Extruder not working on new build

[archit]

I'm almost at the end of my build and everything has gone well, I'm now testing the extruder to find no response when I send a G1 E100 F90 command or use the extrude control in Repetier. There is not sound from the motor.

I might well be missing something obvious to experienced 3D'ers so I'd welcome some help, this is where I'm up to;


1. Connected the extruder motor to the X stepper and it works if I send a move X command - so not the motor, drive or the cable.

2. Swapped the driver for the extruder with the driver for the X stepper mother (its a Azteeg X5Mini v3) and the driver worked in the slot for the X stepper but the extruder still didn't work - so not the stepper driver.

3. I've swapped out the jumper which sets the 1/16 stepping just in case the jumper was faulty, no change - so not the jumper.

I've checked the config file and everything looks fine and matches the Smoothieware config file settings for the extruder motor, so now I've run out of ideas. 

[scottadams]

Looks like you've done the main troubleshooting steps. But I don't see that you tried driving the X stepper motor with the output for the extruder motor. If that doesn't work then it suggests to me that it would be a config file issue. Or maybe the current setting is too low to successfully drive the stepper?

[archit]

Thanks for the suggestion, just tried swapping the X output with the extruder output, the output for the extruder motor doesn't move the X motor.

Any guidance on config settings which might cause this issue would be most welcome

[animoose]

Is the extruder up to temperature, or are you doing this cold? If it's cold, you might need to send a M302 command first.

[3DprintedLife]

^That first. If you did preheat, then check the command log and see if after issuing the extrude command anything is returned to you, usually it will tell you what is wrong or at least get you looking in the right direction.

[archit]

Thanks for the comments I really appreciate your input;

I've run a cold extrude test and there is no extruder movement,

an extract of the log on sending the M302 code showed - 

< 09:29:30: ok T:23.5 /0.0 @0 B:24.1 /0.0 @0
> 09:29:30: N256 M302 *3
< 09:29:30: ok
< 09:29:31: ok T:23.5 /0.0 @0 B:24.3 /0.0 @0

and the log on sending the extrude gcode

< 09:34:26: ok T:23.5 /0.0 @0 B:24.3 /0.0 @0
> 09:34:28: N474 G1 E100.0000 F90.00 *52
< 09:34:28: ok
< 09:34:28: ok T:23.7 /0.0 @0 B:24.4 /0.0 @0

I then tried hot extrude test and again no extruder movement, this time around I used the built in control in Repetier

the log on sending the extrude code

> 09:45:36: ok T:210.1 /210.0 @70 B:62.5 /60.0 @0
> 09:45:37: N721 G91 *53
> 09:45:37: N722 G1 E10.0000 F60.00 *11
< 09:45:37: ok
> 09:45:37: N723 G90 *54
< 09:45:37: ok
< 09:45:37: ok
< 09:45:37: ok T:210.2 /210.0 @59 B:62.6 /60.0 @0

and the log on sending the extrude retract gcode

< 09:45:59: ok T:210.1 /210.0 @77 B:60.4 /60.0 @0
> 09:46:00: N749 G91 *59
> 09:46:00: N750 G1 E-3.0000 F60.00 *17
< 09:46:00: ok
> 09:46:00: N751 G90 *51
< 09:46:00: ok
< 09:46:00: ok
< 09:46:00: ok T:210.1 /210.0 @76 B:60.2 /60.0 @0

again no movement in the extruder

I've attached the full log below
Eclips3D Full Log Extruder Tests 2016-07-23-a.txt (28.77 KB)

[archit]

Thought I should add the build is 24V with an Azteeg X5 Mini v3 and SD5984 drivers, Repetier running on a Macbook Pro

[rock75]

Jul 23, 2016 9:28:14 GMT archit said:

Thought I should add the build is 24V with an Azteeg X5 Mini v3 and SD5984 drivers, Repetier running on a Macbook Pro

Where did you buy your stepper motors from? I had purchased one of mine from Stepper Online and the cable it came with was wired incorrectly. Once I switched the position of the wires it works fine. Might be worth a look.

[3DprintedLife]

At this point its looking like it may be a hardware issue with either the board or stepper. With the stepper showing no signs of movement, it most likely is not the problem. Usually only one wire would be loose or broken, in which case you would still get a buzz. So I'd say try inspecting the board for any possible cold solder joints or broken traces, basically anything that looks funky. If the board looks fine, then that would only leave a firmware issue. Are you using the config I posted on my site? Because if so, that may not work properly for the v3 of the board. I'd recommend getting the v3 config from panucatt's website and cross checking them, espcially the pinout locations it sets for the motors.

[archit]

I've discussed this with Wolfmanjm and it looks like it's a config file issue due to a change in syntax on configuring and enabling the extruder in smoothie. I'm just about to upload and test so I'll let you know how it goes. If it works I'll write up some information and post the v3 config file.

Thanks for your thoughts on this, it really helps knowing I'm not alone!

Interesting it of info on M302, apparently smoothie doesn't stop cold printing by default so ignores the M302 gcode, that nugget was straight from wolfmajm and I guess he should know.

[archit]

It worked, eureka! I'll write it up over the next few days, it might help others out i the future.

[tonyv]

Archit, did you get a chance to write up the config file for V3?

Thanks

[Rick]

See this post and try, I dont have a V3 board to test with but it should go.

eclips3d.proboards.com/thread/206/updated-config-txt-azteeg-firmware

[archit]

Back from holiday! the problem was a result of a change in smoothieware syntax in the config file for the extruder settings. In earlier versions the of smoothie the extruder settings were 

# Extruder module configuration
extruder_module_enable true # Whether to activate the extruder module at all. All configuration is ignored if false
extruder_steps_per_mm 134 # Steps per mm for extruder stepper
extruder_default_feed_rate 1200 # Default rate ( mm/minute ) for moves where only the extruder moves
extruder_acceleration 500 # Acceleration in mm/sec^2, only used for retracts
extruder_max_speed 1200 # mm/sec NOTE only used for retracts

extruder_step_pin 2.0 # Pin for extruder step signal
extruder_dir_pin 0.5 # Pin for extruder dir signal
extruder_en_pin 0.4 # Pin for extruder enable signal
delta_current 1.1 # Extruder stepper motor current

The extruder settings in the config file for the latest smoothieware uses a . in place of underscores so it should look like this;-

# Extruder module configuration
extruder.hotend.enable true # Whether to activate the extruder module at all. All configuration is ignored if false
extruder.hotend.steps_per_mm 149 # Steps per mm for extruder stepper
extruder.hotend.default_feed_rate 1200 # Default rate ( mm/minute ) for moves where only the extruder moves
extruder.hotend.acceleration 500 # Acceleration for the stepper motor mm/sec²
extruder.hotend.max_speed 1200 # mm/s

extruder.hotend.step_pin 2.0 # Pin for extruder step signal
extruder.hotend.dir_pin 0.5 # Pin for extruder dir signal
extruder.hotend.en_pin 0.4 # Pin for extruder enable signal

So the solution is simple enough once I understood the eclipse3D config file in the 1.1 download was  no longer compatible with the latest versions of smoothieware.

Hope this helps anyone else out there to head off the same issue.

[jjlink]

Apparently this also occurs on the Azteeg X5 mini v1.1 if you update the firmware. I must have updated my firmware and then extruder motor was no longer working. I tried the new Extruder module configuration above and now it works again.