well I'm out of comission for awhile

[guanu]

was streaming a print of h-1.1 parts last night, and about 3/4 though the print, the X axis decided to stop moving and make a grinding like sound (the sound of when you jog the axis too far and it sits skipping steps).. so to try to diagnose, I hooked the y motor to the output and see if it was my motor, did the same thing from the x-axis output, so its not the motor... doesn't matter what motor I hook to the x axis on the board, does the same thing.
When the board is powered on, it locks the motor as it should, but when its given either direction, its acting like the axis is bound, makes the same sound as if the axis is at its limit and its just sitting still skipping steps.. hook that motor up to any other axis, and runs just fine.. I just think these 3-axis boards are crap... this is the second board with x-axis issues I've had.. I keep the board on velcro attached to the power supply about 1/4" above it so nothing shorted, and its on the ground where nothing touches or moves it... so the board basically just decided to crap out mid print..

So my live feed broadcasts are basically over till I can save the money to get a ramps setup as I am done with this board... hope you guys have better luck with the 4-axis boards...

-pissed and disappointed,
Guanu

[michaellatif]

Sorry to hear about your board going down. It should still be under warranty.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you go with RAMPS you will be using different software.
If you like MACH3 then you will need to use the parallel port 3-Axis board.

Best of luck!

[guanu]

I would actually prefer to use ramps, yes, different software, but also more choices and customizing... as far as hardware, if an axis goes down, I can just replace the polulu, and the option of a potentiometer for current rather than being locked to 25 or 50%, when I want something between the two to lower noise... also being able to use usb over parallel... using a ramps board just provides more solutions of repair and testing rather than being stuck with a board where one axis goes down, you get screwed....
I have extra arduino's, and if I get an extra polulu or so, I won't be in the situation I am in now.... and the fact this is this is the second board to go bad on me, and reading many online reports of similar happenings, I'm done with this board...

Guanu

[kilroyo]

Well since this being your second board, you could do like I did and solder some wires from from the bad axis on the board and run it to the other bad board to one of the good axis. I'm not fond of these boards in the slightest. But considering the cost of the alternative. Eventually I would like to take the plunge and go to ramps myself

[guanu]

I dont have 2 boards or I would just take the tb6560 from one and put it on the other... I sent the first bad board back to seemecnc, but with this one going out I have no choice but to not even bother with trying another, and going to go to the ramps way... right now while I'm out of comission, I have time to 3d model my new carrages.. I'm almost done with my 1-piece extruder mount with holders for lm8uu's.. rather than 2 bearing holders and a top plate that the extruder mounts to, I'm making it all one piece..

Guanu

[guanu]

As I said I'm working on a all in one carrage, here's where I'm at so far... dimensions for the plate are the same as the plate the extruder mounts to.... and has spots to capture the extruder nuts as well..
Things I still need to add are endcaps to stop the LM8UU's from sliding back and forth, some slits for if I want to use a zip tie on the LM8UU, and possibly a small fan bracket.... but its coming along nicely..

Guanu

[drkow]

After going through two of these boards myself I went to RAMPS.

$112 for RAMPS with 4 drivers at reprapdiscount.com
$23 for arduino 2560 on ebay
inc. shipping

[guanu]

just updating my X-carrage pics.. most likely will order a ramps board tomorrow so I can print it for testing.. this carrage will use the current H-1 design, just replace the x rails with 8mm rod, snap in 4 lm8uu bearings, and yer done.. standard h-1 extruder should work on it.. captures hot end nuts, and cutouts for the tensioning legs that protrude from the bottom of the extruder

The one thing I'm still going to add is a place to bolt the timing belt to it.. just some vertical blocks that will clamp the belt on...

Guanu

Top:

Bottom:

[ALeander]

Nice work!

That is one sweet looking carriage.

[Fiero2M6]

If the problem is the actual x-axis tb6560 chip, you might try buying just the chip online for less than $15 and replacing it.

[guanu]

Well, I was bored so I removed the TB6560 chips for the x and y axis, put the y axis chip on the x axis spot, and powered it up.. works fine.. so yup, out of the blue the chip decided to go bad... what a crappy chip.. may order one and use this board as a backup, but still going ramps route because I'm not going to rely on something where this can happen out of the blue.

Guanu

[johnoly99]

Man guanu, sorry you had another issue with the board. We really havn't had any problems with ours, and only ever heard of you and one other person having issues? Wasn't your first board that went bad the X axis also? If so, I'm wondering if you have other problems? Just for SNG (#%$# and giggles, btw) check the resistance of your x axis motor leads. Each coil should have ~ 1.2 ohms or so. I wonder if you have a bad leg on your stepper? That would cause chips to fry. The only other thing I've seen blow up chips is if the motor wires are loose, or come unplugged under a load?

[guanu]

x axis motor leads test out at 1.4ohms on both legs... nothing registered across any combination of a+b, so motor tests good... happened mid print with the board on the ground and nothing moving... also tested everything parallel port related..

Guanu

[johnoly99]

Hmmm, board on the ground. Any chance of static on the "ground"? Carpet is notorious, but leno can get buildup too?

[guanu]

tile floor =) about to solder that chip into the y axis slot to see if it does the same thing.. its strange because it sounds like its trying to activate a and b on the motor at the same time no matter which direction you press... motor locks when powered as its supposed to...

and just finished soldering on the tb6560 on the other axis, same result... must be in the chip.. oh well...

Guanu