1 Topic by SvdSinner (edited by SvdSinner 2015-12-01 02:27:56)

  • SvdSinner
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Ames, IA
  • Registered: 2015-04-27
  • Posts: 24

Topic: Endstop wiring? (Switching to RAMPS 1.4)

I'm working on swapping my fried main board with a RAMPS 1.4 board. 
1)  What the "distance" wires (the two blue wires in the below pic) do?  Anything?  I'm assuming it is a failed attempt at auto-bed leveling that they just didn't remove the wires from.

2)  I'd like to reuse the existing end stops, but I'm not sure how to wire them.  The center pin is ground, but I don't know which side is +5V and which side is signal. 
The 3 wires are all the same color, so they give no clue.
My PCB has a white arrow on one side of each connector.  Is that +5V or Signal? 
(Note:  The below photo is from another thread, but nicely shows the white arrows.  The comment and arrow aren't related to this.)
http://soliforum.com/i/?QuwoTgF.jpg

2 Reply by carl_m1968 (edited by carl_m1968 2015-12-01 03:19:56)

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Endstop wiring? (Switching to RAMPS 1.4)

The existing end stops will not work with a ramps. They do not hsve the current limiting resistors built in as those are on the Da Vinci main board. If you connect them to a RAMPS it will burn them out.

You also cannot use the existing LCD. The Da Vinci board drives it in a different way from a Ramps.

The red jumper wire can be ignored it serves no purpose in your quest, two of the sets of three eires will be trashed. Those are the connection for the catridge chip snf the lid sensor. A RAMPS does not have provisions for those.

The two blue wires go to the tabs on the bed for the bed calibration function.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

3 Reply by SvdSinner

  • SvdSinner
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Ames, IA
  • Registered: 2015-04-27
  • Posts: 24

Re: Endstop wiring? (Switching to RAMPS 1.4)

carl_m1968 wrote:

The two blue wires go to the tabs on the bed for the bed calibration function.

How do they work?  Do they work?  What were they supposed to calibrate?  Are they usable in RAMPS?

4 Reply by carl_m1968 (edited by carl_m1968 2015-12-01 03:55:30)

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Endstop wiring? (Switching to RAMPS 1.4)

SvdSinner wrote:
carl_m1968 wrote:

The two blue wires go to the tabs on the bed for the bed calibration function.

How do they work?  Do they work?  What were they supposed to calibrate?  Are they usable in RAMPS?

Have you never used the auto calibration feature on you machine?

They are normally at 5 volts which is carried out to the metal tabs in the four corners of the bed.. When the head moves over during the auto cal it goes down and touches those tabs which brings them to ground and the machine tracks the steps it takes for each to go to ground then gives you and average in decimal mm of the height for each of the three level points.

RAMPS does not have support for this type of setup.
Also all the connections are labeled on the board edge. Just look behind the top connectors.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

5 Reply by SvdSinner

  • SvdSinner
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Ames, IA
  • Registered: 2015-04-27
  • Posts: 24

Re: Endstop wiring? (Switching to RAMPS 1.4)

carl_m1968 wrote:

Have you never used the auto calibration feature on you machine?

I may have tried it once when I first unboxed it, but don't remember.  I switched to Repetier pretty early on, which I don't think supports it.

What process did it do?  (IOW, Did it report the heights and give feedback so you can manually level the bed, or did it actually compensate for an out of level bed?)
Does the process work well?  RAMPS does support some forms of bed leveling, and I might mess with it if there is a chance of success.

6 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Endstop wiring? (Switching to RAMPS 1.4)

It would simply report the current height at each point in decimal values which where always wrong. Then you adjusted the bed based on those wring values and wonder why your prints fail even though the printer reports the values pass after three hours of fidgeting.

RAMPS is not able to make any use of this type of leveling setup. Just strip thos wires out of the system.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.