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Solved Z axis wont go down

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Kingbob, Feb 26, 2017.

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  1. Kingbob

    Kingbob Active Member

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    So all of a sudden my Z axis has decided it wont go down on my R1.

    If i manually control it from Mattercontrol, it goes up fine, but wont go down. If i lift the carriage slightly so either of the end stop switches isn't pressed, it will go down, but only until i lower the carriage and press a switch again. This works with both switches implying the switches themselves work.

    Thinking it may be a loose wire i flipped the printer over and checked the wiring from both switches to the RAMPS board. I did fine where the 2 sides are spliced together looked flaky, and so did one of the joints on one of the switches. So i soldered up a fresh new wiring harness, new wire from switches all the way to the 2 pin connector to the RAMPS board. Tested the switches and new harness with a multimeter and works fine. Reinstalled, powered up, and no change!

    It almost seems as though the firmware has decided to reverse detection of the switch.

    Suggestions?
     
    #1 Kingbob, Feb 26, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2017
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If it won't go down then most likely the arduino thinks you are already at HOME for the Z.
    Bad switch or bad connection to the RAMPS. Run this command in the GCode terminal with the extruder off the bed:

    M119

    That will tell you what the Arduino thinks the status of the endstops is. Make sure none of them are at the HOME position when you do it. Paste the results back in here.
     
    #2 mark tomlinson, Feb 27, 2017
  3. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Did you home all? If you power on the printer and dont home it (prior to printing) it things where its at is 0 until it gets homed.

    edit: in other words it will go up from a power off and on, but will not go down until you home all. If you home all and it thinks where its at is home then like @mark tomlinson stated above, switch issue or ramps/arduino
     
    #3 Geof, Feb 27, 2017
  4. Kingbob

    Kingbob Active Member

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    I've never had to manually home the printer before, but if i send it an M119 i get:
    M119
    ->M119
    <-Reporting endstop status
    <-x_min: open
    <-y_min: open
    <-Z_min: TRIGGERED
    <-ok

    If i then lift the carriage off the end stop switch on the left or right, bith give me:
    <-z_min: open

    It really does seem like its backwards.

    If i send a G28 to home it, X and Y move fine, Z doesnt move.
    If i send a G29 to level it, it goes through the process but the Z axis only goes up, unless i hold the carriage off a switch.

    I've tested both switches with a multimeter while unsoldered and both work correctly.

    Its doing my head in.
    One extra thing, i realise i did accidentally click "Revert" in Mattercontrols firmare section, so I have no idea what firmware version is currently on the printer.
     
    #4 Kingbob, Feb 27, 2017
  5. Kingbob

    Kingbob Active Member

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    #5 Kingbob, Feb 27, 2017
  6. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    yea you want to be very careful changing firmware (expecially if matter control can do it for you) since the Robo models are not well defined and easily mixed up.
     
    #6 Geof, Feb 28, 2017
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  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yep. Sounds like you have the incorrect flavor loaded for your printer.
    Some have Z axis inverting and others do not.
     
    #7 mark tomlinson, Feb 28, 2017
  8. Kingbob

    Kingbob Active Member

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    Yeah after using that older version and tweaking it for an E3D head, got it going.
    Then while adjusting the Z offset, one of the wires broke off the heater pad under the bed!

    At that point I walked out of the room and got a beer before i broke something else! lol
     
    #8 Kingbob, Feb 28, 2017
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Awesome. Well, not the new problem part :(
    If you need help with that open a new thread for it and we will help you out.
     
    #9 mark tomlinson, Feb 28, 2017
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  10. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I thought it was a rule that you had to have that beer while playing with the printer.... :D I'll keep an eye out for the new thread.
     
    #10 Geof, Mar 1, 2017
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