I desperately need your help

[Curious23]

Hello, as I'm sure you can tell from the thread title, I need help. I recently purchased a prusa i3 printer kit(http://www.aliexpress.com/item/6-Mat...357171936.html) from aliexpress and I got it together some time earlier this week. Excited, I hooked it up to my computer and was more than disappointed when my printer refused to print. I have since spent several sleepless nights scavenging the internet for answers with no luck. I have tried absolutely everything I can think of and tried some things from the internet too! No dice.
As you can imagine, I'm frustrated, and tired, and a whole bundle of other emotions right now. Anyway, I know this is probably a pretty common thing that's been answered many times before but I can't think of the right questions to ask(or search). So, it seems I have no other options than to put my pride aside and ASK(and beg lol) for help. Please, just start listing ideas, tips, random 3d printer facts, whatever. I'm desperate and grateful for any help I can get. Thank you so much in advance!


also, not sure if this helps at all but I've tried both repetier host and cura with no luck. When I try to print with Cura, a window pops up saying "Opening serial port" but it never goes away. And with Repetier, It says it connects but I'm not sure it does since the program isn't receiving any information(like temperatures) and the printer doesn't seem to be receiving any commands either.

[Mjolinor]

1) Choose a more meaningful title for your thread. One that say I need help are generally avoided because people tend to think that if you can't be bothered putting a title that is relevant they can't be bothered to help.

2) Describe the problem you are having, a summary of how you are feeling is not a lot of input for people to work out what your problem is.

I suspect you have the wrong serial port trying to open but without knowing what OS you are using or which serial port you are trying to open it is just a guess.

[Curious23]

Thanks for the advice, I'll try to fix it.
The problem is, I don't know exactly what's wrong. This is my very first printer and I don't know what's up from down. I suspected that the printer wasn't connecting properly to my computer, but since repetier connects, I'm starting to think that's not it(but as I said, I don't know if that means anything for sure). I kind of left the original post pretty blank and perhaps open for interpretation because half the things I'm doing, I don't even know if I'm doing them right so I didn't want to say, for example, that the printer was connected so it can't be a connection issue(based on the repetier connection)where in reality, it very well could be a connection issue. I hope that makes sense? I should have been more specific. I know. But even now I don't exactly know what's wrong or how to describe the problem.

Os: windows 7
Port:4
My computer only let's me select between ports 3 and 4. 3 usually disconnects or an error pops up so I don't think it's port 3. Also, in the devices and printers menu(of the os) it says the 'FT232R USB UART' is port 4.
Also, I've read that the led on the board(melzi v2.0) is supposed to flash when it's working or something like that? Mine doesn't whenever it's connected to the computer. It does, however, if I'm trying to print from an SD card on the printer itself

[bao]

i have the exact same printer from the same seller and it works great , try changing the port to to a higher port heres a vid on changing ports win7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND7wHHNQgqs

And make sure you are communicating at baud rate 115200

[Curious23]

i have the exact same printer from the same seller and it works great , try changing the port to to a higher port heres a vid on changing ports win7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND7wHHNQgqs

And make sure you are communicating at baud rate 115200

Hey man, good to hear from someone with the same printer. If it's not too much trouble, could you list the steps you used to initially hook up your printer? Or did you just plug it in and it just worked? Also, what host programs/settings are you using? Thanks!
Also, my printer and programs are already set to 115200

[bao]

At first i used the repetier software and it worked fine ..pluged it in connected and it worked (i am using windows 10)
i currently use simplify3d as slicer software...
does your printer print from sd card ? if so stick with that , i and many others only print from sd card as it is a lot more sure than usb to pc (pc glitch usb power shut down etc)

[bao]

your problem maybe with the fdti driver also this is often a problem causing communication errors try reinstalling the driver from here http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

[Curious23]

At first i used the repetier software and it worked fine ..pluged it in connected and it worked (i am using windows 10)
i currently use simplify3d as slicer software...
does your printer print from sd card ? if so stick with that , i and many others only print from sd card as it is a lot more sure than usb to pc (pc glitch usb power shut down etc)

Oh, I see. Yes, printing from the SD card works ok. The prints won't stick to the bed though. Do you print with abs or pla? I'm having problems with abs and I think it's because the bed doesn't heat up enough? Do you think I'd have better luck with pla?

[bao]

Pla is a lot easier to start out with i rarely use abs , the settings i use for pla is 50°c for the bed and 200°c for the extruder, Are you leveling the bed ? the best method for this is using the printer buttons go to position then home all this will put the printer head at its first layer printing level then turn off and turn back on the printer (this un blocks the motors ) put the extruder over each corner of the bed , you want to be able to just barely pass a piece of paper.
Now i got a sheet of glass from amazon that i use instead of the tape , its a lot better to get the plastic to stick, i just spray a little hairspray and its sticks like glue.

for the bed temperature and abs you need around 110°c but im hving problems getting over 95° apparentley we need to insulate the underside of the heater plate.

[bao]

this is the glass i got , it fits perfectly http://www.amazon.co.uk/Velleman-Gla...ass+bed+215215 you just need bulldog/artist clips 32mm