Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X Hi all, so.. Last week, by a lucky streak I got a Makerbot Replicator 2(eXperimental) for free. It was used in the makerspace of the art academy where I work, but the machines got replaced with Ultimakers that do a much better job. The machine comes with a heated bed, dual extruder and everything works on 24v, the power adapter is included. Here's the machine after taking off all the covers: [img]https://i.imgur.com/NxVEEaV.jpg[/img] Now, the things I am thinking of doing: - Making it single extruder (so I basically have one spare extruder) - Making it suitable for PLA printing (I heard it's more suited for ABS by design) - Adding in ABL through inductive probe (this one is a MUST and can be mounted in the spot where one extruder is removed maybe) - Adding Marlin 2.x on the machines main board What I'm running into is that I don't have a manual and also can't really find out if it's possible to upload Marlin to the main board. Additionally I haven't found anyone that added ABL to the native board. So it would probably just be wisest to buy an SKR 1.3 (or 1.4) with TMC2209 stepper drivers and WIFI and go fully open source on the machine? Now what I'm wondering, what would be the 'must have' improvements on such a machine? The heated bed for example looks awesome with the casted iron bed, but the plastic plate in between the arms that hold the heated bed in place looks bent. I cannot imagine this delivering a sturdy surface that gives a consistent print height during prints. Also, the machine uses 'maintenance free' bushings, I would assume sintered bronze bushings, but the previous user has used all kinds of different grease and lube to lubricate the bushings. Could this cause the pores in the sintered bushings to clog up? Right now I have just removed all the excess grease with paper towel and it all still looks like it's in good shape. Look at this nasty gunk.. All rods were covered in this and the bushings were just carrying this stuff along with them as well: [img]https://i.imgur.com/pTZhATv.jpg[/img] So if anyone has good comments on what definitely needs improvement, I'm all ears. Also found this topic, but it didn't really give any additional feedback on if the user managed to convert the machine: https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?147,866606,866606#msg-866606 Personally, I have built a bunch of machines, self-designed and by design of others so converting the machine really isn't a challenge. The big challenge for me would mostly be trying to reuse the existing parts and electronics if possible. https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,874326#msg-874326 Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:51:53 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,893231#msg-893231 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,893231#msg-893231
  • Watercooling
  • Chimera hotend
  • Duet 2 WiFi
  • Heated Chamber
  • Nextion Display




]]> masrodjie General Wed, 09 Aug 2023 20:27:08 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,887628#msg-887628 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,887628#msg-887628






]]> goldenp General Mon, 27 Dec 2021 12:02:43 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,886937#msg-886937 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,886937#msg-886937 panatale1 General Wed, 10 Nov 2021 20:30:59 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,884767#msg-884767 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,884767#msg-884767
Quote
alexgibson3d
Interesting thread to read through.

Do any of you who are converting machines have any left-over MakerBot electronics - dead or alive (or in between!) that you might be willing to donate to a project I'm running to create a drop-in Mightyboard replacement for the Rep2/2X?

I've just successfully restored several machines, but one was completely missing its motherboard and would be a good candidate for fix-upgrade - but I'm very keen to create something more plug and play and easy to... replicate...?

Cheers, Alex

Hi Alex, sorry for the late reply. I was actually looking for a way to make some money on the old electronics to finance the upgrade of the Replicator, and some other quite expensive projects... I hope you find someone who is willing to donate some electronics though, I think the Makerbots Replicators can also be very good machines if you manage to fix some of the odd quirks it has.

Some update on the Replicator 2x, I haven't forgotten this sweet vintage machine (tu)
Meanwhile I've started working on the Replicator 2x again, adding a part cooling fan and adding a filament drybox and some tweaks to the firmware. It now prints PETG quite successfully! I think this is due to the insulated heater block, helping to block heat radiation. I almost never use the part cooling fan and it prints really well.

See this video for some more info:
[www.youtube.com]

Most things to do now are just slicer optimization. And I'm thinking of upgrading the firmware, it's now running on Marlin 2.0.5.4 or something and since Marlin 2.0.9 is out I'm thinking it's a good choice to upgrade now. Oh and I really need to add a cooling fan to the Z-motor as it tends to run extremely hot, nothing compared to how hot the other motors run. And it's only being fed 300mA so I'm kind of lost on what else it could be.

