HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Software and Firmware Discussion - related to source code, firmware updates, etc.
Fatty
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by Fatty »

shocksofmighty.... you sir, are a genius!!!! Just flashed your config and for the first time in 3 weeks I got a print!!! No more stretching, no more Thermal Underware, no more under extruding over extruding drilling holes in the plate printing in thin air.... Not only that, the quality was perfect. I owe you a beer!! thanks a lot for sharing mate. I really was about to give in..AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!
ric0
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by ric0 »

shocksofmighty, do you think your firmware would work on a 3DP-17 auto bed level, filament alarm, lead screws on z axis? I'm having real problems with random 'change filament' alarms repeatedly through any print, sometimes as many as 20 or so, Hictop support have been responsive, sending me firmware and a spare cable with switch between psu and board but still waiting on that, so in meantime I've changed the cable for 2.5mm ie: approx 16AWG, rebuilt the filsment sensor assembly, flashed the board with Hictops supplied firmware fix and its done no good with the random alarms, only thing I can do now is unwrap filament switch cable from bundle of cables going to the extruder assembly in case theres some sort of emi going on, anyone any ideas? So thought I'd recompile Marlin firmware but RC7. & RC8 seem too many differences in code to risk my n00b efforts, I am running the printer off s short extension lead, with/without circuit breaker, so could also try direct to a plug socket in case.
shocksofmighty
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by shocksofmighty »

I can't say for certain. It is quite likely that the settings are same. You would have to turn the filament sensor section on if you you want to use that, but if that is malfunctioning and keeping you from printing, maybe you just want to keep that section off!

The settings for RC7/RC8 are a bit different and stuff has been moved around in Config.h, but all of the most important stuff is same or very similar.
ric0
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by ric0 »

Hi, thanks for reply, just wanted to say thanks for the firmware source, I went for it on my 3DP-17 and it solved all the filament change alarms, filament alarm section was already enabled in the firmware and to test I didn't comment it out. So finally did my first unattended print, really pleased. Also the firmware allowed me to get my PET-G settings really dialed in, including dropping the nozzle temp by 20 degrees. A couple of quirks are the LCD default shows '98 ready' instead of nozzle icon and temp, quitting a print gives a blank screen until pressing in the LCD dial and when first switching on the machine, the LCD x,y & z values flash on/off with question marks until I do a bed level but assume that's the way updated firmware behaves rather than configuration.h settings. Thanks again.
shocksofmighty
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by shocksofmighty »

The '98 ready' is just because the name is too long. You can change it in the firmware. #define CUSTOM_MACHINE_NAME.

EDIT: Filament run out sensor was certainly OFF in the firmware I distributed (//#define FILAMENT_RUNOUT_SENSOR)
Last edited by shocksofmighty on March 6th, 2017, 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
neil_black
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by neil_black »

Did you get to the bottom of the random change filament alarms ric0? I'm having the same issue. Thanks
neil_black
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by neil_black »

I did some testing tonight, the problem is electrical interference. I unraveled the plastic cable tidy, routed the monitor wire separately along the frame and put the rest back in the cable tidy. Took about 2 minutes.

The filament monitor now works correctly for the first time. Hope that helps!

I've told Hictop so hopefully they will fix that in the kits. Great printer.
ric0
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by ric0 »

Neil, the firmware fixed it for me. I was intending to unwrap the filament alarm lead from the bundle to the extruder as mentioned in a my post earlier but when reading how old the Marlin firmware from Hictop is I decided to hit that first, thanks to shocksofmighty. The firmware's provided a number of improvements making it even more worthwhile. But now your confirmation unwrapping fixes it too. I'll probably do that as well. Weird though, that both routes solve the problem, did a 4 hour print last night and again not one random alarm. I agree I think an excellent printer for the cash, the fun of building and calibrating, a bit of minor fault finding and very good print result. I've had non of the stringing and failures seen on so many YT videos and such, everything has gone really well, PET-G is excellent too. Will try more 'exotic' filaments next. Even an option for a dual extruder, starting simple though, with 24V white LED ribbon lights stuck to the underside of the gantry unless that'll affect the filament alarm again, haha.
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Chaco
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by Chaco »

havent been around lately, but will be happy to help any way i can, i am starting to think i am getting a handle on compiling my firmware to the point its printing beautifully
ric0
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by ric0 »

