Solved X-Axis Disappeared

Good afternoon (here) gentlemen and ladies,
I am the lucky "Print Shop" guy here at Gonzaga University School of Engineering. We have eight printers. Four MakerBot Replicator 2, 3 ROBO 3D R1 (Jan '15) and a little Afinia.

Recently I began the quest to make the ROBO 3D lineup a little more exciting. As you may well know, although printing from an R1 with an SD card is possible, you have to plug into the USB each time and that was just a hassle. Soooo...

I purchased 3 XXL LCD Smart Controllers, printed all the necessary gadgets to get them installed, plugged those puppies in and BAM! Great news! I had three 100% stand-alone printers with their own screens. Had...

But then I noticed I was having trouble auto-leveling and homing them, so I plugged two of them back into the computer one at a time to send them through a print (because just after you reconnect the USB and before the first print, the bed runs through auto-level although I'm sure there are other ways. That was how I knew to force it to auto-level.)
Anyway, it didn't exactly work. Nothing caught fire and no eyeballs were lost, but my X axis has mysteriously disappeared from the scene. I can access the control for the X stepper on the LCD Smart Controller (SC), but nothing happens when I send it to the left or right. If disconnect the SC and plug it back into old faithful USB, I can see the Y and Z axis in MatterControl, but now the X axis buttons (normally illuminated white) are greyed out.

If I attempt a print, each printer seems to just go about it's business like the X stepper is still functioning, but all I get is a big line in the Y-Z plane with bulges where it thought it was moving in the X direction.

I took the board apart and played with the stepper control pins. Plugged the X stepper into the Y stepper location and the X magically had power, so I know it's not the motors themselves. Either it's something shorted on the board, or Arduino got jumbled. Please help!!

(Below is what I'm lucky to work with. Notice the one ROBO I didn't mess plug into the computer after installing the SC works just fine... It's always something.)

 

And you're not able to move it with the prepare > move axis command? That's quite strange that they'd all exhibit the same symptom

 

Prepare>Move Axis>X Axis - gives me the display for the X stepper location and I can alter it, but nothing happens. Works for Y and Z axis though. Does this on both #2 and #3 machine in the picture.

It's definitely because I plugged them into the USB, just not sure what it did. And the X steppers worked fine just before. Maybe overloaded a part of the X stepper circuit? Regardless, this should go into the log books as something one should NOT do.

I have reset the Arduino board using both hard reset buttons. Nothing.

I have deleted and reinstalled each ROBO on MatterControl with the latest update. Nothing.

It seems like I melted something, but it's not visible on the board. I checked quite thoroughly.

Next step is a multimeter. Any idea of where to start?

Happy to have you on board, Mike! I've read a ton of your posts and know you, Ziggy and Mark are some real knowledgeable guys.

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm just learning and have spent a pretty good amount of time trying to piece together these things. I've got all my info and will be posting some write-ups on my mods.

 

Let's try updating the firmware: http://help.robo3dprinter.com/Wiki/RoBo_3D_Firmware


If you uninstall the LCD's does it change anything?

If you plug the Y motor into the X spot and try moving it does it move? I believe you said it worked the other way

 

Uninstalled the SC on each and tried to run off MatterControl (MC). No joy.

Plugged Y into X. Nothing.

It's gotta be hardware.

 

I'll update the firmware as soon as I'm in again. I left for today. Was in there for six hours already.

 

If you take a known working stepper driver from one of the other printers and put it in the X does it move?

 

I didn't want to destroy my last ROBO, but I can just swap the boards and check I guess. What part is the stepper driver? Is it the little chip that bridges the capacitor for the X? The one with the little heat sink? If so, I already did that. Nothing.

 

Yeah it's the little chip. Could be a damaged ramps board. There's some continuity testing we can do when you're back with the robo.

 

Argh. Wish I'd torn one off then. Maybe I'll run back down there and snag one. Sure my wife wouldn't mind a ROBO stripped out on the kitchen table

 

I went on Melody's page and found the Taurino and Arduino numbers, snagged the full res schematics off the repramp wiki, and I'm gonna get one torn down and metered to see if I can find any discontinuities. I was hoping I didn't have to do this, but whatever. I tend to tear everything apart eventually anyway. In the immortal words of Ron Swanson, "It's my curse."

 

I'm really stumped. I feel like we're missing something obvious but I don't know what it could be yet.

Following the pin continuity might tell you if it's a hardware issue. Not entirely sure what kind of signal a driver sends/receives

 

Ok well I've got them both laid out in front of me all ready for the prodding of a lifetime with the Fluke 45. Doing one more visual inspection before I tear it down.

 

I'm thinking if it's a short then it's on the Arduino and not the Taurino.

 

It's a ramps 1.4 and taurino/arduino.

Here's a fun circuit diagram for following the traces

 

Yeah, I can't tell if that is useful yet. Here is what I discovered on that page.

The D1 diode, which is installed on my ROBOs, is required to power the SC. However, the board is not designed to support both the SC and USB simultaneously because of the power supplied. It's designed for 20V, but I think both plugged in supply 24V. Trouble is, if I shorted something, ie the D1 diode, I can't tell. Everything looks fine. I will probably pull the working board and swap it for one of the questionables. If it works, then I'll be partially happy, but that means I've got to either find the fault or buy new boards. $100 for the pair isn't bad, but it's the principle of it.

Weird thing is I don't think I burst either fuse. They both have some resistance.

 

Yeah I meant it's the Ramps and not the Arduino. Long day.

 

Just flashed the Arduino with the 8mm auto level files. Nada.

It's gotta be shorted. I'll send reprap a Q and see if they can't diagnose.

 

Mark,
That's what I tend to do with things like extruders and steppers. Extras. These are just so new to me that I hadn't gotten there yet.

I think I found a work around. Sure you know of it. Since I won't be using a second extruder on these, I think I'll just swap X to E1 and reflash with the updates in pin.h.

If that doesn't ever work, then I'm just buying new boards. I don't have the time right now to chase every circuit and check values.