The next project will probably be to remove the TFT screen and add in a Raspberry Pi with Octoprint to further improve the machine. I decided I really don't like SD card switching anymore. My laptop also doesn't has an integrated SD card reader, and it's just a hassle, especially considering that the alternative is already within easy reach.

But first I'm going to work on my pen plotter. So I fixed the Replicator 2x, which is now one of the best printing printers that I own, with which I can print parts for my pen plotter. It's just a long chain of machines that keep improving each other and I really like it.

In the video you can see the part cooling fan, it's very slimline, it mounts around one of the bearings with a tie-rap and uses a small 4010 radial fan. This fan is connected to my DIY additional PWM fan controller breakout board that I mentioned earlier. It works like a charm.]]> Ohmarinus General Fri, 25 Jun 2021 15:08:52 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,883722#msg-883722 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,883722#msg-883722
Do any of you who are converting machines have any left-over MakerBot electronics - dead or alive (or in between!) that you might be willing to donate to a project I'm running to create a drop-in Mightyboard replacement for the Rep2/2X?

I've just successfully restored several machines, but one was completely missing its motherboard and would be a good candidate for fix-upgrade - but I'm very keen to create something more plug and play and easy to... replicate...?

Cheers, Alex]]> alexgibson3d General Sat, 01 May 2021 12:35:47 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,882375#msg-882375 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,882375#msg-882375 guru_florida General Thu, 11 Mar 2021 23:43:47 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881985#msg-881985 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881985#msg-881985
Stepper motors can get quite hot and 45°C is very acceptable. One of my motors runs at 80°C and is still well within working limits.

Mike]]> leadinglights General Sun, 28 Feb 2021 14:02:16 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881979#msg-881979 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881979#msg-881979
- The original thermo sensors of the hotend and heated bed theme to be "thermocouples" (PT100 sensors), but I cannot get them to work with the BTT PT100 board. Did you replace the sensors or find a working solution to convert the values?

- My Z axis motor gets pretty hot. I already turned down the amps on this axis, but they are still getting >45 degrees. When checking the motor specs I found out this stepper is a 12V version. Did you have the same issues or replaced the steppers?

Cheers
André]]> LordOfTheBatch General Sun, 28 Feb 2021 10:42:31 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881609#msg-881609 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881609#msg-881609
Quote
Ohmarinus
Very nice to hear! I think these machines are great platforms to upgrade to open source. Everything can be fit in the box underneath.

Me too. It was just to nice to throw away completly. I like the stiff sheet metal box frame a lot - most cheap printers nowadays only consist of aluminum extrusion - I am surprised they work so well.

Quote
Ohmarinus
The PWM FAN controls can be expanded, I created a DIY expansion myself as posted on page 1. If you want to know more, this is the topic about the PWM controller that I built, and it works really well:
[reprap.org]

Thanks for the hint! I was looking at the I2C bus already, I created something similar for an ESP8226 some years ago.

Quote
Ohmarinus
That's a great looking extruder! I think direct drive works better than bowden.. My diy prusa has direct drive and it performs really well, but better than my old printer. Is that orbiter extruder also available as a bowden extruder by any chance?

I would always stay with direct extrusion, except for delta printers.]]> LordOfTheBatch General Wed, 17 Feb 2021 02:47:30 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881608#msg-881608 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881608#msg-881608
Quote
guru_florida
LordOfTheBatch:
Any reason you didn't go with the TMC2209s? higher current ability (or less temp at lower currents) and serial setup (done from Marlin) is convenient.
Limited number of PWM is a big pain. They could have easily added a two more I'm sure.

I bought a set, it was coming with TMC2208s only. If I find any problems with the 2208s I will switch to 2209s - I saw they are like 20EUR for a set of 5.]]> LordOfTheBatch General Wed, 17 Feb 2021 02:39:55 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881590#msg-881590 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881590#msg-881590
80mm Radiator - Amazon
4w quiet pump + resevoir
Also needs some G 1/4 fittings and tubing (standard CPU cooling stuff) and some kind of cooling head. I have a CNC so I made my own, but probably you could find existing ones on amazon for 40mm motors/etc.



