DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for the proper or improper use of these instructions, the information provided is not guaranteed to work and may cause damage and/or for your machine to work in unintended ways.
So far I still need to:
Add Z Calibration instructions (I might not ever get around to this it seems. If anyone wants to do a nice write up I could add it here )
Required Materials:
- Stiffened Extruder Combo Mount- https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2555973
- BLTouch- https://www.antclabs.com/bltouch
- Two (better) motors - https://www.lulzbot.com/store/parts/nema-17-stepper-motor-moons-including-adapter
- Extra wires- http://a.co/9TuYRP7
- Crimp Tool- I used http://a.co/8UvvsJt and it worked OK, http://a.co/8hOw5fY was suggested by kmanley57
- Heat Set Inserts- http://a.co/aPxSik2
- 5V 40mmx10mm Fan- http://a.co/dVSz60K
- Firmware- Download zip and extract https://github.com/SBachman/BLTouch-Taz-5
- Soldering Iron, any will do
- Duct Tape or Screw Holder/Box, so nothing gets lost
- Hex Screws- http://a.co/8efxvI5
- Two 24v 40x40x10mm Fans, higher output than stock- http://a.co/eJF3yyu
- 5v 40x40x10mm Fan- http://a.co/0G6au8G
- Terminal Pins https://goo.gl/iAGD24
- Pick- Came with the machine
Instructions:
- Print and/or obtain all items from the Required Materials, listed above
- Using the parts included with the BLTouch, use the cable extension to create an extension that is 2.5 ft
I made mine 1.5 feet and it wasn’t long enough to run along the frame - Use the soldering iron to install the heat set inserts in the printed part, 2 per fan and 5 on the mount
- Disassemble the extruder assembly, make sure to not lose the screws, washers, nuts, etc, use tape or holder
- Using the dental pick remove both fan cable from the housing, don’t forget where these are plugged in
- Splice both 24v fans so that they run in parralel, the left fan cable should for a t connection to the right fan, crimp on terminal pins to the end of the wires
- Crimp on terminal ends to the 5v fan
- Connect the 4 wires from the 2 previous steps to the their respective locations from step 5
- Assemble the mount, starting with the extruder, do not move to the next step until assembly is 100% complete
- Using no screws, fit the hexagon extruder, extruder_taller piece, and mount together
- Feed the screw through the top of extruder_taller spacer, spacer, and mount then slide in to the X axis guide, tighten the screw to secure the assembly
- Finish assembly as normal
- Using the provided bolt and nut, secure the BLTouch
- Feed/secure the cable as you see fit making sure it’s not too tight at the farthest reaches of your printer and that it won’t get caught by any moving components
- Install upgraded motors on z-axis, I chose the ones used on the Taz 6
::Note:: Using stock motors are both slow and resulted in bad prints with auto leveling enabled - Loosen both lower screws on each z-axis coupling, mine were glued in and I had to replace both couplings
- Remove 4 screws on each motor, remove motors
- Position both motors, be careful to not set the rim of the coupling on the arm of the motor
- Hand tighten all 4 screws attaching each motor to the frame
- Rotate the motor arms so that one set screw on each coupling tightens over the flat side of the arm
- Tighten the screws attaching the motors to the frame
- Tighten both set screws in the coupling, again make sure one screw on each coupling is over the flat side of the motor arm
- Flash provided firmware using arduino-1.9.0 IDE, Tools > Board > “Arduino/Genuino Mega or Mega 2560”
You’ll need to move the “hardware” & “libraries” folder from the extracted pathTO\BLTouch-Taz-5-master\ArduinoAddons\arduino-1.8.5 folder to your Arduino install directory, overwriting any duplicate files. Then update the u8glib library in Arduino - I’ve switched to using 36 points for bed leveling and no longer run this before each print, only as needed
- If you would like to use the other method change this
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 6
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y 6
to this
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 3
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y 3
- Run “M420 Z#” where # is the height at which you want auto leveling to no longer run. This setting fades out leveling so it doesn’t run the entire print.
- Test BLTouch
- Turn on printer, it should extend and retract a couple times and have solid red and blue lights
- Set Z very high, at least 150 mm above the bed
- Read the next step FULLY before starting or risk destroying everything
- Home the bed and manually trigger the BLTouch by pushing up the probe, if it doesn’t stop turn off the printer immediately and troubleshoot the issue, repeat this step until it works
Calibrate Offest: - Under construction…
- Tighten the hex screw on the top of the BLTouch, this will cause it to engage farther from the bed and can be adjusted later at your own risk
- Change Z acceleration from 2 to 8
Only change this if you upgrade the Z-axis motors
Start gcode, tested on Simplify3D (Needs to be updated, no longer using this in new firmware):
M104 S150; Set extruder to 150 and do not wait - preheat
M190 S[bed1_temperature] ; Set bed temp and wait to be reached
G91 ; switch to relative positioning
G1 Z6 ; safe raise of z axis to ensure probe doesn't hit bed clamp
G90 ; switch back to absolute positioning
G28 ; home all axes
G29 ; Auto Level
M104 S[extruder0_temperature]; Set extruder and do not wait
G1 X280 Y5 Z2 F5000 ; move to wait position in right corner
M109 S[extruder0_temperature] ; Set extruder and wait
; print anchor, optional. uncomment lines to use
;M106 ; turn fan on
;G1 Z0.4 ; position nozzle
;G91 ; switch to relative positioning
;G1 E25 F250 ; purge nozzle
;M400 ; wait for purge to complete
;G90 ; switch back to absolute positioning
;G1 X100 F3000 ; quick wipe
M106 S0 ; turn fan off
G1 Z0.5 F1200 ; lift
M900 K0
Optional S3D post processing gcode to enable the M73-Progress-Plugin for Octoprint
{REPLACE "; layer" "M117 Layer"}
{REPLACE " Z = " " Z="}
Wiring:
Found this picture, link https://plus.google.com/113792662927481823969/posts/RtWww5rCV3F, but Marlin uses a different pin by default now, this poor paint edit reflects that.
Firmware Source:
https://code.alephobjects.com/diffusion/MARLIN/repository/devel/
Configuration Resource:
http://blog.mon.im/2016/06/tevo-tarantula-bltouch-setup.html
Calibration Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ5BFJaKIms
Special thanks to:
marcio - upgraded firmware used in this project
kmanley57 - https://forum.lulzbot.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6809#p37839
nuroo - for the S3D post processing code
it-works-tech - pointed out error in start gcode
Makertree 3d - Store in Richardson, TX that printed out some parts needed while my printer was down