1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Replacing RAMPS 1.4 Controller board?

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Dzuy Nguyen, Sep 23, 2014.

  1. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    If you're not printing in ABS then this would be the quickest timeline:

    - Buy replacment sainsmart ramps from amazon prime and have it shipped to you. Unless you're running ABS the stock ramps will work fine. This will get you back up and running by thursday.
    - Ship me your stock ramps board
    - Order replacements from mouser and have them shipped to me

    I would hopefully get the parts I need by this weekend and can solder it in and ship it out to you, putting the arrival time about next wednesday-thursday.

    You could then feasibly return the amazon one, use the one I shipped you, until robo3d sends you a replacement. Then you'd have a spare.
     
  2. Robert Choban

    Robert Choban Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2014
    Messages:
    279
    Likes Received:
    27
    I talked to a friend who has a 3D printer and he has offered to print the rest of the parts needed for the hand, so that gives me some wiggle room.

    I purchase the Ramps kit with all the components. It should be here this Wed or Thurs at the latest. I already have one set of replacement parts (new/better mosfets and polyfuses) at my home that I purchase a while ago. I could ship this to you house on Thursday along with the new Ramps board. I will also order another set of mosfets and polyfuses that I can then have ship to your house.
    What is the company and model number of the mosfets and polyfuses that you want me to order, in the post it talked about different one's, just want to make sure you get what you are looking for.
    I really appreciate the help.
     
  3. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    Ok that sounds like a plan. I blew a MFR500 from one of my spare ramps, but I can replace that with an MFR1100 I pull from the replacement board when I put on the MFR1400.

    Another alternative to the MFR1400 is an automotive fuse relay and housing like this: http://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Au...85728&sr=8-7&keywords=automotive+fuse+housing

    As for the MOSFET if you could just ship me like 6 STP55N06L's we'd be good: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/STP55NF06L/?qs=RC432zO33OpfmDXU6gdaOw==

    I believe @Ziggy has previously suggested a MOSFET with lower forward voltage, though I don't remember the specifics.
     
  4. Robert Choban

    Robert Choban Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2014
    Messages:
    279
    Likes Received:
    27
    Mike I will need an address to ship to if you don't want to post that on this site my e-mail address is choban@usucceed.com
    In your above post are you saying the MFR1400 is something you would use to replace the RHEF1500CT-ND 15a Polyswitch for F2 on the ramps board????
    and the MOSFET that I originally purchased was the IRLB3036PBF MOSFET N-CH for Q3, but you want 6 of what you show above, is that correct.
     
  5. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    The MFR1400 and RHEF1500CT-ND are basically identical. The only real difference is 1A. The problem with polyswitches is they tend to get very hot and when they do you can trip the circuit causing the bed to shut off. They tend to work fine if that's the route you want to go.

    What I see a lot of people suggest is to use a 15 or 20A automotive fuse and replace the polyfuse with an inline blade fuse holder. This way you're less likely to trip it off, and you still get the fuse protection for the power supply.

    Is the IRLB3036PBF the one that Ziggy suggested? I'm not sure on that. The MOSFET I suggested is the one on the RAMPS 1.4 circuit diagram: http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/f/f6/RAMPS1.4schematic.png I don't know a whole lot about mosfets.
     
  6. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    707
    Likes Received:
    530
    4 people like this.
  7. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2014
    Messages:
    632
    Likes Received:
    342
    Check out Ziggy's thread on insulating the bed and using a solid state relay. Works like a charm. I heat to 115C from 32C ambient in just under 6 minutes. And it's a separate 15amp fuse protected circuit for the bed with the ramps only monitoring the temp and telling the solid state relay when to provide power to the bed.
     
  8. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2013
    Messages:
    104
    Likes Received:
    23
    Just be sure to get a non-knockoff solid state relay... Practically all of the Fotek ones are cheap knockoffs that can't handle the job and can get "stuck" and cause it to send power to your bed until it overheats and causes a fire.
     
    2 people like this.
  9. Leon Grossman

    Leon Grossman Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    123
    When my RAMPS board went on me, I replaced it with an Azteeg X3 and 8825 drivers. I've been quite happy with the results, especially since I was able to change my direct drive extruder to 32 microstepping. I wasn't sure if my problem was the RAMPS board or the Mega and the X3 was faster to ship, cheaper than a Arduino Mega/RAMPS combination and of a quality I could trust. The problem I had with the RAMPS stuff was that I could not tell which was of good quality and some of them even come unassembled. I looked at Sainsmart and the reveiws on Amazon were... suboptimal (IIRC).

