Prusa i3 M201 - New User Needing Help

[BreeMichelle]

Hello Everyone,

I just built my first 3D printer and I can't for the life of me get it to do anything.

I started by installing the firmware based on this guide below:
http://www.geeetech.com/forum/viewtopic ... 13&t=17173

Everything seemed to go great, so I proceeded onto the next step I've found with connecting with Repetier. Below is a link to the guide I'm following.:
http://www.geeetech.com/Documents/Quick ... 201(1).pdf

Now here's where I get stuck. If I turn on the printer via the power cable, nothing happens. When I plug it into my computer (I'm running Windows) I can get Repetier to say it's connected, but still nothing. I get messages saying "No start signal detected - forcing start" and "Communication timeout - reset send buffer block".

The only time I can get the LCD screen to light up at all is with the ST-Link V2 connector. Other than that I have a dead LCD screen.

Please advise if possible. I really wish there was a complete guide for setup like the build instructions, but alas my research has come up empty. Thanks in advance to anyone that can assist me.

[William]

Hi,
1.Did you upload the firmware successfully?Can you confirm it?
2.Could you take a picture of your board?
3.Maybe the LCD cable has a wrong connection,you can try swapping the LCD cable with the SD cable.
4.Can the board be detected by your computer,you can open your Device Manager to have a check.

[William]

And did you select the right Baud Rate and COM port in printer setttings?

[BreeMichelle]

Thank you for the replies. I've been playing around with it over the past few days and have gotten it semi-functional. I found a switch I didn't see before on the power supply to turn it to 120v so once I had power I was able to connect and operate it.

I've completed a couple small prints. But I've had trouble regulating the print quality. After about layer 40 in a print, the head starts to gunk up and cease extruding. I've already replaced the print nozzle once. I've also had concerns about the stringy fibers between sections of print. It doesn't seem that the stepper motors retract properly to reduce that mess. I'll attached some images below.

Here are my settings: (These have given me the most positive result so far)
Feedrate=80
Flowrate=120
Fan=100 when operating, 35 at rest
Bed Temp=55
Extruders=200

Ambient room temp= between 30-33 mid day, drops to about 12 at night

[William]

Your printer looks great!

1.Make sure the fan on the hotend is turning on all the time.

2.To improve the print quality,i'm not sure if you've read this article before:
https://www.simplify3d.com/support/prin ... eshooting/