I recently purchased the Afinibot a3s 3d printer for our middle school. We assembled it and then tried to plug it in to turn on the printer. The LCD screen gives us 2 black rows of boxes. We double checked our wiring and found it to be correct. Are there any trouble shooting tips out there to get this printer working? This is our first printer and my students are getting frustrated. Thanks!
Hi cgardner,
Could you attach some pictures of your connection to the LCD on both the LCD and the controller board ?
Have you tried to connect the printer to a PC using RepetierHost ?
One thing you might want to check is the switch on the power supply (on the side there is a cutout) and set it to 120VAC.
The printer does NOT connect to the computer with the Repetier Host software. I have the aoftware downloaded and the printer connected to the computer through a USB drive.
The switch is set to 120V.
Here are some pictures of the control panel and the LCD screen connectors.
drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SsuF … JWYUE/view
drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SsuF … NFa3M/view
The extruder fan and the heatbed will occasionally turn on. The LCD screen does change from the 2 rows of black boxes to random symbols.
drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SsuF … hUUWc/view
drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SsuF … Fkc0U/view
Thanks for the pictures, this is really helpful for us to troubleshoot.
Have you installed the drivers for the USB connection ? Are you able to verify in Device Manager under COM port what would be the port for the printer ?
Also, you might want to test the connection without the Micro SD card in the controller.
Let us know,
Yes, I believe that I have installed the drivers for the computers. I’m not sure how to verify the COM port in device manager. Is this in the Repetier host program? It comes back with COM3.
I tested the connection again without the sd card and am still getting an error of “serial com error: system. IO. Ports. SerialErrorRecievedEventArgs”
If I could get the LCD screen to work couldn’t I at least print offline through the sd card?
The “Device Manager” is where to look at hardware in a Windows PC. (Open Device Manager)
You should have something under COM port in there.
To setup RepetierHost you have to follow the user manual called “How To Slice_A3.pdf” which is on your SD card but we attached it to this message as well.
how to slice_A3.pdf (1.52 MB)
Okay, yes I have both the Repetier and device manager set to COM3. I also went through and set everything in the Repetier Host to align with the attachment info.
Se even with all that setup, you do not have a proper connection with the printer in RepetierHost ?
Maybe it was not programmed from the factory, can you create a Support Ticket linking this forum inside ?
Thank you I just submitted a support ticket with a link to this discussion thread.
Hello, I recieved the new control panel and installed it. The printer turned on and the LCD screen worked! We connected it with the computer and went through the process to begin printing. The printing begins to heat up but once it starts to print the x axis motor pulls the extruder all the way to the left. Is this something with the software that is not correct with numbers?
Have you made your initial setup in RepetierHost ? (how to slice)
What have you tried to print ? Maybe some print screen of your RepetierHost page ?
yes we went through the initial printer set up and then pulled a file of a chess piece into print. The version of the software is a newer version from the how to slice document that i have. some of the screens looked a little different. the link has a few pictures of the repetier host screens.
docs.google.com/document/d/1YEt … sp=sharing
What about the “Printer Shape” tab where you setup the size of your printer ?
Also, i think it’s mandatory to print but have you proceed with a Homing prior to start your print ?
Maybe a little video showing the issue will give us a better understanding of the actual problem.