    Also, my Automation Direct SSR has been performing solid duty for over a year now and has given me no issues. It was <$50 and the pain of figuring out the wiring. I think I have an old thread on that somewhere around here.
     
    2 people like this.
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,962
    Likes Received:
    7,344
    I liked the Azteeg when I saw it.
     
  11. Robert Choban

    Robert Choban Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2014
    Messages:
    279
    Likes Received:
    27
    Thanks for your comments about the Azteeg card, I don't know if I'm up to trying to figure out where all the wiring goes. I'm hoping by purchasing the Ramps Kit, I can just disconnect the wiring one by one on one ramps card and move the wires to the new Ramps card one by one. I've read on the forums that you have to be very careful about the direction you plug the wires back, make sure you don't twist a connector around and plug in in with the wires in the wrong direction.
    I did read some of the comments on Amazon about the quality of the Ramps Sain Smart card. Hope I didn't make a mistake order this card??
     
  12. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    707
    Likes Received:
    530
    Azteeg X3 seemes to be missing an Reprap LCD controller option. Seems you could connect a Viki. Or am I missing something?
     
  13. Leon Grossman

    Leon Grossman Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    123
    I use my ViKi* just fine with it. I'm not sure how well the RepRap Discount controllers are supported**.

    * Compared to the RRD graphical controller the ViKi is way better from a UI standpoint but suffers from two things. 1. It uses MicroSD, which is dumb. 2. There is supposedly a ViKi 2 being released.
    ** They're supported as it's just an Arduino Mega 2560 in a fancy package but the cabling that plugs directly into a RAMPS board won't plug directly into an Azteeg.
     
    2 people like this.
  14. Leon Grossman

    Leon Grossman Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    123
    The ViKi would require some work to figure out how to do the wiring. All of the same wires do the same things but you'd have to figure out how to put them in and you would need to do some soldering for the drv boards.

    The problem with some of the RAMPS boards I looked at (not sure about the Sain Smart) is that they don't necessarily come pre-soldered or fully populated with all of the aux connectors soldered in.
     
  15. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    I lusted for the Azteeg X3 pro for a while until I learned about the smoothieboard.

    Now I'm gonna wait for a 7-8 axis version of that.
     
  16. Leon Grossman

    Leon Grossman Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    123
    I'm looking for an arm based solution for my delta. I'll likely be going that route after my unit is finally fully operational for a few months.
     
  17. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    Great choice. I've been toying with the idea of a delta just because the smoothieboard seems to remove my complaints.

    Glad to see you back around as well.
     
  18. Leon Grossman

    Leon Grossman Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    123
    So far my delta isn't operational. It came with an undersized and a bent strut throwing my prints off and, like the first Robos it had a laughable excuse for a hot end. I've had it since Thanksgiving and I hope to have it calibrated by this weekend. Aside from the mechanical defects, it's a very nice package overall, though which will be even better when I get through with it. :)

    I don't have time to be here often but it's good to see you're still around!
     
    3 people like this.
  19. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    What kind did you get?
     
  20. Leon Grossman

    Leon Grossman Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    123
    I got a Boots Industries v2.5.

    Their design is (mostly) sound but they've got the same problems any of these small manufacturers (like Robo have) in dealing with China and they aren't heavily enough funded to buy their way out of the hole.

    Here are the problems I know about. The ones I had are *
    • *Almost all glass beds were warped. Sourcing a replacement borosilicate glass bed at 320mm was not a cheap process.
    • Drive cables breaking due to substitution by chinese supplier. (I didn't have this one because my printer hasn't been operating)
    • *Probe auto deploy magnet mechanically interfering with carriage due subsititution by supplier.
    • *Self destructing hot ends due to mismatched bowden fitting threads.
    • Low durability on direct drive cold end feed wheel mechanism.
    • *Self lubricating plastics... aren't.
    • *So far I'm the only one to have discovered bent tower strut and one horizontal brace being short.
    • *The LCD housing was supposed to look professional, instead it looks assembled by high school dropouts.
    • *VRef pots all left at defaults from the factory.
    • *Dual extrusion kit missing second extruder.
    • Wire insulation cut during installation.
    They've been good, but slow, about resolving issues. Sending people replacement drive cables. Working with someone to develop a belt retrofit kit. Sending me replacement extrusion. I'm not happy that my second extruder kit is still several weeks out and I received my printer in November and the $20 credit for glass is laughable given that I paid McMaster $140 for a custom cut piece. I could have spent less for a smaller piece from SeeMeCNC but I wanted the full 320mm build plate.

    In the end, no better or worse than any other 3D printer manufacturer. I'll still have it operational before the Solidoodle Workbench I cancelled would have arrived!
     

Share This Page