]]> guru_florida General Tue, 16 Feb 2021 14:09:09 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881588#msg-881588 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881588#msg-881588 I wouldnt consider the Orbiter special for bowden use, I'm sure it could work but for bowden style weight isn't really a factor so normal stepper would work. The extruder gears are typical dual drive Bondtech-like ones. I just noticed in the pic the spring tensioner is underneath like the orbiter is resting on it, but it actually goes in the screw hole near the quick connect at the top...pic is misleading there but any other image you'd find shows it correct.

Doesn't the Duet have its own firmware and web server? And I hear it's pretty superior to our Marlin and RR firmware, but I am not an expert on this. There is also Klipper firmware that can work with Marlin and Duet and others that can offload kinematics calcs that I hear improves speed, performance and print quality.

LordOfTheBatch:
Any reason you didn't go with the TMC2209s? higher current ability (or less temp at lower currents) and serial setup (done from Marlin) is convenient.
Limited number of PWM is a big pain. They could have easily added a two more I'm sure.]]> guru_florida General Tue, 16 Feb 2021 13:27:30 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881580#msg-881580 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881580#msg-881580
Quote
LordOfTheBatch
Ohmarinus, thank you very much for sharing!
I have just started converting my Replicator 2 yesterday and already found some helpful hints from your thread.

My setup is (or better will be) SKR3 v1.4 Turbo, TMC2208, TFT35 v3, BLTouch V3.0, ESP01S Wifi, DCDC MOD V1.0, BTMOS V2.0.

So far I replaced the connectors, integrated the TFT display and made all three axis + extruder move. Still a long way to go, but getting there step by step.

There are still some things which puzzle me with the Board and Marlin... But okay, nothing which cannot be solved :-)
  • Limited number of PWM FAN ports.
  • Filament runout sensor in Marlin only works with an LCD screen. Or if you set EXTRUDE_MINTEMP 0 and risk cold extrusion
  • TRP is not enabled by default

PS: Always ground your electrostaticly active office assistant.


Cheers,
André

Very nice to hear! I think these machines are great platforms to upgrade to open source. Everything can be fit in the box underneath. I'm actually thinking of moving to RepRapFirmware and adding a Raspberry Pi with Duet web server. But first I'll have to get the new design running. meanwhile I'm also working on another machine that is getting a slight priority.

The PWM FAN controls can be expanded, I created a DIY expansion myself as posted on page 1. If you want to know more, this is the topic about the PWM controller that I built, and it works really well:
[reprap.org]

I kinda forgot how I ended up doing it. So I'll have to check out what I did to know for sure. Cute cat btw!! :)

Quote
guru_florida
Interesting about the titanium insert. You and I are still putting the Experimental in "Rep 2X Experimental" aren't we! lol. I just went back to water cooled head, but this time minus the huge Koolance unit (for CPUs) and instead just a small 80mm radiator and what is basically a fish tank pump I think. All in all, cost me <50$. Motors sustain 10degC above room temp after hours so heat creep issue is definitely solved. I don't like the dual head anymore though, too heavy and a royal pain, I ordered an Orbiter V1.5 Extruder which will arrive this week. It's direct drive but lightweight. Hoping I can ramp up acceleration after.

Orbiter is a much smaller stepper with planetary gears and dual-drive filament gears yet still capable of fast acceleration and velocity.

That's a great looking extruder! I think direct drive works better than bowden.. My diy prusa has direct drive and it performs really well, but better than my old printer. Is that orbiter extruder also available as a bowden extruder by any chance?
]]> Ohmarinus General Tue, 16 Feb 2021 09:57:43 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881577#msg-881577 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881577#msg-881577 I have just started converting my Replicator 2 yesterday and already found some helpful hints from your thread.

My setup is (or better will be) SKR3 v1.4 Turbo, TMC2208, TFT35 v3, BLTouch V3.0, ESP01S Wifi, DCDC MOD V1.0, BTMOS V2.0.

So far I replaced the connectors, integrated the TFT display and made all three axis + extruder move. Still a long way to go, but getting there step by step.

