Ok, im an idiot..... after reading the Smart effector install guide for the 5th time. it occurred to me in a photo that i had the rods installed wrong. i had connected the rods to each point in the triangle. i.e. right next to each other instead of spaced equally each rod next to its neighbor rod. like in this picture....

right, it travels smooth now. all directions travel as expected. thanks for all your help and suggestions. as always this is an excellent forum and the duet is a great piece of hardware!

but dont you fret ill be back with some other insane problem that i overlooked in the guide.....

Ben

@AndreS welp, as it zeros a little smoother i still cant move in any real direction with out the effector twisting and popping the rods off the towers.

@AndreS ok that might be why when moving it has a tendency to twist off and pop the rods off, i suspected as much. ill give that a shot and see what happens.

@Phaedrux ive got reprap firmware setup. ive got close on the measurements, i think...ill be the first to admit that i am complety noob at deltas. ive built one cartesian and one corexy. this is a whole new area for me. X(a), Y(b) and Z(c) all have to be in sequence correct? So and im asking you @Jackal too. If looking at the Front of the printer, with a tower on the front left and a tower on the front right and one center in the back.
Can it be x,y,z counterclockwise, or clockwise or what have you? @Jackal you say top tower? what does that mean?

@andre i was referring to using the move commands in DWC after installing the firmware and fixing the endstop positions. ive copied and pasted my config.g. i have not wired the smart effector yet so i havnt got to use the homing features yet. i wanted to make sure the motors are in the correct order before i go forward. also im waiting on the correct crimping tool.

The printer base im using is a geetech 301. im only using one extruder at this time. and ive replaced the effector and arms with the smart effector and haydens mag ball arms. they are the same length as the old arms. 215.83.

; generated by RepRapFirmware Configuration Tool on Sun Mar 10 2019 16:44:38 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)

; General preferences
G90 ; Send absolute coordinates...
M83 ; ...but relative extruder moves
M665 R110 L215 B85 H250 ; Set delta radius, diagonal rod length, printable radius and homed height
M666 X0 Y0 Z0 ; Put your endstop adjustments here, or let auto calibration find them

; Network
M550 PDeltaBot ; Set machine name
M552 S1 ; Enable network
M586 P0 S1 ; Enable HTTP
M586 P1 S0 ; Disable FTP
M586 P2 S0 ; Disable Telnet

; Drives
M569 P0 S1 ; Drive 0 goes forwards
M569 P1 S1 ; Drive 1 goes forwards
M569 P2 S1 ; Drive 2 goes forwards
M569 P3 S1 ; Drive 3 goes forwards
M350 X16 Y16 Z16 E16 I1 ; Configure microstepping with interpolation
M92 X80 Y80 Z80 E663 ; Set steps per mm
M566 X1200 Y1200 Z1200 E1200 ; Set maximum instantaneous speed changes (mm/min)
M203 X18000 Y18000 Z18000 E1200 ; Set maximum speeds (mm/min)
M201 X1000 Y1000 Z1000 E1000 ; Set accelerations (mm/s^2)
M906 X1000 Y1000 Z1000 E800 I30 ; Set motor currents (mA) and motor idle factor in per cent
M84 S30 ; Set idle timeout

; Axis Limits
M208 Z0 S1 ; Set minimum Z

; Endstops
M574 X2 Y2 Z2 S1 ; Set active low endstops

; Z-Probe
M558 P5 R0.4 H5 F1200 T6000 ; Set Z probe type to effector and the dive height + speeds
G31 P100 X0 Y0 Z-0.1 ; Set Z probe trigger value, offset and trigger height
M557 R85 S20 ; Define mesh grid

; Heaters
M307 H0 B0 S1.00 ; Disable bang-bang mode for the bed heater and set PWM limit
M305 P0 T100000 B4138 C0 R4700 ; Set thermistor + ADC parameters for heater 0
M143 H0 S120 ; Set temperature limit for heater 0 to 120C
M305 P1 T100000 B4138 C0 R4700 ; Set thermistor + ADC parameters for heater 1
M143 H1 S280 ; Set temperature limit for heater 1 to 280C

; Fans
M106 P0 S1 I0 F500 H1 T45 ; Set fan 0 value, PWM signal inversion and frequency. Thermostatic control is turned on
M106 P1 S1 I0 F500 H-1 ; Set fan 1 value, PWM signal inversion and frequency. Thermostatic control is turned off
M106 P2 S1 I0 F500 H-1 ; Set fan 2 value, PWM signal inversion and frequency. Thermostatic control is turned off

; Tools
M563 P0 D0 H1 ; Define tool 0
G10 P0 X0 Y0 Z0 ; Set tool 0 axis offsets
G10 P0 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 0 active and standby temperatures to 0C

; Automatic saving after power loss is not enabled

; Custom settings are not configured

; Miscellaneous
T0 ; Select first tool

Thanks again
Ben

Hello!

Recently i bought a geetech 301 with a bad control board. after my wonderful experiences with the duet on my Tronxy X5S i decided to get another one.

turns out i dont know squat about how to wire or program a delta. i have also purchased the smart effector and carbon rods and mag ball set.

My first question is how are the motors to be wired? what denotes X, Y, and Z?

ive got it to the point where i can zero it to the end stops. but moving the print head seems to be opposite the way its supposed to work. when moving x or Y, on carriage moves while the others stay stationary. that seems reverse from the way ive seen them move.

I have not wired the smart effector or hot end yet. i got tired of crimping terminals by hand using side cutters. while i got reallllly good at it, im losing dexterity in the fingers folding them little tabs over. i broke down and ordered the crimping tool.

so TL;DR where is a good write up on wiring and programming deltas that doesnt dive directly into the spatial physics of the universe. id like to learn that eventually but most write ups seem to require a Stephan hawking level of education. and i consider myself to be just a normal dood teaching myself and my kid 3d printers in hopes to get a job in additive manufacturing someday.

Thanks
Ben