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First Impressions

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by 1nxtmonster, Nov 13, 2014.

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  1. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    My robo arrived yesterday (yay!). I unboxed it, opened up the flash drive, and watched the getting started video. I installed the software and went to open it. It just crashed immediately upon opening. I tried it a few more times, then restarted the computer. It didn't fix it.

    So then I went and downloaded the latest software from ROBO. It did the same exact thing, crashing right after being clicked on. I went to look on the forums for a solution, but guess what? The forums were down for maintenance. I then downloaded the MatterControl software directly from matter control (version 1.1). It opened, and I connected to the printer. However, the printer head and bed temp were showing 0 degrees celcius, and the controls wouldn't move the printer. I tried adjusting the baud rate but that didn't help. In a last ditch effort to make the printer go, I downloaded Repetier Host. Repetier Host would allow me to move the printer around and heat the extruder and bed. But I still couldn't get it to print.

    Finally, I open matter control 1.1 up again, and it didn't work. But I read somewhere that USB cables that come with the ROBO are defective sometimes, so I changed the cable and it works! From there I calibrated the machine and was printing in less than 10 minutes.

    I am blown away by the quality of this printer! I've printed a few things, but the most impressive was a gear from thingiverse that is perfectly compatible with legos. You can't even see the layers its so good. Right now I'm printing a phone case from thingiverse. Hopefully it goes well.

    I still am having some issues with the software. In order to reconnect the printer I have to remove it from the known devices and re-add it to the software. Sometimes Mattercontrol crashes randomly.
     
    #1 1nxtmonster, Nov 13, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 12, 2015
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  2. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Can anyone help why it crashes in the middle of a print and then won't reconnect?
     
    #2 1nxtmonster, Nov 13, 2014
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    MatterControl is, well, worth what it cost.

    It does have stability issues. Make sure you are on the latest version (which you can get from their website):

    http://www.matterhackers.com/topic/mattercontrol

    You can try different software (there are other--IMHO better--free choices like Repetier host and Cura).
     
    #3 mark tomlinson, Nov 13, 2014
  4. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    #4 Mike Kelly, Nov 13, 2014
  5. Deadwood

    Deadwood Active Member

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    For what its worth i struggled getting anything remotely decent with matter control , Repetier-Host seems to work a lot better but I knowpeople have had success with matter control
     
    #5 Deadwood, Nov 13, 2014
  6. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    I tried downloading the robo software from the link you gave me. Same thing. I click on it, it starts to open and immediately crashes/doesn't open. It never really opens in the first place, the application bar says its opening and then it immediately closes without opening a window or giving an error. It just refuses to open. I'm only having success with 1.1.3 from matter control's website, but even it has connection issues and crashing.

    Does anyone know of either a fix for matter control or another software with easy to use configuration like matter control and auto calibration?
     
    #6 1nxtmonster, Nov 13, 2014
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Repetier host. Add the auto-cal gcode to the default startup gcode configuration.
     
    #7 mark tomlinson, Nov 13, 2014
  8. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    You can run autolevel in any slicer including repetier host (a lot of people on this forum use repetier host) by putting a few gcode commands in your start gcode. There are a few different
    You can also pick up an LCD, save your gcode to sd card, and run without being connected to a computer at all, which is pretty nice.
     
    #8 Printed Solid, Nov 13, 2014
  9. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Going with Repetier. I set up a profile for the robo with some settings that I could find from around the forum and added G29 to the g-code so that it does a 9-point calibration. It's printing right now and it looks pretty good. I have to say that repetier has given me no grief so far; it connects flawlessly and seems to be printing ok. I'll update once it is over.
     
    #9 1nxtmonster, Nov 13, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 13, 2014
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  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It is a nice product. I allows a fair amount of customization (when you get to that point) and you can save off different profiles (for different spools/filament types/phases of the moon/whatever). Lots of flexibility.
     
    #10 mark tomlinson, Nov 14, 2014
  11. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Heres a picture of an owl that I with repetier:

    20141114_153216.jpg

    But now I'm having some problems with the nozzle scraping the print bed. The first layer it is super close the the bed and the bed creaks as it moves. Anyone know a fix? I adjusted the z-offset setting in slicer to 1mm but that still doesn't seem to be helping.
     
    #11 1nxtmonster, Nov 14, 2014
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  12. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Things I've fixed so far:

    Faulty wiring on y axis switch.
    Loose Z axis couplings
    Z stabilizer rod was not in receiver
    Misaligned Y axis switch
    Software crashes
    Printer won't connect to computer

    So hopefully I'm through the problems and can get to printing.
     
    #12 1nxtmonster, Nov 15, 2014
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Par for the course :)
    Good job working through it, it gets better. Not a bad print either for how long you have been doing this.
     
    #13 mark tomlinson, Nov 15, 2014
  14. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    :)

    What method do you use for getting PLA to stick to the print bed? I've tried a super clean bed, gluesticks, Kapton tape, and nothing has really stood out. Trying hairspray now.
     
    #14 1nxtmonster, Nov 15, 2014
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well, originally I used the blue tape (painter tape we call it) but recently swapped to just using hairspray. In the end it is *mostly* moot if you are printing the first layer correctly (at the right height and all). The tape was the easiest to use (probably because it was more forgiving for slight leveling errors--the starting layer height could be slightly less exact than printing directly on the glass).

    Now I just use hairspray for everything and print straight on the the glass*.

    Attached is a photo of the current job. This is Blue PLA w/Hairspray. Last job was Black ABS (no changes to bed).

    *switching to this was an ugly reminder about how PITA it is to manually level (correctly) the beta machine. It is actually now MUCH better and I am very happy with the results, but lordy did it blow chunks to do. Again. I know why they wanted to go auto-leveling and I suspect as flakey as that has been for some it is still an order of magnitude easier. The @Mike Kelly auto-level upgrade for the beta is firmly on my list of crap to do.
     

    Attached Files:

    #15 mark tomlinson, Nov 15, 2014
  16. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    @mark tomlinson

    Thank you.Would you mind sharing your settings that provide a good first layer?
     
    #16 1nxtmonster, Nov 15, 2014
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Sure, what settings are you looking for? I can give you everything from the profile in Simplify (which you can translate for another slicer).
    Remember, I have a beta so there is no auto-leveling, first layer number :)
    I used @tesseract (master of first layer) example picture and just did a lot of samples to get a match:

    http://www.printedsolid.com/firstlayer/

    big thanks to @Printed Solid for hosting this in a good spot to link to...

    Attached FFF (this is an XML file really)
     

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    #17 mark tomlinson, Nov 15, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 15, 2014
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I am guessing here, but I suspect that playing with the Z axis offset used by the auto-level routines is probably the best way to get it perfect. Once you get a good one you will know what number to use for that going forward.
     
    #18 mark tomlinson, Nov 15, 2014
  19. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    The settings I'm looking for are:

    Z offset
    Speed
    Bed temperature
    Extruder Temperature
    First Layer Height
    (any other setting that you changed for a good result)
     
    #19 1nxtmonster, Nov 15, 2014
  20. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    For PLA:

    Z offset -- manual for me
    Speed -- 3000 mm/min
    Bed temperature -- 45
    Extruder Temperature -- 210
    First Layer Height -- .2mm
     
    #20 mark tomlinson, Nov 15, 2014
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