RepRapPro Multimaterials

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Revision as of 10:59, 24 January 2013 by Adrianbowyer (talk | contribs) (Step 3 - Test that everything is working)
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Introduction | Frame assembly | Y axis assembly | X axis assembly | Z axis assembly | Heated bed assembly | Extruder drive assembly | Hot end assembly | Power supply | Wiring | Commissioning | Printing | Multi‑colour/multi‑materials | Colour Printing - Slic3r | Colour Printing - RepRapPro Slicer | Maintenance | Troubleshooting | Improvements

A notice about these instructions!

Since 1st April 2013, the RepRapPro Mendel has been superseded by the RepRapPro Tricolour and Mono Mendel.
If you are building the new machine, use the official, and most up to date, instructions on the RepRapPro wiki here


This page is under construction

Introduction

This page describes the steps you need to take to build the multi-material and multi-colour version of RepRapPro Ltd's version of RepRap Mendel.

For the most part, the construction is the same as for the single-colour machine, and you should follow the instructions for that through to the end and get your machine working with a single colour/extruder before starting the work on this page.

When you have followed the single-colour machine instructions through to the end, then start...

Step 1 - Installing the slave electronics

...here.

Hardware Quantity Reprappro-multi-materials-slave-controller-parts.jpg
Slave controller board 1
10-way pin header 2
Printed PCB clips 3
M3 nuts 3
M3 washers 6
25mm M3 screws 3
3mm I.D. poly tube 15mm
Crimp shell connectors 6
3-way shells 2
3-way ribbon cable 700mm

Reprappro-mendel-bed-ribbon-marking.jpg

Remember to disconnect both the power and the USB before making any electrical changes to your RepRap.

Run the tip of a felt pen along between two of the wires in the ribbon cable so you can tell which is which from either end. (This is a generic picture; the actual ribbon you want is 3 way.)

If the 10-way header pins are not already soldered into their locations in your Melzi master and slave controllers:

Reprappro-multi-materials-10-way-header.jpg

Solder them in now. You will find this easier if the circuit boards are not mounted on the machine.

The slave controller is mounted in exactly the same way as the master controller, but on the opposite side of the machine. Mount it with the screw connectors at the back, and the USB connector at the front and the bottom.

Reprappro-multi-materials-slave-mounted.jpg

Take the insulating tape off the power wires and connect them to the slave controller. Make sure to get the polarity right.

The Extruder 1 should already be wired into the master controller from when you got the machine working in single-colour mode.

Wire the other two extruders to the slave controller.

Extruder 2's motor goes to the X motor output of the slave, and its head goes to the slave's extruder heater and extruder thermistor connectors.

Extruder 3's motor goes to the Y motor output of the slave, and its head goes to the slave's bed heater and bed thermistor connectors.

Reprappro-multi-materials-master-slave-wire.jpg

Finally, put two three-way shell connectors on either end of a 660mm length of 3-way ribbon cable to connect the master controller to the slave:

  1. Rx on the master goes to Tx on the slave,
  2. Tx on the master goes to Rx on the slave, and
  3. SCL on the master goes to SCL on the slave.

You will get the neatest result if you make the wire slightly too long, connect one end, run it and cable-tie it round the frame, then cut it to length and fit the connector at the other end.

Important: In the future, if you upgrade the firmware in either the master or the slave controller (details of how here), you must first disconnect one end of this 3-way wire. Reconnect it when you have finished reloading the firmware.

Step 2 - Check

Use your multimeter to check that the resistance between the case of the SD card holder on the slave controller and the outer metal shell of the XLR power input plug at the back of the machine is 0 ohms.

Check that the resistance between the + power input screw connection on the slave controller (the wire with no stripe) and the + power input screw connection on the master controller is 0 ohms.

Measure the resistance between the two screws on the power connector of the slave. This may start low and then rise. (This is the capacitors in the circuit charging up with the tiny current from the meter.) It should level out at a few hundred ohms.

Measure the resistance between the two screws on the bed power connector of the slave. This should be about 3 ohms.

Measure the resistance between the two screws on the hot-end heater resistor connector of the slave. This should be about 3 ohms.

Check the heated bed temperature sensor connector of the slave. The resistance should be about 10 kilohms. This is not just the resistance of the sensor. Other parts of the circuit on the controller board are in parallel with it.

Check the hot-end temperature sensor connector of the slave. The resistance should be about 10 kilohms. This is not just the resistance of the sensor. Other parts of the circuit on the controller board are in parallel with it.

Step 3 - Test that everything is working

If you are upgrading an existing RepRapPro Mendel then you will need to upgrade its firmware in its master controller. There are instructions here. If you have got a new Mendel together with the colour upgrade your new master controller should have the correct firmware already. Similarly a new slave controller will have its correct firmware.

Plug in the power and USB, and turn your RepRap on.

Run Pronterface and connect it to your RepRap.

Move the axes by a few millimeters in each direction to make sure that they are still all working, and turn on the bed and check that it starts to warm up. Turn the bed off again.

Now home the X, Y, and Z axes, then raise Z by 10mm.

In Pronterface's "Send" window (bottom right) that allows you to transmit G Codes directly to your RepRap type in and send the following three commands:

G10 P0 X0 Y0 Z0 S100 R80
G10 P1 X-34 Y4 Z0 S100 R80
G10 P2 X-11 Y51 Z0 S100 R80

Nothing should happen.

The P numbers are the numbers of each extruder. The G10 command sets distance offsets in X, Y and Z for the numbered extruder and the working (S) and standby (R) temperatures it will use.

None of these settings have any effect until the given extruder is selected.

Move X and Y to (100, 100).

Select the third extruder (numbering starts at 0):

T2

(The "T" stands for "tool" - a G Code standard.) You should see its temperature start to rise. When it reaches its target temperature the X and Y axes will move to place it roughly where Extruder 0 was (that was the X-11 Y51 in the G10 command).

Select T1 and the same should happen.

Finally select T0 and the same should happen.


RepRapPro Slicer