap and if you buy E3D compatible nozzles they will fit.
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The thermistor may not be faulty -- the air gap you have between the end of the cable and the RAMPS board may be all that is wrong with it :)
     
  8. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    Is the error for sure related to the nozzle thermistor or could it be the heat bed thermistor too? The connector plug for the heat bed thermistor is a big white one and most other connections are thin and black (they seem to fit better).

    I traced the wire from the nozzle thermistor (without removing all the wiring shielding / wrap on the bundle) and it appears to be going to D9(-) slot. The D9(+) connection screw was very loose so I tightened it down. Why does it lead to a spot intended for a second extruder? Is that right?

    Also if you don't mind could you let me know what model my replacement RAMPS fan is. My current one has seen better days :D

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well, yours has been modified from stock :) Stock it would have had a connector identical to the ones already landed on the RAMPS board from the hotend. I can't see yours so you will need to do some testing. Here is a picture -- check and see if you already have a wire landed on the bed thermistor connection on the RAMPS board.

    RAMPS Wiring Robo.gif

    The D9 connection is NOT the thermistor -- that is the parts cooling fan that cools parts being printed. In this picture the RED wires are the heater core, the thermistor should be smaller gauge black ones, but again ... yours is not stock.

    HeaterBlockAssembled-1000x1000.JPG

    The RAMPS fan is any 12vdc fan of the appropriate size :) Measure the size and then look for a 12vdc fan and you are good.
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The error will absolutely happen with the hotend thermistor getting flakey. I am pretty sure it will for the bed as well, but it has been a while since I reviewed the Marlin source code for that...

    I imagine yours is not far removed from stock so that diagram above with the wiring should be correct.
     
  11. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    You're right, that D9(-) connection wasn't the thermistor! I was a bit hesitant to pull the plastic shield off the wires to trace them properly but ended up doing it anyway once you pointed that out. The thermistor ended up being in the right place, I took it out and re-seated it.

    Good news is that the printer is working now!

    It was fixed by either:
    • re-seating the thermistor wire
    • tightening D9(+) connection
    • or because I turned fan on (the one that cools the part being printed)
    Not really sure which did it.

    Anyway I printed a test circle for a couple mins and then did a test gear as well.

    I don't have any hairspray or gluestick on hand so the print quality was crap and I cancelled it. I'll retest it more tomorrow :D thanks for the help getting things going. Feels good to finally see it printing!!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That is a classic Z offset issue.
    However since this is a beta you do not have autoleveling so you need to manually set the offset by doing manual bed leveling.
    If you want autoleveling you can convert it to autoleveling by adding one new Z switch (the beta only had one and you need two) and relocating the original one you do have. You need to print a couple of switch mounts, install them and the switches and load the R1 firmware :) Then you can use autoleveling.

    There is a decent video over here on manual leveling:
     
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Adding the autoleveling may sound daunting, but in reality it is probably less than 20 dollars in parts, a couple of printed parts and an hour or a bit more (if you go slow) of work to make the changes.

    You can likely do enough manual leveling to print the two mounting parts you need.
     
  14. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    I'm confused... in that video he says there are bed mounting screws I adjust but my bed doesn't have that. My bed is mounted across a central plate with 2 stainless rods held by brackets (one on left side one on right side).

    [​IMG]

    When I bought the printer the guy told me to adjust the threaded rods, is that how this printer bed is adjusted? He was manually rotating one side while showing me maybe it threw off the balance?
     
    #34 gearprinter, Nov 18, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
  15. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    Could I get a link to the autoleveling parts list / tutorial please? I'm definitely interested.
     
  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #36 mark tomlinson, Nov 18, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well that is not a beta bed so at some point it was upgraded to the R1 style bed (I did that on one of my beta machines too). Which means there are no installed bed adjustment options (probably because they intended for autoleveling to be the answer).

    That bed about all you can do is to shim the bed between the rails and the magnets on the glass -- Paper shims work well in that case. Or shim under the bearing races that mount to the bottom of the printer (under the bed) -- the ones the rods for the bed pass through.
     
    #37 mark tomlinson, Nov 18, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Are you sure it is a beta? Maybe it is an R1? Take a picture of the crossbar where the threaded rods go through it. That help and a picture of the base where the threaded rods go through it.
     
  19. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    I took a quick video, hopefully it shows everything. https://streamja.com/B4d4P

    The reason I think it's a beta is because the guy told me it was "from the original kickstarter campaign" and it doesn't have a plastic cover for the base. I don't know for sure though.

    What do you think of something like this for a temporary leveling solution?

    [​IMG]
     
  20. gearprinter

    gearprinter Member

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    If the video doesn't show the right details lmk I'll give it another shot.
     

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