Geeetech Prusa I3 A pro User manual

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Geeetech Prusa I3 A pro
User Manual

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Safety Instructions
Building the printer will require a certain amount of physical dexterity, common sense and a
thorough understanding of what you are doing. We have provided this detailed instruction to help
you assemble it easily.
However ultimately we cannot be responsible for your health and safety whilst building or
operating the printer, with that in mind be sure you are confident with what you are doing prior to
commencing with building or buying. Read the entire manual to enable you to make an informed
decision.
Building and operating involves electricity, so all necessary precautions should be taken and
adhered to, the printer runs on 12V supplied by a certified power supply, so you shouldn’t ever have
to get involved with anything over 12V but bear in mind there can still be high currents involved
and even at 12V they shouldn’t be taken lightly.
High temperatures are involved with 3D Printing, the Extrusion nozzle of the hot end can run
about 230°C, the heated bed runs 110°C and the molten plastic extruded will initially be at around
200°C, so special care and attention should be made when handling these parts of the printer during
operation.
Check the power input of the power supply unit. You can choose either 110V or 220V
according to the Power regulation in your country.
We wouldn’t recommend leaving your printer running unattended, or at least until you are
confident to do so. We cannot be held responsible for any loss, damage, threat, hurt or other
negligent result from either building or using the printer.

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1 Software resources
1.1 Printer control software Repetier-Host
We use the latest Repetier host V1.6.0 as the printer control software, link for downloading:
http://www.geeetech.com/wiki/index.php/Repetier-Host#Download
After downloading and installation, it can be used.

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1.2 Driver
Connect the printer to computer with USB cable, the motherboard driver installer will automatically
appear. If not, you can download FT232RQ here, which is the driver of GT2560:
http://www.geeetech.com/wiki/index.php/Prusa_I3_X#Install_the_drivers
Download and install, you can find the corresponding serial port in the Windows "Device
Manager":
1.3 Arduino IDE
In the process of using the printer you may need to re-upload the firmware, and the software you
need to use is Arduino.
About how to upload firmware, please refer to FAQ.

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2 Connect the printer
After the above software is installed, we can connect the printer to the computer. Plug the USB into
the computer, open Repetier host, click the icon in the top right corner, and the
dialog box of printer settings will appear.
Select corresponding COM port of the printer and baud rate 250,000 in the dialog box. Click Apply
after the setting. Shown as below.

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After setting, click the button in the top left corner of Home Page. When the button turns
green and changes into , the printer connection is successful.

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3Printer Setting
3.1 Printer speed
Set the running speed of printer as 1000 in the printer settings in order to avoid collision because of
high speed during the test. After follow-up tests are completed it can be changed back to the original
value. (Recommend speed of Z-axis should not be too high, 1000 is OK)
Travel feed rate: 1000mm/min
Z-Axis feed rate: 1000mm/min

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3.2 Number of Extruder and Nozzle Diameter
The number of extruders is set to 1. The diameter of nozzle is set according to actual size, here is
0.4mm.

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3.3 Printer shape
Here the printer shape of I3 aluminum is Classic Printer;
For home position, choose Min;
The printer's maximum printing volume 200 * 200 * 180 (length / width / height)

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If the object which is being printed is not in the center of the hot bed, you can adjust the following
two values to compensate for the distance deviation of X / Y direction:
Bed Left
Bed Right

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After setting, click Apply>OK
The interface after setting is as following:

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4 Printer Function Test
When we are testing, we can test through LCD control panel or we can also do the test on Repetier
Host. The methods are as followings.
4.1 Use Repetier Host to Test
4.1.1 Motor Direction Test
Before testing, please manually place the motors of X / Y / Z axis at the middle of each axis to
avoid accidental collision occurring during the test. There is emergency stop button at the top right
corner , or you can cut off the power. Always be prepared for emergency stop.

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Open Repetier host and connect the printer. Click Home button , then all three axes will move
towards the endstop. After they hit the endstop they will move back for a short distance and then
stop the movement. The origin location should be in the right front corner of the printer platform. If
the moving direction is reversed, you can change the motor direction in firmware. (please refer to
FAQ).
4.1.2 Heating Test

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Click the heating button of the hot bed and the extruder . The slash will disappear and
you will see the temperature rising up.
Meanwhile you can see the temperature changing at the bottom of Repetier.
If the hot bed or extruder can heat, please refer to FAQ.

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4.1.3 Extruder test
Please note: The extruder will not begin working until the temperature reaches above 170 ℃.
Heat the extruder to 200 ℃, and then insert the filament into hotend via push-in fitting. When you
are pushing the filament, press the release handle slightly with one hand and push the filament with
the other hand through the feeding port.
Please note that the filament must be in the slot of the idler wheel, otherwise feeding will not be
fluent.

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After pushing the filament into the bottom of hotend, use the feeding button on Repetier (as shown
in following picture) to do manual feeding. If the nozzle can extrude filament fluently, the extruder

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is working well. If not, please refer to FAQ.
Note: If the moving direction of the motor is reversed, which means you found the filament going
backwards when you click to feed downwards, change the motor direction of the extruder in the
firmware to solve the problem. This method is the same with that for X/Y/Z axis motor.
4.2 Use LCD Control Panel to Test
4.2.1 Motor Direction Test
Functions of the knob on LCD:

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1. Press the knob: OK or enter the sub-menu
2. Turn the knob: to scroll through the options, or change parameters
Note: Turn the knob during printing; you can change the Feed rate in real time.
After learning about the functions of the knob on the LCD, press the knob to enter sub-menu and
choose Prepare：

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Choose Move axis：

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Choose Move 1mm：
（Note: the extruder can only support two options: Move 1mm and Move 0.1mm. The 10mm
option is disabled.）