Heated Bed

Hi, I'm in the midst of building my repstrap, and I would like to report on a successfully working heated bed.

It isn't a total success yet, as I don't have my electronics ready, but I can say that it heats up.

It's pcb fr4 material, with one side totally copper. It's quite similar to Prusajr's bed, however it is made for better home fabbing (diy etching, milling, etc.)

It is made up of as many panels as necessary to reach the proper size 210mm by 210mm.

It's more the technique of making it rather than the bed itself.
-Quite simply, you measure your copper clad boards and cut each one individually to a size that allows for a properly sized square.

-Once you have them cut, tape them together with some scotch tape in their square pattern with no gaps.

-Next you use the toner transfer/iron on method of etch resist.

-Separate the boards by cutting the seems between the laminate board with a knife

-Remove paper and etch normally.

-Once all are etched, remove the toner and line up the laminate in it's original square shape, so that the traces line up.

-Use solder and flux to tin connecting traces and solder them together.

Glue to glass with thermal paste??? or some other sealant suggestions?
Sorry if this sounds like senseless rambling, but here is a picture of my board, and it does heat up on a 12v supply ~5.79Amps

Edit: [www.thingiverse.com]

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2011 08:34PM by Legot.

Doesn't sound like senseless rambling to me Might convince me to make use of those old boards I have lying around and finally make a heated bed.

In case people are interested I added an entry for this post to the "Bed Adhesion and Anti-Warping" theme in the development tracker i'm trying to get up and running.

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garyhodgson.com/reprap | reprap.development-tracker.info | thingtracker.net

garyhodgson Wrote:
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> In case people are interested I added an entry for
> this post to the "Bed Adhesion and Anti-Warping"
> theme in the development tracker i'm trying to get
> up and running.


That's a cool tool! very useful, Thanks.

I did manage to attach it to the glass plate with some kapton as an insulator, with Aluminum tape holding them together.

I don't have an IR thermometer, but with some tests with known materials, I have concluded that at at 5.79 amps, the board gets to somewhere between 70C and 90C, witch isn't bad.

I'm sure that with smaller traces, it could go much higher.
The heating on the glass also seems quite even.