just finished developing my reprap printer, 3DPrintMi

Hey everyone,

I've been working on this reprap design since December 2012 and I'm releasing all the files under GPL. I have already built two of these so it can self replicate without a problem. Would love to see this reprap built somewhere else around the world and mods to improve the design.

[reprap.org]
[www.thingiverse.com]
[m.instructables.com]
[gyroe3dprinter.blogspot.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2013 03:14PM by gyronictonic.

Build Log #25 - PLA woes and waiting for materials

Did you solve this issue. I think it might be related to needing a fan cooling the top of your hot end. The end opposite the print bed.

Do you mean the fan blowing at the sink? I have it running at 12V and the PLA continues to clog. Drilling out the stainless steel tube wider and applying thermal paste to the heatsink only gave me 40 minutes of printing before it clogs again. I think the swelling occurs right above the heat break and if that's what you're talking about then yes, placing a fan right at the heat break stops the PLA from clogging. The only problem is that there isn't much room to install another fan. I have tried wrapping the heat break with copper wires hoping that it would act like a heatsink but, that didn't work out as planned. I just need something to pull the heat away from the heat break faster than normal. I thought about adding a peltier cooler to the aluminum block, just haven't figured out how to mount it. This would give the extruder a nice, sharp temperature gradient between the hot-end and the aluminum block which I think PLA needs in order to function.

I know, I don't have much room either. I wound up using a flat fan I pulled out of a laptop.

I might actually try using a blower fan like that but retrofit an amico coolant nozzle attached to it. May not pump a lot of air but it's enough to cool it down.

I came across this printer on your instructable. I'm hoping to have the rest of my parts in this week so hopefully I'll finish the build by this weekend but it's my first build so I'm sure I'll have questions/problems. Any suggestions or tips to help out during the build?

For the construction side, I could list a few things I came across during my build

1. A good way to know that your X Gantry is aligned with the Z linear rods is to do a drop test. Just move the X Gantry up and quickly move your hands down to see if it's binding or not.
2. Grease up the LM8UU before installing the linear rods.
3. Check if the linear rods are chamfered. This prevents the linear rods from knocking the ball bearings out of the LM8UUs
4. Depending on the quality of your parts, you may need to drill out the holes a bit wider. 1/8" drill bits for 3mm holes and 5/16" for the 8mm mounts. The Y carriage holes are 6mm and if you are planning to use 1/4" bolts instead, you will need to drill it out with a 1/4" drill bit.
5. Read up on wiring the electronics. Mostly it's just pairing the correct connectors to whatever board you purchased. The connectors listed in the BOM are for the Printrboard.
6. Make sure the GT2 belts are tight when you install them.

If there's any problems, please let me know! I am willing to help out and also would like some feedback.

Could an admin move this post to the development thread? I would like to post updates without clogging up this thread.

Just like to post a blog post on my new 3DPrintMi Plus version and a new direct drive extruder I'm developing.

[gyroe3dprinter.blogspot.com]

Also, congrats to luisimomaximo for being the first to build and print with the 3DPMi!

... only the last post or the complete thread?

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Complete thread but I could always start a new one if that's easier.