Talk:PCB Heatbed

Dimensions

Hi,

More dimension data would indeed be most welcome! I need to prepare a support for one of these (not yet received) What is the exact distance between the holes? I have read 21 cm, but found no "official" confirmation. Thank you for any hints,

Lanthan 03.08.2011

Answering my own question: checked on the PCB eagle file posted to Thingiverse, the holes are spaced 209 mm

Lanthan 04.08.2011

What are the overall dimensions of the heated PCB? I see above that the hole dimensions are 209mm between centers, but there is a little margin around the holes. DaveX 15:47, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Naming

I was not sure if to add the MK2 board to this page or start a new Wiki page for the board. in the end I redirected PCB_Heatbed_MK2 to this one and added the MK2 stuff here. They are minor changes but add up to a board that looks better upside down and is easier to mount connections, LEDs and a thermocouple to.

Skyfanatic 12.09.2011

Slight mistake, Skyfanatic...Prusa made a series of heatbeds before arriving at MK1. And MK2 happens to be one of those earlier designs (baffling, I know). Might want to rename your design. See here: http://prusadjs.cz/2010/01/heated-reprap-print-bed-mk2/ --Threedonuts 05:55, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

Threedonuts, my understanding was that those were just 'heatbeds' and specifically that MK2 uses a floor tile and nicrome wire. This is Prusa's PCB Heatbed MK1, improvements I have made seem to fall logically into PCB Heatbed MK2.

Skyfanatic 20.09.2011

Hm, as long as you were aware of the earlier MK2. I was just surprised to see this name after following Prusa's work. Even though it's a floor tile and not a PCB, Prusa's Heatbed MK2 serves the same purpose as his PCB Heatbed MK1. In response to your above discussion, I think it's correct to use this Wiki page for. As you say, your board is a minor layout alteration, not a new development. --Threedonuts 16:26, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

Yeah I looked into the various options, nicrome wire, resistors etc and liked the PCB idea the best, now we just need a form of permanent, spray on 'kapton' for the glass! Skyfanatic 20.09.2011

MK3 Alu

The copper layer should be placed on the bottom of the platform. The actual version has an uneven surface because of the copper layer. 0.02€ --RobertKuhlmann (talk) 00:39, 26 September 2013 (PDT)

Borosilicate glass, normal glass or mirror

I have been using since day 1 of printing, a 3mm thick, 200x200mm piece of borosilicate glass. It works fine, the surface is flat and even, and the only issue I could possibly see with this is that it's relatively expensive (unless you manage to find a local source - I didn't). I have not tried normal glass but have been told that it could crack because of thermal stress created by repeated heating/cooling cycles. However, I want to mention that one popular and economical solution (here in Spain at least) is to use a 200x200mm piece of mirror (tip: these are available from Ikea for 2 euros or so). The mirror has the advantage that it lets you see the tip of the extruder nozzle quite clearly, and apparently the thin silver layer that makes the reflective surface also helps to spread the heat evenly along the surface of the mirror. Just like the piece of borosilicate glass, the recommended method to hold the mirror against the PCB heatbed is to use four bulldog clips. --AndrewBCN (talk) 18:36, 30 January 2015 (PST)

Seller feedback

I wanted to buy something from "reprap.me" on ebay page I just check their International web pages and feedbacks (ebay / internet) I saw lot of people have very bad experience with them. (bad product, wrong description/sizes/pictures, non working item and they sell clones as original or brand) should we remove their name on wiki?

thank you