Thank god for the 3 spare IDC connectors, despite reading the instructions numerous times I still managed to mess up the wiring sequence on 3 connectors, one of them twice! My advice would be to double check against the photo before you clamp the connector.
Thing-O-Matic Electronics Installation / Discussion
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This is the discussion related to the wiki page Thing-O-Matic Electronics Installation.
A heads-up to other ToM customers-
I got my Gen4 Mobo with a ToM, and while this page said I didn't have to worry about disabling auto-reset myself, I'm glad I double-checked it. While the solder blobs on the board were visibly scored, the copper trace below was intact. (I confirmed continuity with my multimeter.)
I was able to cut the trace myself without incident, but I figured I should provide feedback to help others.
- Justin
On my 3 stepper controllers and extruder controller the metal tabs on the 7805 voltage regulators were folded over (to varying degrees.) They're the tallest things on the board and I presume the packaging simply didn't protect them well.
As the metal tabs are connected to GND, I made certain they weren't touching anything else, such as the foil tops on the adjacent capacitors. I was able to very gently bend them as needed. I didn't try to bend them completely straight however, for fear of the tabs breaking off. (I doubt those chips get terribly hot, but I don't want to tempt fate.)
Makerbot might want to determine if there's any real danger of shorting (based on what's near the components on the boards) and put a note in the wiki if it's warranted.
- Justin
on the page: http://wiki.makerbot.com/thingomatic-doc:electronics-installation
I'm looking at the section: Connect ATX Power to Steppers and Extruder
I'm unable to determine the arrangement of wires/connectors.
I've gone through the rest of the steps on the page and made the rest of the connections.
1) it looks like there are wires coming from the power supply that aren't needed for thing-o-matic. 2) The connector that fits into the Y cable in the photo appears to have 4 single wires coming from it. The 1 connector I have that fits the Y connector and has the same 4 wires has one remaining connector attached. This would power the extruder and 2 steppers. I see other wires in the photo… can't see the arrangement well enough…. please help :)
thanks
Please follow my advise and DO NOT use a Y power cable to plug into the extruder board. In fact please try to plug the extruder controller board on it's own power cable chain (in other words don't use any other connector on that group of wires). It's OK to use the y splitters on the stepper drivers.
http://wiki.makerbot.com/forum/t-294403/thing-o-matic-extruder-controller-problem#post-982697
So I'm the stage to connect the z axis sensor, and the directions indicate I should be using two 1/4" spacers. But I just used the last two on the y axis sensor, and am left with two 1/8" spacers. Going back over the directions I see I was given a choice at the ABP to use two 1/4" spacers instead of the 1/8" spacers. Did the kit short two 1/4" in light of these instructions?
I'm looking at clearances and it appears to me that the 1/8" spacers would do just fine on the y assembly with the ABP. If not I can cut some of the spare silicone tubing and make my own spacers.
Thoughts?
Thanks
Brad
I was in the same position and used the 1/8" spacers for the z-switch. It's been working fine for me.
Ditto,
No 1/4 spacers left, just the two 1/8 spacers. :-)
I added 1x nut under each bolt to add some extra height, and keep the stop near the suggested 1/4 spacing.
-Dr Black Adder
http://hsrc.static.net/blog/
Same issue. Parts count needs to be fixed.
-Sean
The kits seem to be missing 2 of the 1/4 inch spacers.
I made two out of the red filament tube for the plastruder. Used those for the electronics, not for the end stops.
I actually had two extra 1/4'' spacers on hand, so I tried using them in place of the 1/8'' spacers. Doing so causes the Z-platform to run into the spacers and stop short of triggering the endstop (which makes the motor strain trying to raise the platform.) I took the 1/4'' spacers out and replaced them with the 1/8'' spacers that came with the kit, and the Z-platform properly triggered the endstop. It's most likely that the instructions were incorrect, so I've changed the page to indicate that the 1/8'' spacers should be used here.
Do the 4 voltages need to be set on the stepper drivers for the X, Y and Z axis, or are the factory settings OK?
