I’m currently trying to refurbish an old Taz 6 for my local Library to use in their 3D print lab. The thing was a frankenstein and I spent alot of time getting it into shape (ie, rewiring, swapped entire hot end, etc). I was finally able to get one print done without any issues. I went to print another and I started getting the E1 error. I’m using a single, SE 0.5mm toolhead.
I’ve checked all the things I can (wiring, continuity, resistance checks, voltages, etc). I even verfied the thermistor works using a little heat to monitor temperature change. I’m running Marlin 2.0.9.0.13 and I think that might be the reason. I have zero clue how to revert back to old firmware.
It may also be worth noting that when I tried to run a PID autotune in Pronterface, forcing E1 autotune I get a “bad heater id” message. When I run the same command for E0, I eventually get the same E1 heating error on the printer.
The same error comes up when initiating a print or manually changing temperature on the printer menu itself.
What is the temperature doing vs. setting when it fails?
Does it not reach proper temp? Does it suddenly register 0c? Does it overshoot? Does it oscillate around the target temperature? Does it drop once the part cooling fan kicks in?
Not reaching proper temp could be a bad heater or wiring. Failed connections for the heater at the board are a known cause of heater failure in these boards.
Sudden drop to 0c is bad thermistor or wiring for the thermistor. Flaky wiring can be tough to track down, since it can be very inconsistent.
Fluctuating is usually bad PID, or something acting on it that wasn’t acting on it during the PID - fans, proximity to heatbed, draft in the room, etc.
Dropping at fan kick-in is known to cause E1 if the fan comes on when the nozzle is very close to the bed, or if the print is large and flat enough to give a solid surface for the part cooling fan to reflect off of.
Temperature as indicated on the LCD sits at ambient (~20C) and does not fluctuate. It doesn’t even begin to heat up, usually goes for about 30s before it faults out and needs to be reset. I planned to run the autotune because of all the things I changed, but because it won’t heat I can’t even begin to cycle it for tuning.
I did read throughout these forums and Reddit that the Rambos seem to have that issue with solder points. From all I can check with my fluke and my eyes it seems fine. Let’s say the board connection was bad, could I use the Heat 0 connection on the board with a simple change in the source code?
If the temp doesn’t change within a few seconds of power applied, that’ll give you the E1.
Get the Fluke out and verify voltage at the various points on the way to the heater block.
If the problem is the solder points at the board, you could change the code to use the second extruder’s power, certainly. Just modify pins.h and compile.
Heater is surely getting 24v. Resistance still reads 14.4ohms (using 40w element). I feel like there must be an incredibly easy answer that I’m just missing.
Before my first successful print it would heat up but eventually stall. I swapped the block, nozzle, heater, and thermistor since the old one was pretty gnarly. Then I worked just fine for one singular print. Now it doesn’t hesistate, just fails.
As for compiling any of the code - I’m currently an EE student. I know some Python and C/C++ but I’m not sure where to start for this.
I realized why not swap the thermistor and heater for the bed and extruder, then use the LCD to tell the bed to heat up. In this case, the extruder heated up with no problem. So, it must be the output on the board that’s faulty. The connections themselves seem fine so perhaps it’s the MOSFET that drives the output that’s bad. It’ll supply the voltage but can’t drive any current to the heater. Makes sense now.
Now to figure out how I can modify the code to swap the E1 and E0 outputs.
Marlin is very easy to do. Just get the code for Lulzbot, specify that it’s the taz6 in the configuration.h, then swap out the pins in board/rambo/pins.h
I wish it was that simple. It was broken down and put together incorrectly. Being new to how it was supposed to look and then figuring out the modifications was a fun time. Then I was without the source code for the then working firmware to support the difference.
It’s heating and printing now, just needs some fine tuning. t took about 4-5 days of work total, but a solid year off my life.
Any basic upgrades you might recommend while I still have it in rehabilitiation? It’s old but seems to have good bones esp with the treasure trove of modifications on github.
If your board is working fine, the best upgrade is BLTouch and a textured PEI -coated spring steel bed. BLTouch clones are $10 or less if you’re patient. WhamBam makes really good beds for like $90 last I checked, or you can get a generic 300mm x 300mm bed and cut the corners with a dremel to make room for the washers I did this with a Fysetc bed for under $40 (sponsored link). Custom firmware to use the BLTouch and you’re good to go.