There are still some things which puzzle me with the Board and Marlin... But okay, nothing which cannot be solved :-)
  • Limited number of PWM FAN ports.
  • Filament runout sensor in Marlin only works with an LCD screen. Or if you set EXTRUDE_MINTEMP 0 and risk cold extrusion
  • TRP is not enabled by default

PS: Always ground your electrostaticly active office assistant.


Cheers,
André
]]> LordOfTheBatch General Tue, 16 Feb 2021 08:34:41 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881556#msg-881556 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881556#msg-881556
Orbiter is a much smaller stepper with planetary gears and dual-drive filament gears yet still capable of fast acceleration and velocity.


Quote
Ohmarinus
Hey hey, well I would like to share it when it's finished! I'm actually going to convert it to print with PLA. ABS is just too toxic. So I still have to design and print a print cooling fan, but the biggest challenge is fitting it in with the current carriage design... One other change I'm making is that I bought this magnetic flex plate because sometimes the prints stick so well to the bed thatI can't get them off. So, I have to 'yank' on the bed and I'm afraid this causes damage to the motion system.

Maybe I'll get to it next week. If I manage to add a print cooling fan I might have to make some changes to the carriage as well. I didn't add mounting holes.. Which was a mistake. So I'll probably drill and melt in some threaded inserts to accommodate an additional radial fan. Let's hope one radial fan is enough. I will update once it's finished. Also have to convert back the hotend to use a PTFE liner instead of the titanium one that I have in place right now, I think titanium doesn't like PLA.

]]> guru_florida General Mon, 15 Feb 2021 11:49:27 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881520#msg-881520 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881520#msg-881520
Quote
guru_florida
On long prints, I'm finding it tough to manage the heat creap vs ABS warpage (and popping off the plate). It's like threading the eye of a needle temp wise. I'm strongly thinking of going in your direction with the bowden tube and external extruder. I added little tiny fans to steppers and no go. My other alternative is to convert some of my carriage to metal (I have the stock and CNC machine) and it will conduct the heat and radiate it better....or I can go back to water cooled which really solved this problem - like a fire hose! I really wanted to have dual extrusion and ninjaflex but right now I just want a reliable print. I just thought I could simplify by removing water cooling but with a heated chamber + buildplate keeping steppers cool is hard - even with fans.

Did you post the design for your carriage on thingiverse? I would like to give it a try if you don't mind.

Thanks,
Colin

Heyhey, well I would like to share it when it's finished! I'm actually going to convert it to print with PLA. ABS is just too toxic. So I still have to design and print a print cooling fan, but the biggest challenge is fitting it in with the current carriage design... One other change I'm making is that I bought this magnetic flex plate because sometimes the prints stick so well to the bed thatI can't get them off. So, I have to 'yank' on the bed and I'm afraid this causes damage to the motion system.

Maybe I'll get to it next week. If I manage to add a print cooling fan I might have to make some changes to the carriage as well. I didn't add mounting holes.. Which was a mistake. So I'll probably drill and melt in some threaded inserts to accommodate an additional radial fan. Let's hope one radial fan is enough. I will update once it's finished. Also have to convert back the hotend to use a PTFE liner instead of the titanium one that I have in place right now, I think titanium doesn't like PLA.]]> Ohmarinus General Sun, 14 Feb 2021 04:14:48 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881424#msg-881424 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881424#msg-881424 Google Drive link. You may not have the same setup as me though! I have new hotend and temp sensors and a BL touch. I assume you are doing a Mightboard to SKR conversion like Ohmarinus and I did. I think everything else would still be the same but I may be forgetting something. Best to review the differences. My config files are also for Marlin 2.0.x branch so if you use a newer branch (which you should) then settings will need to be integrated manually anyway. Good luck! If you have any struggles let us know.

Quote
chraeje
would you like to share the firmware somehow?
]]> guru_florida General Wed, 10 Feb 2021 22:06:50 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881337#msg-881337 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,881337#msg-881337
Did you post the design for your carriage on thingiverse? I would like to give it a try if you don't mind.

