Stepper Motor Troubleshooting

Huzzah (yes I say huzzah) I have inadvertently solved my problem. My end-stops were wired improperly so the control board thought that they were closed. Thus my motors could never move in the direction that would lead them to move past the end-stop. I feel like such an idiot right now. Also, I hot glued my molex metal crimp contacts into their sockets so they wouldn't get pushed out by the pins, which was causing my motors to run erratically.

And now the extruder just melted itself...such is my life.

Doh! Were you using a temperature sensor to ensure it didn't overheat. If not then I recommend you implement such a change immediately. Also, hot glue for the win!

Doh! Were you using a temperature sensor to ensure it didn't overheat. If not then I recommend you implement such a change immediately. Also, hot glue for the win!

Actually yes, I was using a thermistor, however, even though a wrap of kapton tape, it somehow contacted the heater block and then I almost had a fire. Either that or it failed, I can't really tell as it melted and it stuck inside the block.

Perhaps you could cut open the block to troubleshoot? Also, consider a thermal cut-out fuse for an extra layer of safety.

I don't have the equipment to saw through solid metal, as small a piece of metal as it is. Also, that's a good idea about a fuse, I once was considering installing one however my motor issues were the main issue and distracted me. What happened was I was just testing to see if they would home themselves properly before starting a print. A few seconds later there's smoke.

Well, I haven't a clue what caused this. I guess you just have to replace the damaged parts and add the fuse. Hopefully it won't happen again, but if it does, post it as a new discussion on the 3d printer section and see what other people say. Please bear in mind that I an by no means an expert at this.

I think my thermistor connection contacted the heater block causing a false read.

Wait, scratch that, yes it was contacting making a bad reading, but my printer is reading the heat-bed thermistor as the hot-end thermistor. this piece of junk, why can't it work properly!?

*facepalm* At you are learning. Don't give up, just think of the things you will eventually print. Or sell it to me at a huge discount. Is it just me or do most of your problems come from plugging things in wrong. Next time, quadruple check your wiring and then, if possible, get a friend to check as well. Also, please post a picture when you are done.

Motors, yes are a plugging in problem. This is just weird. But switching the two works and I have successfully printed a small misshaped cube...Progress...

Yay, you're 3/4 of the way there, now you just need to fine tune it.