[HOWTO] Convert Da Vinci Jr to RAMPS 1.4 (Page 3 of 11)

If you have a Digital multimeter you should be able to test the connection to the hot end. and if it seems solid then try checking the voltage at D10 when you kick the heat on.

How are you testing temperature? GCODE? or through the screen?

I converted one to RAMPS 1.4 over the last week. My son got this printer for $20 from Craigslist because it was not working. The hot end had been taken apart and was missing pieces, the heater block connection was torn off the PCB, the hot end fan was missing. A replacement hot end from XYZ was $90 so the conversion to RAMPS was a better plan.

I ordered a cheap RAMPS 1.4 kit through AMAZON. Also ordered a Dupont connector kit and a crimper. I initially planned to use the existing optical end stops and add the resistors to make it work wit the RAMPS kit but after looking at the mountings for the existing end stop I went another route. I purchased a set of RAMPS compatible optical end stops and modified the existing end stop mounts to accept then. This is a one way modification so there is no going back to the original end stops. I can provide details if requested.

I took apart the DV Jr. Removed all the plastic housing except for the bottom, removed the controller board, removed the spool holder, removed the ribbon cable from the controller to the hot end/fan, and the end stop cables. The new end stops came with cables with single Dupont connectors on the RAMPS end. I cut off the 2.0mm JST connectors from the stepper cables and replaced them with 4-position Dupont connectors with new crimped on terminals using the same wiring pinout as the original connectors. I am also using the original DV Jr power supply which seems to be adequate since there is no heated bed to power.

I printed an E3 V6 holder from Thingiverse and I am using a cheap E3 V6 clone from Amazon. The thermistor that came with the E3 V6 had the right Dupont connector to plug into the RAMPS. I connected the end stops per the correct pinout to the RAMPS. I am using D10 and D9 for the hot end and hot end fan respectively. I flashed the Ramps with the firmware linked to by Anthem (Thank you!!) with a couple of minor adjustments for home position and LCD type.

So far everything works as expected. I need to do some serious wiring management, mount the RAMPS where it is safe and see if I want to put the housing back on. I also want to modify the DV Jr LCD panel to accept the new LCD display/SD reader. I also want to replace the extruder with something better (but low cost). I still need to do more tuning of the printer and print settings to get everything working to my liking. I also need to hook up the LED light strip.

Here is a picture:

Adding pictures of the end stops:

X axis:

Y axis:

Z axis:

The end stops are held in place with a dab of hot glue on the bottom side of each PCB.

I am trying to get this completed and closed up by this weekend before going back to work. It has been a busy but fun few days working on this project and I learned a lot. This is the first time I used and flashed any type of Arduino board. I may add a Raspberry 0 I have to run Octorpint to control the printer. I use another RPi0 running Octoprint to control my Monoprice Select Mini.

I'm not getting any volt measurement from D10 when I turn the heat up. Any ideas? Bad board?

does a red light come on when you set temp? on the top right side of board

Redlight is above the d10 terminal in that corner. When you turn on heat it should kick that on. Do you have both positives and both negatives connected to the ramps board?

Configs look good I don't see anything wrong. If you don't see the redlight something is definitely strange. I would open the Arduino serial monitor and see if the printer is kicking back and error message through the serial console

when you open the serial monitor you will need to adjust the baud rate to 250000 at the bottom left hand corner of the serial monitor. That should fix the strange characters. Once you do that try raising the temp again when you are seeing realy human readable stuff come out.

Im not sure if i asked this but make sure that the power connector has TWO positives and TWO negatives connected to it. These power the different mosfets. Can you take a picture of the board and where you have things connected (top down would be great)

Yeah, it's the same board. I definitely didn't wire up two positives and two negatives, as I've got no clue what you're talking about. Sorry for the awful picture, my desk is a disaster right now, so I can't position it well. They're attached. If it doesn't work, I've uploaded to imgur as well : http://imgur.com/a/WqsQZ
The two sets of wires in the D9 spot are for the two fans - I started to prep wiring for other parts.

As for the log, setting it to 250000 baud worked. A few seconds after setting the temp, it failed as usual, and the log read : 

Error:Heating failed, system stopped! Heater_ID: 0
Error:Printer halted. kill() called!

Can you, or someone else, post an image of their board so that I have something to work off of? It's unfortunate that Anthem didn't take more than 1 picture, or post a wiring diagram yet. Thanks!

http://imgur.com/cXIPNwX

there. the ones you have it plugged into right now are only used for the heated bed. move that and youll get heat.  i drew arrows where to plug it in

im 100% positive those are the only ones i have plugged in. I bet you dont get power to the LCD screen without USB right? thats because the right hand side drives extruder + LCD. just try it. Ill get you a picture of my board when i get home (im at work )

i forgot i had one on facebook there you go.

you can actually see the little red LED in the corner there too by the USB

The wall wart only supplies power to the arduino board which is the one on the bottom. The LCD is powered by the Arduino as well. The wall wart or adapter as you call it will not power the system. This means unless you hook a power supply to both side of the green connector as shown in the osooyo pic then there will be no power to the motors, heater, bed, or lights. Also if you hook the power supply up correctly then the Ramps board will also power the Arduino board and you will not need the wall adapter. I converted my Da Vinci 1.0 to Ramps so I have lots of experience as well.

You will need a supply like they have pictured in their drawing. It needs to be able to supply 30 amps and a wall adapter cannot do that.