Having a problem with "Thermal Runaway, Reset Printer." when printing PLA. No problem printing with PET-G. Only occurred since upgrading from Hictop provided firmware to recent Marlin RC version 7 or 8 I think, via shocksofmighty. No problem prior to firmware upgrade. This is slicing via Cura using the same profiles I used with Hictops firmware and had no problems with PLA, recently decided to try out PET-G, created some Cura profiles for it, enjoyed printing with it a lot, I upgraded the firmware because no matter what filament I printed with from intial tests, I had repeated random "filament alarm" errors all the way through every print (now resolved) recently I decided to give PLA a try again and 2% in to any print, always 2% in, new or old cura profile, it errors with "Thermal Runaway", doesn't say where, no debug reference. Printing temps for PET-G 235deg no heated bed, PLA temps 220deg 50deg heated bed, I've successfully printed with these temps prior to firmware upgrade. Anyone else having problems / solutions with this?
shocksofmighty
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by shocksofmighty »

No such issues, but most likely related to your heated bed since that seems likely to be the difference between the two protocols. It is possible that it is a different thermistor type on your heated bed. Check the values from the original firmware and see if you might need to change that.
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GrueMaster
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by GrueMaster »

I am hitting the same issue with "Thermal Runaway" errors. One notable difference between the code from shocksofmighty and the original HICTOP 3DP-17-398 that I see is that the HICTOP Configuration.h has this disabled.

Code: Select all

// If you want to enable this feature for all your extruder heaters,
// uncomment the 2 defines below:

// Parameters for all extruder heaters
//#define THERMAL_RUNAWAY_PROTECTION_PERIOD 40 //in seconds
//#define THERMAL_RUNAWAY_PROTECTION_HYSTERESIS 4 // in degree Celsius

// If you want to enable this feature for your bed heater,
// uncomment the 2 defines below:

// Parameters for the bed heater
//#define THERMAL_RUNAWAY_PROTECTION_BED_PERIOD 20 //in seconds
//#define THERMAL_RUNAWAY_PROTECTION_BED_HYSTERESIS 2 // in degree Celsius
Note that the above defines are now in Configuration_adv.h in Marlin 1.1.0-RC8, and Configuration.h now looks like this:

Code: Select all

#define THERMAL_PROTECTION_HOTENDS // Enable thermal protection for all extruders
#define THERMAL_PROTECTION_BED     // Enable thermal protection for the heated bed
Commenting these out works, and is consistent with the original firmware, but as usual, use with caution. Maybe I'll look at this more later to determine if there are better settings for Configuration_adv.h when I'm not busy printing fun stuff for D&D.

Also, kudos and thanks to Chip Luck and shocksofmighty for their contributions. I only started 3D printing just a week ago with this HICTOP 3DP-17, and it has been a real fun experience, both in learning about 3D printing, and the underlying hacks that go with it.
shocksofmighty
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by shocksofmighty »

Good catch, GrueMaster. After you mentioned this it rang a bell. I didn't notice when I looked through Config.h. That's because I changed values in Config_adv.h! The issue I had was when the cooling fan came on, there was a pretty big temperature drop on the hotend, and it would fall out of this range. I changed the values to this:

Code: Select all

  #define THERMAL_PROTECTION_PERIOD 40        // Seconds
  #define THERMAL_PROTECTION_HYSTERESIS 10
I haven't had any issues since.
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Chip Luck
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by Chip Luck »

All,

I have not been on here in months, personal life you know has had me tied up. It sure looks like you guy's are doing good here and have folks that are learning and sharing. That's one reason why I created the original threads here. My printer has been idle, but about to fire it up again. Still running RC6. I apologize for not chiming in as much I should have, but again things are busy here.

Anyway, glad to see the board is active with some new and knowledgeable members. Keep up the good work gang.

Regards,

Chip

---
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GrueMaster
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Re: HIC i3 - current firmware development information

Post by GrueMaster »

I've spent most of the day today updating and retesting this. My testing right now is using Chip's suggestions on extruder temperature calibration (call it Chip's Challenge?). Turns out, my extruder fan kicked in starting around layer 3, and went full on at layer 5, preventing the extruder temp from going above 210C and even recovering to 210C is slow. This spool of PLA is rated 205C-225C.

I'm using Cura 15.04 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. I found it very useful for most things, but calibration testing is not one of them as you only think you have control. The good thing I discovered is that it has a Z axis plugin that allows you to make changes to various settings at certain Z steps. And while you can't make drastic changes to the gcode (at least in this version), you can save it and use a decent text editor (gvim) to find the insertions fairly quickly.
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