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Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:17 am
by flurin
kwando wrote:
I was hoping for a way to make the determination without having to get my hands on an multimeter. Guess I'll need one sooner or later anyway...


You can use a voltage tester (Neon screwdriver test light):
voltagetester.JPG


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_light

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 12:48 am
by kwando
Cheers Flurin,

I ended up just buying a multimeter. Figured I'd have many more uses for it in the future, and as it turns out they aren't very expensive as well.

I got a Cat II at the local shop for $10.

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 8:54 am
by gazob
Just posting to say I will also be recieving one of the automation hadron kits when they come in stock mid July.

Im in Melbourne, Australia, and was pointed to the hadron by Kwando

Im a total noob at this, and feel this kit gives a great chance for a succesful build.

Im also down for a single complete extruder from the qu-bd kickstarter

and at the moment tossing up on the remaining.

Like the azteeg x3, like the orduino and lava bed, but reprapdiscount an ebay seller can bundle a complete ramps 1.4 with hotbed and wiring loom leaving very little in the way of sourcing of parts, and more importantly reducing shipping. That being said I really do like the lava hotbed so will see if frob is expecting to have orduinos ready to go before Mid August.

For a power supply ill probably just end up using a matx pc psu, I have a few lying around

GaZ

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:59 pm
by kwando
Hey Gaz!

Good to see another Melbournian doing a build.

Do you have a link for that hotbed/controller package? I'm almost certain to be going with an Orduino + Lava but it'll come down to the timelines.

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:08 am
by gazob
here is the reprap forums page that discusses this chinese ebay supplier, apparently all his stuff is good quality, and he sells or is about to sell enough stuff that he can bundle almost everything http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?4,136252

Still thinking the lava hotbed would be an easier build platform build, and orduino looks great, but ramps is very well supported in this community..

Whereabouts in melb are you kwando, Im out at Sunbury.

GaZ

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:34 am
by kwando
Hey Gaz,

I'm currently in Kew, which is a bit of a trek from Sunbury.

Can someone explain what stepper drivers are and what their purpose is? Is it an extra thing that's put onto the controller or does the controller board usually already incorporate them?

Cheers

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:53 am
by Liberty4Ever
kwando wrote:Can someone explain what stepper drivers are and what their purpose is? Is it an extra thing that's put onto the controller or does the controller board usually already incorporate them?

Stepper drivers are small printed circuit boards, usually about 25 mm square, typically with one stepper motor driver integrated circuit. The controller sends them STEP and DIRECTION signals and the stepper driver converts that into the electrical signals needed by the stepper motors, including amplifying the power by a lot more than the controller could supply. The stepper motor driver ICs also do some other stuff like managing the microstepping, current limiting to prevent overheating, etc.

Most of the control electronics (RAMPS, Sanguino, Arteeg) have connectors to install one stepper motor drive per stepper motor, but some of the newer controllers like the Ordiuno have built in stepper motor drivers on the main board.

The info is out there. I've spent over a month obsessively reading forums like this trying to learn 3D printing stuff. The RepRap forum has a lot of answers to questions just like this.

Someone needs to make a single document or video... Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Building A 3D Printer But Were Afraid To Ask.

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:32 am
by kwando
Thanks for taking the time to respond and answer.

I couldn't agree more with there needing to be a how-to guide on starting out in 3D printing. It would be a solution to the multitudes of repeat threads at the reprap forums, leaving just the good discussion when doing searches.

I've spent some time on the wiki too, and although a great source of information, you really need to know what you want to search for before you get any use out of it. Problem is newbies like myself don't know where to begin a lot of the time. The pieces are slowly falling into place though thanks to research and helpful members of the community such as yourself.

With regards to the stepper motors, and this is coming from a completely non technical background, I would have always assumed that they be a part of the controller electronics. I need to remind myself that this tech is still largely in the hobbyist level of development and that refinements are coming, but slowly - example being the Orduino.

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:47 am
by Liberty4Ever
The stepper motor drivers are often configured as daughter boards because the stepper motor driver ICs are pricey. Making them plug in modules allows users to configure a system with only as many as needed, although most 3D printers need four (X, Y, Z, and the extruder). Some now use a fifth for a second extruder. Probably a bigger reason for making them modules is they're the part most likely to be damaged, and the modules are more easily replaced. The Orduino has the drivers on the main board, but it was designed so the printed circuit board traces could be easily cut and a stepper motor driver module could be plugged in on top of a defective motor driver.

Re: *soon to be* ORD Bot owners, assemble!

PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:29 pm
by Randolph
I am also waiting for a Hadron kit delivery.
While reading all of the posts, I see mentions of "interference?" Would routing all of the cables through the makerslide extrusion exacerbate this problem?
Would running all stepper motor wiring though one side and the sensor (thermistor) wires through the other vertical extrusion help eliminate this problem?