Aluminatus TrinityOne Software Electronics

Aluminatus TrinityOne Documentation

Overview | Buy Aluminatus TrinityOne | Assembly | Software/Electronics | Components | Printing | Versions

Software

Essential

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Helpful

• Increase the PID_FUNCTIONAL_RANGE in the config.h to 20.
  • The default for the value is 10. With a 24 V system, 10 degrees for the hotend is about 1 second when initially heating up so it would overshoot a lot.
• Make sure your PID is tuned.
  • Value I like: Send M301 P12.5 I0.18 D12.0 to update your hotend PID settings. Send M304 P125.0 I0.3 D300.0 to update your Bed PID settings. Now send M500 to save the PID settings to EEPROM.

Other

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Hardware

Version 1.0.1

Essential

• Set appropriate current on Pololu stepper drivers
  • Current best recommendation is a Vref of 0.460 V, setting output current to 1.15 amps

• Provide for cooling of RAMPS / Pololu stepper drivers if LCD panel is installed, blocking fan flow
  • Re-locate 40 mm fan to one side, blowing across all driver chips.
  • Upgrade fan if desired (a 60 mm fan will fit).
  • Current best practice recommends not installing heat sinks on these chips.

• Verify correct extrusion direction
  • Some printers shipped with a mirrored extruder mount piece (printed). This causes the extruder to run "backwards" since the motor is mounted on the other side.
  • The simplest fix is to remove, flip, and reinstall the 4-wire connector on the RAMPS board (E0?).
  • This may also be corrected in the firmware.
  • Note that if a new, correct extruder mount is printed, the direction will need to be re-reversed.

Helpful

• Address X-endstop electrical noise issue
  • Re-route X-endstop wiring such that it does not run next to any stepper motor wiring
  • Alternatively, add a 10-100nF ceramic capacitor on the RAMPS side of the wiring (this may be jammed into the connector, which would not require soldering)
  • Alternatively, add a 4700-ohm resistor to the x-endstop wiring (which side?). Some owners have made cable extensions with a resistor, eliminating the need to cut stock wiring.
  • Alternatively, re-wire X-endstop and/or stepper motor wires using shielded, twisted cable.
  • Alternatively, unplug the X-endstop switch at the RAMPS board and ensure that no homing process is inserted into the G-code when printing.
  • Note most of these may be combined.

• Make Z-axis endstop switch functional
  • Other endstop switches had their mounting holes drilled at the factory to fit M3 screws. The Z-axis switch may be drilled to 3.2 mm (1/8") without damage, allowing mounting to the supplied bracket.
  • The spacing between the Z-axis bearing holder/X-axis bracket (printed part) and the endstop switch requires a long bolt or extension, which may be missing from some kits. A long (~40 mm) M3 bolt and a few nuts will work. Alternatives are at the builder's creative discretion.
  • Note that the switch mounts to a bearing holder (printed part) for the leadscrews which may not actually need to hold a bearing (see below). The printed part may be cut short if desired.
  • Alternatively, if you remove the leadscrew guides as detailed below, you can print a standalone endstop holder.

• Remove leadscrew guide bearings, top and bottom
  • The 1.01 instructions recommend not installing the top bearing and mount on the leadscrews. The bottom bearing may also be eliminated, leaving the screws supported only by the nut, and the motor and shaft coupling below. While not very durable, this minimizes possible overconstraints on the screws, allowing them to spin freely. There is some risk of overloading the motor bearings, which will be under the axial load of the weight of the X-axis gantry.

• Check Z-axis bearings for free running
  • The Z-axis bearings are Pacific Bearing Company linear items, sliding on Thomson shaft. While the bearings and shafts are very precisely made, the bearings are press-fit into a printed part. If the printed part has any proud imperfections on the inner surface, it will cause misalignment in the bearings, resulting in sticky sliding action.
  • Check bearings for free running on the shafts. They should fall under their own weight.
  • If the bearings on one side stick, there are several alternatives:
    • Remove both bearings from the sticking holder (a 4mm hex key can be used as a hook in the grooves on the sides of the bearing). Inspect for defects in the printed part, and file out with a rat-tail file. Reinstall bearings and check. Repeat as required.
    • If the printed part cannot be made acceptably smooth, wrap a piece of thick tape (aluminum, electrical or similar) around the centermost rib of one bearing, then reinstall both. The tape becomes a pivot about which the bearing can be steered. Use the shaft to bump the bearing, then check free running through both. Hunt for a position that slides free.
    • If one pair of bearings slides free and the other doesn't, a single bearing may be removed from the sticking side, and the printer assembled with only 3 bearings, instead of 4. The net impact on rigidity is small.
  • Note that one set of bearings is looser than the other ("compensated.") The official recommendation is to have the looser-running side opposite the X-axis motor, but the practical necessity of this is debated. Do be sure that paired bearings stay together, since mixing them could mean both sides would be tight, which may increase the chance of the system binding.

• Print new extruder body if mirrored.
  • Some printers shipped with a mirrored extruder body, causing the extruder motor to strike the X-axis motor at its limit, and also causing the extruder to seem to run backwards.
  • A new extruder body may be printed once the machine is operational.
  • This would be a good time to address the mounting screw under the extruder motor, which may not fit, despite being a button-head.

• Verify functionality of the SD card slot
  • Some SD card readers on the LCD panel have cold solder joints. Re-solder as needed.
  • There is a small switch (leaf spring style) on the side of the reader that may have been damaged. Check for misaligned parts, adjust with a pin or other small tool.

Other

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