Thanks,
Colin]]> guru_florida General Sun, 07 Feb 2021 22:52:52 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880569#msg-880569 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880569#msg-880569
Quote
guru_florida
Hey Ohmarinus! How is the machine running now?

I am considering moving to single extruder and bowden-pusher instead of my extruder on the carriage. I just find dual extrusion such a pain to tune and 95% of the time I just want single head. Also, my glass plate cracked a bit (my own fault) and although it still works fine for now I am thinking PEI sheet is in order. What are you using for build plate?

Heyyy, sorry I've been quite busy IRL... I have decided to leave the project at rest for a while because I need to design a solution to print PLA instead of ABS. This machine has reminder me of how much I loathe ABS!

I have now bought a magnetic sheet that I can place a metal plate on with kapton on top of it. It's the easiest, this way you can remove the plate and bend it to release the print. I've bought '3D lac plus' with which the prints stick to the bed with great success.

The machine is running great when I'm running it, but I also built a Prusa i3 clone that's smaller and fits on my desk. So I have postponed fixing the Replicator 2x a bit. Also really busy with making pen plots. Reviving some vintage plotters right now. very addictive! (tu)

How is your machine running meanwhile? Did you replace the glass plate? My machine originally has a cast iron plate and silicone heated element underneath.]]> Ohmarinus General Fri, 15 Jan 2021 16:15:07 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880494#msg-880494 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880494#msg-880494
Quote
guru_florida
Hey Ohmarinus! How is the machine running now?

I am considering moving to single extruder and bowden-pusher instead of my extruder on the carriage. I just find dual extrusion such a pain to tune and 95% of the time I just want single head. Also, my glass plate cracked a bit (my own fault) and although it still works fine for now I am thinking PEI sheet is in order. What are you using for build plate?

would you like to share the firmware somehow?]]> chraeje General Wed, 13 Jan 2021 14:43:27 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880493#msg-880493 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880493#msg-880493
Quote
Ohmarinus
Okay, a small update on the machine, and a copy paste from the other topic in 'Printing issues':

Quote
Ohmarinus
I think I've got it down almost completely now.

In contrary to what seems to be popular belief, on my machine I can print perfectly with a bed temperature of 80ºC and a hotend temperature of 235ºC. I read everywhere people suggest an even higher bed temperature when experiencing warping, but in my personal experience I experience no warping at all at 80ºC (first layer temp is 85ºC). Lowering the bed temp might be quite counter-intuitive to some people, but I realized that was the last thing to try that I could think of. Now the material solidifies enough to not warp, but it stays hot enough to still have good inter-layer adhesion. No issues with the part coming off the bed, I still have to use extreme force to get it off. I guess my blend of ABS juice is also exactly the right consistency. I see a lot of people smear on thick-ass layers of ABS juice, but you really only need a subtle film.

Also, I've added a fan duct that I printed with the Delta machine I've built as well. And am now in the process of vapor smoothing the part that I reprinted with the Replicator 2x which I now call Replicator 3x since it's been upgraded by me. This fan duct will also help with air flow being minimized over the part that's being printed as I did notice that even though my new X-carriage design works incredibly well **best I've ever designed so far**, there was still some turbulence being pulled under the carriage by the airflow that is sucked into the 40mm hotend cooling fan.
I used this design as I see it's the best one I could find with good flow characteristics. I don't understand why people use grate-type fan guards/ducts/inlets, they 'suck':
[www.thingiverse.com]

Some example images:






I have changed a lot of settings and the machine is performing really well now. I've also designed myself a PWM breakout module to run an extra fan with PWM because I use one PWM controlled fan to cool the hotend (though I run it on 255 anyway but might lower it again to make it more quiet again) and then I use another fan to cool down the stepper drivers.

This is it:



Couldn't find how many PWM fans could be run on the SKR 1.4 natively, but I decided on creating a breakout board as an exercise anyway. It was a lot of fun.

