X-Axis Jog Control on Creatr

[Arno_Millenaar]

So a little more testing.
I printed a part and afterwards the left jog problem was there.
I hit disconnect in the software, turned the printer off, and unplugged the usb cable from the computer.
I waited 60 seconds, hooked everything back up and hit connect in Creater.
Without turning any heaters on the left jog problem was still occuring.
To get things working normally I had to restart Creater.
I did this more than once with the same results.

As I said before it's not just Creater.
It also doesn't always happen as soon as I turn the heaters on.

The above test procedure and the fact that it doesn't always happen, excludes firmware code (not settings). If it was firmware code, you would always be able to reproduce the problem with the same process.

So this leaves a few options:

Take a careful look/sound check on X-Axis stepper motor and make sure you don't hear a high pitch squeak when the stepper is supposed to start. This could indicate that the stepper is not getting the power it needs or that the pulses it receives are to fast. If the X-Axis stepper would be skipping, you would also notice that the X-Axis reading in for example Repetier no longer matches when you measure the X-Axis distance from the X-Axis left bracket (where you X-switch is).

In order to exclude that the stepping speed is to high, I would recommend to write down the EEPROM values (you can read them using with Repetier) and next tune-down the speed of the X-Axis. Just start with 50% less speed and 50% less acceleration and see what happens. Make sure that you save your setting in the EEPROM menu and restart the machine each time so it will load the new values.

Let me know the results and the default EEPROM setting and the reduced values you loaded in the Creatr, so we can consider next steps.

Rgds, Arno

[Festus440]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll do some more checking.
I believe that in order to see the EEPROM settings I have to edit the config file because by default they are hidden.
I agree that it's likely not a firmware bug.

Keep in mind that the printer acts normally (homes, prints, etc.) except for this small bug. Since I don't often even use the left jog control I didn't notice it at first. I don't consider it a real problem although I would like to know the cause.

When the bug occurs, if I click on ANY of the left jog controls, the carriage moves right 10mm. It moves and sounds exactly like I had hit the right 10mm jog control.
I'm no stepper scientist but it seems odd that a speed setting would cause the carriage to move 10mm to the right when sent a command to move 0.1mm in the opposite direction. It seems that for some reason the incorrect command is being sent. It also seems odd that restarting the host software fixes the problem, but disconnecting and power cycling the printer doesn't.

I'll ask over on the Creatr forum also to see if there is any history of this problem.

Thanks.

[Arno_Millenaar]

I don't believe you have to edit the config file (i could be wrong). I would try Repetier-Host SW first. There is a menu at the top 'Config' and when connected with you printer you will see a drop-down menu 'Firmware EEPROM Configuration'. If not connected, it will be 'grayed out'. This is where you will see the EEPROM settings.

Else, slightly more manual, you can issue a M501 command on the command line. It will show all setting, including the command syntax - how to set them, all changes are first in memory only. Then use M500 to save it back to EEPROM. After your M500 command, you can reset the Creatr, using your Repetier-Host SW and read back again the settings after reset/load and check the changes have indeed been saved and loaded by the machine. Again to read the EEPROM, simply use the M501 command if Repetier is not working through the Config menu.

Rgds, Arno

[Festus440]

I finally got back to doing some more testing.
I posted the issue on the Creatr forum but no replies yet.

It turns out that it isn't the heaters doing this. All I have to do is select the left extruder and the weirdness occurs. If I return to the right extruder the problem goes away.
None of the x-axis jog buttons work correctly. The distances are all way off and/or in the wrong direction. The correct g-codes are being sent. And when this happens the software of course doesn't know where the print head really is. Only where it should be given the g-codes being sent.

I tried different computers and shielded cables with no change.
There also may be other more subtle problems such as gradual layer shifting.
I usually only run a single extruder and had been using the left extruder.
It seems if you were running dual with support of different material there could be major issues if this happens. Might explain some of the large layer shifts some people have reported.
And as I mentioned, it's not just S3D, Repetier host does it too.