opto endstop

hi

Can my Reprap machine work without the Opto endstop? i have already make the heated barrel, but i notice that the nicrome wire not warm enough. The temperature doesn't pass the 200ºC.. is the heated barrel to long?

The opto endstop is for stopping and calibrating your reprap. A reprap wont work without the opto endstops. It is like taking off the stick of a blind man and telling him to walk.

While an endstop is essential, you could rig up some wire contacts in a pinch, at least for testing. Have you tried insulating the heater with glass fibre or increasing the voltage? What plastic are you using?

From Nophead's Extruder Tweaks: [objects.reprap.org]

> When using the RepRap electronics 2V is dropped across the TIP120 Darlington, so to get the same power, a 6Ω heater is required. Better to use a protected MOSFET, something like this, which is a drop in replacement and doesn't need a heatsink.

I tried this and it seems to help. I've also put a multi-meter on my power supply and it read only 11 V. I havn't replaced the power supply yet.

i'm using ABS.., the evolution of the temperature up to the 200ºC it´s nice, but over 200ºC it's a crap... i follow the instructions that are in bit's from bytes, where i bought the kit. the length of the heated barrel could "actuate" in a negative way ?