Do you share the firmware settings somewhere? i am working on the same project.
]]> chraeje General Wed, 13 Jan 2021 14:42:59 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880492#msg-880492 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,880492#msg-880492 chraeje General Wed, 13 Jan 2021 14:42:00 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,879463#msg-879463 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,879463#msg-879463
I am considering moving to single extruder and bowden-pusher instead of my extruder on the carriage. I just find dual extrusion such a pain to tune and 95% of the time I just want single head. Also, my glass plate cracked a bit (my own fault) and although it still works fine for now I am thinking PEI sheet is in order. What are you using for build plate?]]> guru_florida General Wed, 09 Dec 2020 02:20:33 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,877347#msg-877347 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,877347#msg-877347
You're so right on the PWM mod. The SKR 1.4 only supports 1, one, a yeah I PWM fan. wth!?!? I dont know any serious 3D printer that only uses 1 fan. They have some 3 other fan outputs that are basically just 12/24v direct. I am considering the same as you since I need 2 more PWM fans but was thinking about using an I2C to PWM controller. These chips are typically used to power the background white LEDs in LCD monitors but there are many breakouts on Adafruit or Sparkfun and I happen to have a few onhand. I'd have to hack Marlin though. I see some code in a forum where someone already did it, so I dont have to start from scratch but would have to patch none-the-less. It would consume 0 pins though since its i2c.

That is a sweet new intake grill! I think you have a good point regarding grate ones.

I've been spending a lot of time playing with "switching dual head" design. Not done yet, but making progress. I've also been test printing with various materials, carbon fiber, PLA for the first time and the printer is working great. Good wood PLA on order. I'm really surprised you are printing with the hotbed at 80. I am not surprised it reduces warping, I can see how our enclosed printer suffers from ABS not cooling down fast enough and hotbed definitely slows the cooling factor. I am just surprised it still sticks. I will have to try it. I am pretty sure the hotbed contributes to my hot steppers via ambient too. I put my cover up on stilts to let a little cool air in. So maybe 80deg would do me better too.

I've also been off on another project too. Instrumenting my pool with pH and ORP sensors for chemistry control. So I am a bit slow on the updates. This gave me the motivation to get the printer working tho so I could print the enclosures.

C]]> guru_florida General Tue, 15 Sep 2020 23:24:55 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876970#msg-876970 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876970#msg-876970
Quote
Ohmarinus
I think I've got it down almost completely now.

In contrary to what seems to be popular belief, on my machine I can print perfectly with a bed temperature of 80ºC and a hotend temperature of 235ºC. I read everywhere people suggest an even higher bed temperature when experiencing warping, but in my personal experience I experience no warping at all at 80ºC (first layer temp is 85ºC). Lowering the bed temp might be quite counter-intuitive to some people, but I realized that was the last thing to try that I could think of. Now the material solidifies enough to not warp, but it stays hot enough to still have good inter-layer adhesion. No issues with the part coming off the bed, I still have to use extreme force to get it off. I guess my blend of ABS juice is also exactly the right consistency. I see a lot of people smear on thick-ass layers of ABS juice, but you really only need a subtle film.

Also, I've added a fan duct that I printed with the Delta machine I've built as well. And am now in the process of vapor smoothing the part that I reprinted with the Replicator 2x which I now call Replicator 3x since it's been upgraded by me. This fan duct will also help with air flow being minimized over the part that's being printed as I did notice that even though my new X-carriage design works incredibly well **best I've ever designed so far**, there was still some turbulence being pulled under the carriage by the airflow that is sucked into the 40mm hotend cooling fan.
I used this design as I see it's the best one I could find with good flow characteristics. I don't understand why people use grate-type fan guards/ducts/inlets, they 'suck':
[www.thingiverse.com]

Some example images:






I have changed a lot of settings and the machine is performing really well now. I've also designed myself a PWM breakout module to run an extra fan with PWM because I use one PWM controlled fan to cool the hotend (though I run it on 255 anyway but might lower it again to make it more quiet again) and then I use another fan to cool down the stepper drivers.

