Solved Z axis does not home properly

When I tell my printer to home all the axis the z axis moves up a little bit but does not move down. I have this problem before and it was resolved by making sure that the printer head is sitting properly on the z axis limit switches. I have done this and my problem still exists. When I use M119 in the G code terminal it says the z axis is triggered. If I lift the printing assembly of the trigger switches with my hand and put in M119 it says the z axis is open. I started having this problem after I installed a hexagon hot end in my printer. Any ideas?

 

Check out this video: http://help.robo3dprinter.com/Guide/Homing Your Extruder/7

Did you flash your firmware?

 

I watched the video and everything appears ot be in the proper placement according to the video. Yes I di flash my firmware to increase the max temp I could go to. the only line I changed in the firmware was the one regarding my max temp.

 

This also happened to me, and I think I remember it being due to the switch wires not having a good connection. I pulled down the rubber boot and made sure the connectors were snug, then slid the boot back.

If you've got an intermittent connection on the Z-limit switches, you might not catch it using the M119 command, but the printer wouldn't miss it.

 

I have used M119 to confirm the functionality of the z-axis switches. When the x axis is properly lowered on to the z-axis switches (as in the video Mike) posted by and I use M119 it says the z axis is triggered. this makes since to me since the x-axis is pushing down on the z-axis limit switch.

When I lift the x-axis off the z-axis and use M119 it says the limit switches are open. Again this makes sense to me since there is nothing pressing down on the limit switches.

I have also unplugged the z-axis limit switches from the board in the printer and used a multimeter to check there functionality. The multimeter says the same thing as the m119 commands.

This does not seem like a fault connection to me because both the firmware and the multimeter show that the limit swictes are changing state when between when the x-axis is sitting on the z-axis limit switches and when the x-axis is not siting on the z-axis limit switches.

 

I think the problem is that I used the wrong firmware file when I was trying to modify it for a higher temp. I used the Marlin_2_4_14.zip file because that is the one the instructions link to. I read in the forums that this is not compatible with the R1 with auto leveling. Is this correct?

Can someone share a link to the actual latest firmware?

 

I found the latest firmware under the support/firmware. I downloaded the R1 autolevel with 8mm rods.

Are the 8mm rods the guide rods for the z-axis?

Now when I try to move the z axis up and down it moves a little bit and then the motors sounds like they have a mechanical block and can not turn. I did nothing physically to the printer between being able to move the z axis up and own with the manual controls and not being able to move the z axis up and down with the manual controls. All I did was change the firmware.

Any ideas?

 

Solved the problem. Apparently I don't have 8mm rods is when i used the firmware for auto leveling with out the 8mm rods everything works correctly. What does the 8mm rods refer to? When I measure the guide rods for my Z-axis with my calipers they measure 8mm which is why I though I would need the file that says with 8mm rods.

 

Agreed. It's hard to know which model you have, if you've just purchased it.

 

Tell me about it. It's really bad how poorly they document printers. They fear announcing this documentation will make them look sloppy or small.

Ignoring it looks sloppy and small.

 

Two more quick questions:

1. along with switching out the hot end I switched out the heating element and the thermistor. Is there any calibration I need to do on the new thermistor?

2. how do i mark this string as resolved?

 

2. There should be a thread tools option at the top with an edit thread, you can then change the thread prefix to solved