Extruder stepper not working

[WayneMcCleve]

I have a Rostock Max kit purchased in Aug 2013. I finally had time to complete the assembly and calibration. I'm down to the last step, before printing the cube, of manually extruding and the extruder stepper is not operating.

I have a second extruder (I bought two so I could eventually do a dual extruder configuration) so I plugged it into E0 and no response when I use RH to manually extrude 10 mm. I then used volt meter on the E0 pins while sending the manual command to extrude and get fluctuation but ~12vdc. Not sure what to try next. Seems I am getting the correct voltage (I think) but absolutely no response (hum, vibration or movement) from either stepper motor when connected to E0.

[Jimustanguitar]

You've confirmed that you have voltage from the motor driver... you need to make sure that 1, you have continuity to the motor itself by measuring the resistance across the connector for the motor coils, and 2, that you have the right pinout at that connector.

More work with the multimeter and you should be up and running soon.

[mhackney]

Do you have your X, Y, Z tower steppers working? If so, rule out the extruder steppers by temporarily connecting to one of these axes and see if it moves there. If so, then the stepper is OK. If not, then connect your X stepper to the extruder port. Does that work? If not, then you have a bad connection somewhere. Crimping and inserting the connector pins on the RAMBo end can be a problem for some people and a single wire "hair" can cause a short. If that is OK, then check that the wiring is connected in the correct order.

cheers,
Michael

[Eaglezsoar]

Be sure the power is off before switching the connectors. If you pull a connector with the power on you will most likely destroy the driver chip on the Rambo.

[joecnc2006]

Be sure the power is off before switching the connectors. If you pull a connector with the power on you will most likely destroy the driver chip on the Rambo.

Good point this holds true on just about all the boards, On CNC Machines this is also a caution, or you could blow a chip, I had a wire break on one of my machines and it fried a Gecko driver (G201) was my fault for not securing the wires.

[mhackney]

Good safety tip Eagle! I should remember to say that since I've blown several boards by not turning off the power!

[joecnc2006]

Good safety tip Eagle! I should remember to say that since I've blown several boards by not turning off the power!

Maybe should be added to the manuals, I don't think I saw that mentioned in there.

[Eaglezsoar]

Good safety tip Eagle! I should remember to say that since I've blown several boards by not turning off the power!

Maybe should be added to the manuals, I don't think I saw that mentioned in there.

It is difficult for an experienced user to write technical manuals because it is assumed the user knows the basics which is not true in many cases.
Gene does an excellent job and even writes so the basic user can understand but some assumptions are still made.
On the flip side it is even more difficult for the inexperienced user to write technical manuals because he knows only enough to fill half a page.

[WayneMcCleve]

Do you have your X, Y, Z tower steppers working? If so, rule out the extruder steppers by temporarily connecting to one of these axes and see if it moves there. If so, then the stepper is OK. If not, then connect your X stepper to the extruder port. Does that work? If not, then you have a bad connection somewhere. Crimping and inserting the connector pins on the RAMBo end can be a problem for some people and a single wire "hair" can cause a short. If that is OK, then check that the wiring is connected in the correct order.

cheers,
Michael

I did as you suggest and ruled out the extruder steppers and their wiring. They work fine when connected to the X, Y or Z axes. When I connected the Z axis stepper to the extruder E0 there was no response when attempting to manually move the use an extrude 10 mm command in RH.

When I issue an extruder stepper command and test the E0 pin voltages I get a similar response as I do with any of the axes steppers signals. Could it be a bad or blown board if I am getting what looks like the correct voltage response? I was think maybe a software setting but again, it seems to be sending the signal to move the extruder.

I guess I could try using E1 extuder on the board but not sure how to configure to do that

[geneb]

Is the hot end up to temp when you try the extrude?

g.

[mhackney]

Very good point Gene! Good catch. Repetier firmware (the recent versions) won't let you extrude unless the hot end is, well, hot.

[WayneMcCleve]

Is the hot end up to temp when you try the extrude?

g.

I didn't realize that the firmware prevented extruder stepper from operating if the hotend was below temp. Good to know. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the fix. I brought both the hotend and heated bed up to 230 C and 80 C respectively but still not response from the extruder stepper

[mhackney]

Ok, I suggest trying to use extruder 2 connection then and see if that will work. You may have a bad driver on RAMBo. Here's how:

TURN EVERYTHING OFF (I remembered!)
move the extruder stepper connector from E0 Motor to E1 Motor on the RAMBo
Edit pins.h - here's how:

look for this block of code:

Code: Select all

#define E0_STEP_PIN    34
#define E0_DIR_PIN     43
#define E0_ENABLE_PIN  26
#define E0_MS1_PIN     65
#define E0_MS2_PIN     66

#define E1_STEP_PIN    33
#define E1_DIR_PIN     42
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN  25
#define E1_MS1_PIN     63
#define E1_MS2_PIN     64

Basically, all you need to do is change all the E0s to E1s and comment out the E1s like this:

Code: Select all

#define E1_STEP_PIN    34
#define E1_DIR_PIN     43
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN  26
#define E1_MS1_PIN     65
#define E1_MS2_PIN     66

//#define E1_STEP_PIN    33
//#define E1_DIR_PIN     42
//#define E1_ENABLE_PIN  25
//#define E1_MS1_PIN     63
//#define E1_MS2_PIN     64

Recompile and upload the firmware and test.

[WayneMcCleve]

Ok, I suggest trying to use extruder 2 connection then and see if that will work. You may have a bad driver on RAMBo. Here's how:

TURN EVERYTHING OFF (I remembered!)
move the extruder stepper connector from E0 Motor to E1 Motor on the RAMBo
Edit pins.h - here's how:

look for this block of code:

Code: Select all

#define E0_STEP_PIN    34
#define E0_DIR_PIN     43
#define E0_ENABLE_PIN  26
#define E0_MS1_PIN     65
#define E0_MS2_PIN     66

#define E1_STEP_PIN    33
#define E1_DIR_PIN     42
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN  25
#define E1_MS1_PIN     63
#define E1_MS2_PIN     64

Basically, all you need to do is change all the E0s to E1s and comment out the E1s like this:

Code: Select all

#define E1_STEP_PIN    34
#define E1_DIR_PIN     43
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN  26
#define E1_MS1_PIN     65
#define E1_MS2_PIN     66

//#define E1_STEP_PIN    33
//#define E1_DIR_PIN     42
//#define E1_ENABLE_PIN  25
//#define E1_MS1_PIN     63
//#define E1_MS2_PIN     64

Recompile and upload the firmware and test.

[/color]


mhackney,
I used your above recommendation and changed the software using E1 in place of E0 for extruder 1. I have been printing for a few weeks and as of today I am having the same problem with E1 (extruder motor does not operate). I did all the tests and have ruled out wiring and the motor from being the problem. Looks like I will need to purchased a new Rambo. Any idea what could be the cause of having both go bad or how I can prevent?

[Polygonhell]

Assuming you blew the driver, the drivers are very sensitive to transient voltage spikes, this can occurs if the motor is disconnected while there is power yo the board, either by someone manually disconnecting it or if you have a bad crimp on the connector or a loose motor wire somewhere.
Having said that, it's actual pretty unlikely that pulling the connector out will actually damage the chip, it can but more often than not you get away with it. A loose connection on the other hand can be akin to doing it hundreds of times and will eventually destroy the driver.