This is it:



Couldn't find how many PWM fans could be run on the SKR 1.4 natively, but I decided on creating a breakout board as an exercise anyway. It was a lot of fun.
]]> Ohmarinus General Sat, 05 Sep 2020 15:24:37 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876636#msg-876636 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876636#msg-876636
Perfect layers
[attachment 116559 IMG_POCO_F1_20200828_113507-01.jpeg]

Sadly, the bottom sticks onto the kapton way too good, I ordered a magnetic base plate that can handle up to 140ºC so once that is installed I can start and print with a spring steel sheet and just pop off the prints with ease
[attachment 116560 IMG_POCO_F1_20200828_113907-01.jpeg]]]> Ohmarinus General Fri, 28 Aug 2020 07:02:24 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876607#msg-876607 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876607#msg-876607
Quote
guru_florida
I didnt even realize in the youtube videos that there was no sock on your hotend! Yes, not having a sock was part of my issue a few months back. I didnt think it mattered *that* much but the hotend aluminum block was keeping the top of the part molten. I did a crappy job of wrapping mine in scraps of soft felt (whatever that stuff is called) and kapton and it looked like crap but definitely worked. lol. With the new hotends I have the full silicon sock which is awesome since no plastic sticks to them. The sheer amount of "process variables" that all need to be controlled is crazy in 3D printing. Also we need to control heat here, cool these over there, cool the part, but overall control ambient heat the interdependence are crazy. Thus my water-cooled experiment.

New mount looks great!

I got my dual extruders working good but I know the limitations of it....and I know long term I wont be happy lol. I am thinking of designing a dual printing head like this one and maybe a cross between a few other "dual head switching extruder" designs. I was thinking there must be a way to have the two extruders fixed together but slide one out of the way while the other slides in and sure enough lots of existing stuff out there. I'd also like it to share the same extruder motor to reduce weight so the switching of the head loosens tension on one filament while it engages the other. Long term project though, I'm good for now and except for a few tweaks I'm going to enjoy that I have a 3D printer again. I also have to get back on a humanoid robot project.
[www.youtube.com]


Yeah, the silicone cover really only helps against sticky filament. I have now added a ceramic cover and used self-fusing silicone sock to cover the ceramic insulation to keep filament from sticking to it. Let's hope this works!

Some pictures:

Self fusing silicone (red) wrapped around the ceramic insulation that is packed in kapton tape:



The sleekly designed x-carriage (I'm pretty proud of my minimalistic approach that also seemed to work in the first try):


If you look closely you can see the probe behind the cooling fan, the fan therefor also cools down the probe. I am afraid my previous probe died because it got too hot in the heated chamber. The new fan is quiet!! And moves so much air. It's a delight. I hope this keeps the cold-end cool enough, but also keeps the bottom clamp that clamps around the cooling fins from melting or deforming. I do expect a little deformation to be honest:





Bed MOSFET top-right:


Managed to keep all connections on the interface panel on the back:


A 90-degree USB extender connects to the SKR 1.4 and the other end is mountable on the interface panel:

]]> Ohmarinus General Wed, 26 Aug 2020 09:32:45 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876601#msg-876601 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876601#msg-876601
New mount looks great!

I got my dual extruders working good but I know the limitations of it....and I know long term I wont be happy lol. I am thinking of designing a dual printing head like this one and maybe a cross between a few other "dual head switching extruder" designs. I was thinking there must be a way to have the two extruders fixed together but slide one out of the way while the other slides in and sure enough lots of existing stuff out there. I'd also like it to share the same extruder motor to reduce weight so the switching of the head loosens tension on one filament while it engages the other. Long term project though, I'm good for now and except for a few tweaks I'm going to enjoy that I have a 3D printer again. I also have to get back on a humanoid robot project.
[www.youtube.com]]]> guru_florida General Tue, 25 Aug 2020 20:51:44 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876591#msg-876591 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876591#msg-876591
Quote
guru_florida
Just from the videos that is a fast print speed! :) Since you did the extrusion calibration, I can only surmise it might be just layers printing too fast. Maybe try a larger part? You seem to be more knowledgeable in printing than I am so take any my advice with a grain of salt. I've been doing 3D printing since ~2014 but not consistently. I have more CNC background, and lots of electronics/software bg so I learn quickly but I've learned more in the last month on Marlin and 3D printer tuning than the last 5 years. I had some of these issues and I taped a part cooling fan to the front of the carriage. Like fully-enclosed for ABS, I've heard you dont need a part cooling fan but I disagree - I think we do especially for small parts with little infill and fast layers. I dont think we need much cooling, just a bit. I am just doing my first PLA print and omg can I ever see the difference in material. The PLA hardens like candy apple and seems almost brittle. ABS is always soft, almost molten, for much of the current layer. I have my second extruder operating with PLA and I've carefully tuned their heights and trammed with a feeler gauge yet still any little over extrusion and the other nozzle makes a *crackling* sound as it runs over it. ABS would still be soft. So far it is working though...first time I've had dual extrusion working since I got the machine. I love how Makerbot called it the "Experimental" printer, I thought the marketing label meant 'I can experiment' only we later found out they literally meant this dual extrusion printer was an experiment of theirs. I.e. "we didnt know for sure if it would work". (Apparently this was no joke.)

