I'm in process of building a 3DR - three of them. One if for me, one for a friend and I am planning on giving one for a Xmas gift - if it gets done in time. The first is assembled and printing - but not well yet. My converted CNC rounter printed all three sets of plastics, which came out very well. This is my first experience with a Delta and with Rumba electronics. My other machine uses Mach3 and separate temperature controls. After a difficult start I figured out how to get into Arduino and upload the Marlin firmware to the 3DR. I can operate the machine using Repetier Host software but still having similar problems with the LCD display as several others.
I can home the home the machine, set temps and run programs from the LCD, but whenever I try to "move axis" all three motors take off until the head crashes into one of the columns - unless I hit the e-stop button first. If I first manually position the head down to about mid position between the up-stops and the bed, then the LCD "move axis" will work but they operate each tower as X, Y and Z motors separately rather than as cartesian moves and they can only go one direction: down but not up. This all sounds the same as several others have experienced so I'm happy to hear it's a software issue and others, who previously had other Delta software already installed, are not experiencing. I would really like to operate the 3DR similar to my Mach3 machine: adjust the Z-zero to the bed with a piece of paper and then select a program to run. But currently, the LCD is useless for doing any positioning moves. It's good to know that the RichRap Marlin software is the source of the problem as pointed out by HaDe. Now I just need to find the solution.
I tried to upload firmware form Eric Zahm (sp) but my LCD went blank. I then stared to install Repetier firmware but when i saw all the setup steps I stopped and reverted back to Marlin. I downloaded AndyCarts code but had a different problem getting confused now :) I enabled eeprom and can now access those settings from within Repetier Host, but when I change any axis offsets it effects the cartesian positioning and not the individual motors: i.e. when I set the X offset to 10mm I get movement of the printhead 10mm to right of center and not the X tower individually moving as if offset from the endstop as desired.
I've managed to get the bed pretty level and print a few items. The quality is not great - still needs extruder tweaking. But I think now that if I can resolve the was the firmware is working setup will be much easier. I'll take the time to reread through this entire thread and then try again - thanks for all the tips.
--Colin--
I can home the home the machine, set temps and run programs from the LCD, but whenever I try to "move axis" all three motors take off until the head crashes into one of the columns - unless I hit the e-stop button first. If I first manually position the head down to about mid position between the up-stops and the bed, then the LCD "move axis" will work but they operate each tower as X, Y and Z motors separately rather than as cartesian moves and they can only go one direction: down but not up. This all sounds the same as several others have experienced so I'm happy to hear it's a software issue and others, who previously had other Delta software already installed, are not experiencing. I would really like to operate the 3DR similar to my Mach3 machine: adjust the Z-zero to the bed with a piece of paper and then select a program to run. But currently, the LCD is useless for doing any positioning moves. It's good to know that the RichRap Marlin software is the source of the problem as pointed out by HaDe. Now I just need to find the solution.
I tried to upload firmware form Eric Zahm (sp) but my LCD went blank. I then stared to install Repetier firmware but when i saw all the setup steps I stopped and reverted back to Marlin. I downloaded AndyCarts code but had a different problem getting confused now :) I enabled eeprom and can now access those settings from within Repetier Host, but when I change any axis offsets it effects the cartesian positioning and not the individual motors: i.e. when I set the X offset to 10mm I get movement of the printhead 10mm to right of center and not the X tower individually moving as if offset from the endstop as desired.
I've managed to get the bed pretty level and print a few items. The quality is not great - still needs extruder tweaking. But I think now that if I can resolve the was the firmware is working setup will be much easier. I'll take the time to reread through this entire thread and then try again - thanks for all the tips.
--Colin--