Just built a 3D printer and need to calibrate the motors. I’m not able to change “motors off” in the upper left corner of the opening screen to “motors on.” The printer is connected to my Mac. I know the M codes and use M17 to power the motors and M999 to reset after an error correction. What am I missing?
To calibrate the motors you need to home them , then use the arrow buttons to move to say 10 and measure it with a ruler or more precisely with a caliper. from there you will know if your steps/mm is correct and adjust in firmware accordingly.
A Update
Here is guide that explains the calibration process and provides links to test prints. As you can print out 100x100 squares and measure the print to check your printers calibration and adjust if needed.
http://reprap.org/wiki/Triffid_Hunter’s_Calibration_Guide 2
My thought on this is that the motors “come on” when you move them after you have turned “motors off”
That button doesn’t show status as it just turns motors off sending a M84 or M18. On my printer running RepRap Firmware using M84 makes the motors move freely
The button never changes to “motors on” - it only ever turns them off. With most 3D printer firmware motors turn on automatically when they’re used. If you need to turn on a motor, either do it manually with the mcode, or move it 0.1mm or whatever in the interface.
Did you home everything yet? Most cases new people do not home the printer. Marlin main, has a list of g code just in case you don’t know them all. I use code writer to read it in another window. What exactly are you calibrating? If you are adjusting the home position, or steps per revolution, or are you adjusting the bed level? Too many questions.
Thanks for the answer. “Too many questions”–you’ve got that right! (I know you were looking for more info.) My learning curve is pretty steep. Right now I’m trying to calibrate steps per rev. Then I’ll work on home position. My motors haven’t responded as yet, I ass u med “Motors Off” meant no power to them.
I needed your head’s up!
1.8° is the standard stepping for most stepper motors. 360°÷1.8°=200 steps per revolution. Drivers cut each of those steps into 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 steps. So, that means that one revolution on a stepper motor is 16×200=3,200 steps per revolution. On rep rap .com there is a Prusa calculator. There is one on repetier host as well. I don’t use printer face much. Well, not yet anyway. If you want help say over Skype where you can share your screen so I can walk you through things and explain all you need to know and things you don’t. I would give you (or others who read this for a short time) a better price. Like $12 an hour but that won’t last long. Even my online store price will go up. Or if more would donate to YouTube, I would do more. Oh well. Good luck, I have playlist on my YouTube that help many with some basic information and new things out There. Most all I learned are I. Those playlist.
1.8° is the standard stepping for most stepper motors. 360°÷1.8°=200 steps per revolution. Drivers cut each of those steps into 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 steps. So, that means that one revolution on a stepper motor is 16×200=3,200 steps per revolution. On rep rap .com there is a Prusa calculator. There is one on repetier host as well. I don’t use printer face much. Well, not yet anyway. If you want help say over Skype where you can share your screen so I can walk you through things and explain all you need to know and things you don’t. I would give you (or others who read this for a short time) a better price. Like $12 an hour but that won’t last long. Even my online store price will go up. Or if more would donate to YouTube, I would do more. Oh well. Good luck, I have playlist on my YouTube that help many with some basic information and new things out There. Most all I learned are in those playlist. Spread the word if it helps. Or if it doesn’t then let me know and will get through it.
