common faqs
what is different from this version that the regular mendel?
the regular mendel costs 800-1300$ for everything, and includes a lot more parts.
main differences is the drive system used on the catalyst. it is either rod, or pull chain based.
I'm having trouble with my x and y axis moving, what gives? - there are several issues for power loss in the motors. either the power level needs to be increase as per manual, the divisor steps need to be at 8 or 16x, or the sprockets that the gears are on need to have shavings removed so as to not catch when spinning.
The pull chain version has more power with the 16x divisor, and the rod version with 1x, it has to do with the compromise between speeds that the motors turn for each design.
I have the pull chain version, and the xbar/ybar is loose, or flexes too much, how do i fix this?.
this is an issue with the x bar sprocket sticking. smooth down the sprocket, or also remove the rubber band holding the xbar together, and try fitting the chain so it works for you and the speed you want it to run at.
what power level do i run the motors at? that depends on your settings and how warm they get. normally i would not run the axis motors or the z motors above 50% power, the extruder motor run at 100% power to get the torque needed.
where are the videos of device construction. they are being posted here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEzbKRKyVro
follow the link to find more videos. i will be organizing there location later on.
how do i get a hold of you for issues? -
you can reach me at jamesdanielvatmsn.com (replace at with the @) - i only check my messages about 4-7 days, as i only do this part time, and encourage you to first try to find help thru documentation, or thru the reprap community. the design concepts are similar to those that use emc2, and the motor issues are easily resolved thru out the form, either parts are hooked up backwards, software needs reconfigured or some settings of some sort need to be change.
why do you recommend emc2?: emc2 uses parallel port processing, and the math processing of a modern computer to calculate motion of the controller for your printer. The arduino is limited in its ability to do tasks in math, and complex angles. and it also is slow at transferring information to and from the usb port.
I recommend using the emc2 configuration with the arduino as a temp sensor and control of the relay to the heater.
I will be posting software that allows the arduino to perform better, using data compression and the math ability of your host computer. the time-line for this is still in the works.
Motors are not working? what do i do? - you need to enable the motors as well as the step and dir. to enable the motors, refer to the pin out of the board, hook up parallel pins 4,pin17, pin5 to vcc of the arduino, this forces the motors to be enabled. or you can hook up parallel pin 4 to arduino 15/an1, parallel pin 17 to arduino pin 16/an2, and parallel pin 5 to arduino pin 17/an3. i will be releasing a pullchain version of code that should work with this configuration. also make sure pin 25 on parallel port is hooked to gnd on arduino!
how do i hookup and use relay? it is a little confusing. parallel port pin 2 goes to relay, pin 2 on parallel port goes to pin 13 of arduino. relay pins on cnc board, go to gnd for common and the off side of relay goes to the wire that goes to ni chrome wire, other side of ni chrome should hook to positive of power supply. look at included diagram for setup of extruder heater, and of thermistor. thermistor goes to an0/pin14 arduino
how do i hook up relay if i use emc2? simple, use parallel port for emc2 operation, you will need to wire up, or purchase a 15pin da gameport control female adaptor. pin 10 on game port adapter would go to arduino pin 13, and pin 14 of game port would go to arduino gnd. this is only if the parallel port is used!! - the other option is to splice parallel port cable and have pin 2 cut and isolated from host computer, and then have pin 2 connect arduino pin 13. some people are also getting the old relays + electronics to build the relay setup. since the relay exists on the cnc board, i would prefer you use that relay, and setup because it is optically isolated, and a place exists for the relay to go.
what kind of power is needed for this machine? 3.5amps at 24volts. the voltage increase flux for the motors and allows more opposition to inductance loads than 12volts. without using enable motors setup to disbale motors when not in use, 5amps is needed. current kits are getting a 5-7amp supply, but is huge4 and takes up all the space on the bottom of the machine. i may go back to laptop supplies as long as they provide the proper current, later on.
why so much ni chrome wire? never cut the nicrhome wire. it is long to provide an average of 15ohms resistance. the resistance is because of the higher voltage. also more nichrome wire means more of a heater. if you use 4ohms like on 12 volt systems, you will fry the electronics, or watch your nichrome wire evaporate away.
why not 12volts? - you can run this at 12 volts if you want, but it will not be as fast.
why are you willing to sell this so low priced? -
well it really is not cheap. i provide little tech support, and other that documenting the device working, it is up to you and your skills to get it running. your time and skill is what gets it going. you may find that you need to modify it slightly to meet your needs.