I am wondering about this as the 'Z' stepper gets very hot - too hot to touch for more than an instant. Not sure about the temperature of the 'X' and 'Y' steppers.
The X and Y axis stepper drivers should be fine. The Z and A (stepstruder driver) do need to be calibrated as described in the calibration page.
I found my X and Y stepper voltages to be a fair bit off from the spec. If you have your bot open, and a multimeter and screwdriver in hand, just check and adjust all of them to the suggested values. Just take it slow with the screwdriver — sometimes just looking too hard at the pots can change their values. Things get quieter, the motors get less hot, and general goodness prevails.
Why was this whole step and the reference to the voltages removed yesterday?
It's still there; you may have to refresh the page if your browser is caching this page: electronics-installation.
If you're trying to see/edit the underlying text, it's now included by a reference to stepper-driver-ref-settings. That likely makes it easier to maintain when you need to reference the settings in multiple places (e.g. FAQ, tutorials, etc) and update it with new driver and/or stepper settings like they just had to.
The description shows the end-stop to be on the right side but the Replicator-G expected an end-stop on the left side for homing.
The picture and text for attaching the stepper motor drivers to the base has been updated to swap the X and Z drivers. However, down where the IDC wires are connected from each stepper driver to the motherboard, the picture is now outdated, and the text does not reference it in any way. Blindly following these instructions would swap control of the X and Z axis.
I don't have a good photo and I'm somewhat new to the makerbot world, or else I would make the changes myself.
I've realized with the bots that we are hacking - even OEM things. The markings on the base are not HARD set. You can place the boards to best fit and then with a Sharpie or similar marking item make your change. Wire the boards to the correct motors and MB connection and you are sailing the great … I had to change mine around too….
I've got a roll of ribbon cable (sadly the boring grey but I will survive; maybe use my colored sharpies to liven then up? Would that be a derivative?)
Instructions don't say how long to cut them. Equal length pieces?
I'll make do off the pics if I have to, making running marks laying out the cable and making sure I've got enough. But a statement would be nice for most, and save the routing tests time.
(see - my 9 year old has somewhat less patience than I for resolving all the little omissions or juggled photos/instructions that are in these pages, so update this that page for the kids who are building the bots with their "daddy's help")
Patience? Who shakes the tail? You are the parent - teach you child. This is the golden experiment you are on.
I too built our machine with my boys but, the instructions are pretty much dummied with a few mistakes. It is an adult machine. It is great the kids can join and learn and grow but, come'on- You want MBI to now write for 9year olds? There are thousands of theses machines, per the numbers, built/hacked and the instructions are better but, write for little kids? —- You can update the Wiki I am told.
Oh, I'm not a prude. My 11 year old changed my disk brakes - with help. My 13 year old hacks his smart phone & PSP and re-aligns the laser on their PS2 - with instruction and guidance. They've assembled furniture and other things too. But, under the adult's supervision with the instruction for tools and such. Yes, the kids are generally the ones who explain the directions to me also. But, they need to learn patience, perseverance, troubleshooting and such - You do it. :-) You are a GOOD Dad.
Keep up the good work Dad.
The wires: Set the boards on the plywood. Layout the wires and cut to fit. I too had grey (sad) but, sharpied the one end and went with it.
We are looking to designing and wiring LEDs for the colors. ;-)
Thanks ;)
Measurements are ~12" / 30cm. The MK6+ kit had a length and it's 12" and a third of the roll in the other parts bag.
My 12 year old I lose immediately. He tries - but just isn't interested. My 9 year old just has similar interests. So he started cutting up my test leads on the electronics bench while I WFH when he was 3 or 4 and so that's when he had to learn to solder ;) 12 year old is into architecture and design so I'm catching him on that side (a plot I confess!)
We are doing two colors of LEDs for the inside. Green for one son and Blue for the other.
After busting a connector retainer making the cable for the Gen 4 Interface board I bought the Hanlong HT-214 crimp tool from Jameco. I think it's #73252 and it makes great short work out of crimping any IDC cable.
/forum/t-291526/thing-o-matic-electronics-installation#post-