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Solved Help please! Z axis shifting and third layer prints in air!

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by zenekNY, Sep 5, 2015.

  1. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    Hi! I'm new to the 3D printing. I got my Robo3D three days ago, the first day I got it I had to take it apart to replace the power supply (had one at home). Next day I was having trouble with the first layer because after the calibration the nozzle was dragging on the bed and not letting any fillament out. I found that setting Z offset to 0.8mm helped solving it. I printed out an ideal calibration box (came out perfect 100%) turned the printer off, went to sleep and next day I wanted to print out the Platform lifters. The first two layers are perfect but the third layer prints about a 1 mm above the 2nd layer. Please help me! I keep on running in to issues with every single thing when it comes to this printer.
    There are 5 layers on this picture. [​IMG]


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  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Reload your firmware with the correct version.
    There was a version floating around that had the incorrect Z steps and that would absolutely make a mess.

    Firmware versions and instructions here:

    http://guide.robo3d.com/Wiki/ROBO_3D_Firmware_Release_Notes

    Once you have ruled that out then we can troubleshoot it further. The fact that the skirt and first layer look good makes me suspect the Z steps.
     
  3. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    The Arduino IDE cannot compile the sketchbook. :(
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Which one? There are two (which is dumb) you probably tried the wrong one,
     
  5. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    I added the entire folder to the Arduino's directory, then opened the sketchbook "ROBO3DR1V3_06112015" from the dropdown menu file/sketchbook/ROBO3DR1V3_06112015
     
  6. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    I used the HEX included and the firmware version is. ROBO3DR1V3 but that's what it said previously. I will give it another try and come back with the results.
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Compile.jpg You really should not need to. extract it where ever you want and then go open the ROBO3DR1V3_06112015.INO
    I know they tell you to put it under sketchbooks, maybe on some platforms you need to, but my PC is happy to compile them from anywhere. Just make sure you chose the correct target processor (Arduino Mega 2560).

    I just downloaded that one (ROBO3DR1V3_06112015.zip) extracted it to a folder on my desktop and then opened the ROBO3DR1V3_06112015.INO and hit compile:
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Oh, I had to install the Arduino IDE fist as well since I did not have it on this machine.
     
  9. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    I just did the exact same thing but I'm getting a lot of code errors, most of them saying about multiple definitions. arduino compiler fail.jpg
     
  10. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    I tried printing it again after using the .HEX file for Matter Control to update the firmware but it didn't help me at all. Again the first two layers were perfect but the third started printing about a 1 mm above the previous layers
    Could it be a bad file? I'll try printing something else.
     
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You mean a bad model?
    Always a possibility. Unless you have one you know prints correctly for someone else.
     
  12. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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  13. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    Another print failed, this one though, when printing second layer, after Z axis went up to move over to a next section, it went back down too far and started plowing already built layer. Some of the 2nd layer is perfect but after it moved up and came back down it started scratching previous layer off. [​IMG]


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  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Exact symptoms for bad Z steps.
    If (for example) you have 8mm rods, but the Z steps are for 5/16 rods... (or the other way around) it will fail.
     
  15. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    I also thought that it could be due to an extended UBS cable, the regular USB cable wasn't long enough so I plugged it into a 3' USB male/female extension. It won't reach other way, I bought a "Full Graphic Smart Controller" maybe using it will help. But I might need to re-flash the arduino for it too, right?
     
  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, pretty sure the Full Graphic LCD requires some firmware tweaks to enable it.
    The smaller RepRap Discount one works fine out of the box.

    Eventually you are going to want or need to adjust he firmware.
     
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The USB cable might be an issue, but you would get errors in the communications window if that were really the main source of your problem. Not improper Z stepping.

    Over extrusion can cause similar issues, but to a lesser extent and while you SHOULD calibrate the extruder... you need to be able to compile and upload the firmware for that as well.
     
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I tried to reproduce your issue by directly following the instructions (extracting the ZIP file to the sketchbook folder).
    for me that was: C:\Users\mark\Documents\Arduino
    So the Zip file went into : C:\Users\mark\Documents\Arduino\ROBO3DR1V3_06112015

    I then opened : ROBO3DR1V3_06112015.ino

    In the Arduino UI and, it compiled.

    I am not sure what is different with yours. You might try deleting/uninstalling the Arduino IDE and trying it again.
     
  19. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  20. zenekNY

    zenekNY Member

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    I did as you said and it compiled! is it OK to run it without the sd card reader? I temporarily unplugged it to plug the graphic controller, but I cannot plug it in because I don't know the orientation the connector should be in.
     

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