Recommended first steps with an old stock Robo 3D?

TL;DR: Have an untouched 2-year-old Robo 3D. Now what? Freezes mid-print currently.

I got a Robo 3D as a present in 2015 - I was very uneducated about 3D printing at the time, so when I thought I'd clogged the nozzle beyond repair, I basically shelved it. I discovered this week that all I needed to do was change the z offset to -1.2mm and it's now extruding like normal. So I basically have a two-year-old Robo 3D and I'm not sure what steps I should be taking to get it in 2017 shape. Are there firmware updates I should be running, mods that are essential, etc.? I'm not even sure which specific version this is, how do I find that out?

I'm currently running into a problem where prints freeze a short way into the print, but I'm going to try to print via SD to see if that resolves it. And I'm going to set up an Octoprint server shortly so that I can keep it untethered but accessible. Beyond that, I don't have many specifics in mind for upgrades but would appreciate recommendations (there are so many stickied tutorials and lists that it's hard to know where to start and what's a priority - I'd love a more simple ranked list of importance and ranked list of difficulty to help prioritize).

I'm savvy with software but clumsy with hardware, so anything that requires massive disassembly will be approached with caution. I'll get to that point eventually. Baby steps!

 

Octoprint will likely solve the freezing issue.

Other than that, if the printer works after you get Octoprint running here is my tip: Don't change anything else!

The only other potential upgrade is on the software side by installing the latest version of Marlin that is being kept updated for use with the Robo by @WheresWaldo

And that's just for UBL/Mesh (you can already get the latest version of Mesh leveling Marlin if you want, but UBL will supposedly be better once they get interfacing worked out).

 

Hm, all that is gibberish to me. Are you implying that I should go through with that Marlin installation or that I should wait for something else? Is there any risk of the Marlin installation causing more problems? I want to stick with low-risk changes for now so that I can enjoy the honeymoon phase while it lasts

 

Read the first few posts in this thread for more info:

http://community.robo3d.com/index.p...-plus-variants-temporarily-sidetracked.18362/

The gist of things is that the stock Robo firmware is very old and the script that calculates the bed surface when probing isn't as accurate as it could be. The newer methods "Mesh" and "UBL are more accurate.

 

As a sanity-saving suggestion, depending on when your particular R1 was manufactured, you may want to spend time printing a bunch of spare parts for it as soon as you get it up and running again.

Depending on when your particular machine was built in 2015, you'll definitely want to print the Y-belt clips. Also probably the X-axis counterweight box.

I have some other suggestions along the lines of not keeping all of your eggs in one basket for 3d printing, but the moderators/admins here have decided that any posts along those lines are verboten unless they post them.

EDIT:

Also, buy a spare glass bed from Robo while they are still in stock, because back in 2015 I went through two of those beds due to manufacturing issues with the glass being weaker than it should be.

Get the spare bed, keep it in the box it is delivered in after checking to make sure it isn't damaged, and just hope you never have to replace it. But get it so you have it because if you wait Robo will run out again and you'll be stuck like I was when the third bed cracked.

 

Interestingly enough, I found the culprit for the aborts to be the cooling fan overpowering the extruder heater. Once I changed it from the default 75% to 30% the prints have started to go through unimpeded. This is printing with PETG, if that’s relevant.

How do I print direct from the SD card? I tried directions relating to an Auto0 naming scheme but that didn’t seem to work.

 

No LCD screen. I’m using the forked Cura but do have Matter Control installed as well.


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What do you use, and is it due to any specific advantage? I’m up for whatever works best and am not committed to any particular program.


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