Back to full enclosure. I think it is important, especially for ABS, but it means many other things have to be carefully tuned. I am having an issue where the enclosure temp get too high that the steppers cant cool enough, and the stepper heat eventually cause the filament to molten at the gear. I let the first few layers print then I raise the cover up 2 inches and open the door a crack for the rest...this is enough to keep the steppers <60degC. Not an issue with Bowdens. I've also seen where the enclosure is keeping the part from cooling down enough too though which is like what you are seeing. Possibly keep the door open a bit.

My PLA is printing with a new thin stepper and omg it is running so much cooler even though I am powering it at 700mA vs 500mA on the old one. I expected it to be hotter but would give me enough room to attach heatsinks and keep it cooler. Hoping these work good.
[www.amazon.com]

Colin

Hi Colin,

Yeah, I realize that lowering the mA on the stepper motors was essential to make it safe to run. I had it up to the normal amounts for my other machines first around 800mA but it turned out that these motors run great at 550mA which is the perfect balance between power, speed and heat. Might even try to go lower 530-ish.
Very happy to be running a bowden-setup. I did however tune my current extruder to work really reliably, but I'm still going to replace it with a dual-gear extruder. I'll show it when it gets here.

Right now I'm printing the new X-carriage I designed with the new PETG filaments I just received last week. It took me lots of time to dial in my Delta printer to make it work with the new PETG filaments, but now that it's working I think I got it right. Just one little issue where there is under-extrusion after a lot of short extrusions. Gotta find a fix for that. But it works good enough now to print a large technically-difficult piece with bridges, overhangs, lots of support, etc. See a video of the X-carriage being printed here:
[www.youtube.com]
(the retraction noise is caused by a filament filter that rattles, gotta fix that)

Here is the part preview:
[a360.co]

There is also spare room to mount a print cooling fan system AND I have gotten rid of the 30mm hotend fan and changed it out for a more silent 40mm fan.

Above all the complete X-carriage is printed in one piece which makes it even lighter than it was before as it replaces everything with one printed piece.

When the new carriage is mounted I'm making sure that the Replicator's hotend will have the heat-block packaged in ceramic insulation tape to lower the heat radiation in hopes of being able to cool down the printed ABS a bit more by limiting the ambient heat. I somehow remember this worked great back in 2013 when I was using a 'Buddhaschnozzle' hotend or whatever it was called back then. Times are changing.]]> Ohmarinus General Tue, 25 Aug 2020 06:28:47 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876480#msg-876480 Re: Reviving a Makerbot Replicator 2X https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,874326,876480#msg-876480
Back to full enclosure. I think it is important, especially for ABS, but it means many other things have to be carefully tuned. I am having an issue where the enclosure temp get too high that the steppers cant cool enough, and the stepper heat eventually cause the filament to molten at the gear. I let the first few layers print then I raise the cover up 2 inches and open the door a crack for the rest...this is enough to keep the steppers <60degC. Not an issue with Bowdens. I've also seen where the enclosure is keeping the part from cooling down enough too though which is like what you are seeing. Possibly keep the door open a bit.

My PLA is printing with a new thin stepper and omg it is running so much cooler even though I am powering it at 700mA vs 500mA on the old one. I expected it to be hotter but would give me enough room to attach heatsinks and keep it cooler. Hoping these work good.
[www.amazon.com]

Colin]]> guru_florida General Sun, 23 Aug 2020 14:37:59 -0400