My Replikeo Prusa i3 Rework Build

Hey Everyone,

I should hopefully get my Replikeo very shortly. Ordered on 28 April and finally tracking shows it in customs in Sydney Australia.
Not long now... Excited!

Hi All,

I've finally finished building my Replikeo i3 (and first 3D printer) today and have just begun calibrating it. I'm still many hours away from my first print though. Replikeo offered excellent service in replacing the broken glass plate with a carbon fibre one as well as a few broken plastic parts - only took a week to arrive in Sydney. The shipment looked a bit battered, but this is probably China Post.

I've installed a ReprapDiscount Full Graphics LCD module (http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRapDiscount_Full_Graphic_Smart_Controller) which is pretty amazing - I can do move axis, turn on/off the extruder and heated bed without using a laptop. Once it's up and running, I'll be able to print from an SD Card as well.

Issues encountered so far:

1. Using Replikeo's configuration file (http://www.replikeo.com/en/blog/arduino-firmware-configuration) for the Marlin, when attempting to home the Y axis, it would hit the end stop and try to continue on. It appears that the following:
#define INVERT_Y_DIR true
#define Y_HOME_DIR 1

Should in fact be:
#define INVERT_Y_DIR false
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1

This stopped the crashing and auto-homes fine.

2. I couldn't get the heated bed to heat up whatsoever. After some testing, found that this is because the thermistor wasn't getting a reading. My first thought was that I'd damaged the thermistor while installing it, but in fact, the wire that connects to the two-pin connector was not properly connected inside. After reconnecting it, it heats fine.

3. I first started to level the head against the bed. I've clearly done something wrong here because the corners appear ok, but it bows upward in the middle. This appears to be because there is insufficient spacing between the heated bed and the aluminium mount. This is in part due to the space that the thermistor wires need between the bed and the mount.

In the Prusa i3 Rework manual I've been building from (http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3_Rework_Y_axis_assembly and [reprap.org]), it doesn't mention anything about springs on the heated bed - Trike, you mentioned that you ended up using springs? Is this documented somewhere I've missed?

The way I have it now, I have M3x14 screw with a washer, then the bed, then 3 more washers before it is screwed into the mount. Is this the right way to do it?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2014 04:03AM by JonT.

How did you attached Y belt holder on bed mount? Do you have heads of screws on the bed side, or under bed mount??

I ended up getting rid of the springs because the bed would shift during a print, I ended up using some m3 10mm stand offs I had laying around.

I also installed the y belt holder with nuts on the top side of the bed.

Trike, how do you level your bed, with these stands? Photo of your bed mount would be nice.

I finished build today, but I have problem with bed level. Heated bed is not flat, so I cant properly level it.

Evolution of my prints


All are made from green Replikeo PLA filament. Extruder 200°C, bed 65°C, layer height for auto leveling probe is 0.2 (and 3 layer raft), cubes are 0.3. Right cube was 20mm hollow cube, middle cube is 10mm solid cube.

Ps. white foam in background is there only for photo

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2014 10:09PM by Allnei.

WooHoo! My package says it's "On Route" to the US!

That is great news Greg

Allnei, how are you finding printing on carbon fibre? Do you need to lay down tape, hairspray, etc for the prints to stick?

Carbon fibre bed is dream. PLA stick on it in room temperature very well and is not necessary to use any tape, etc. I don´t know how well ABS stick, because I had not time to try it yet (maybe today). Only bad thing on carbon plate is its flexibility so if you don't have flat HB, it can be problem.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2014 07:38AM by Allnei.

I got my replacements and carbonfiber bed on saturday. I haven't tried printing on it yet. I'm still experiencing some first layer adhesion problems on certain prints, I'll give the carbonfiber plate a try. Can you clean the carbon fiber plate with acetone? Will it eat the epoxy?

Trike, did you solved slow HB heating?

Not yet... I still haven't replaced the wires on the bed yet. I'm not sure if the PTC fuse on the ramps board can handle the current that the bed draws. Right now, I have the bed wired directly to a relay and using the the D8 pin to trigger the relay. This setup seems to work fine, just not as clean as i would like it.

With a carbon fibre print surface, wouldn't one be facing the risk of a print pulling some of the fibres off?

---

MakerFarm 8" Prusa i3v
RAMPS 1.4
0.4mm E3D v6 for 1.75mm

No, because carbon fibre is covered by epoxy. As you can see on my photo (on this page) it has glossy finish.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2014 03:44AM by Allnei.

Thanks for the info Allnei. At some point I'll be able to contribute in this thread.

I've been printing with the carbon plate, and it's significantly flatter than the glass I got from matter hackers. There isn't nearly as much compensation happening during a print and first layer adhesion appears to be quite a bit better.

Not to rant but my printer entered usa the 9th of May. It should have been delivered by now. Pretty soon I'm going to have to file a claim that it is lost.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2014 09:07PM by jprochnow.

That really sucks. I order quite a bit overseas and that has always been my fear that it gets lost or stuck in customs. Hopefully it's not stuck in customs because the box is destroyed. Have you tried calling the post office? Hope they find it for you.

Mine says, "Sent to airline" for the last three days. IDK if it's on a plane or what. Today is the end of the second week since I ordered, so hopefully only another week or so. I AM on the east coast of the US though so who knows?

I hope you get yours soon jprochnow!

Mine went through LAX customs. Maybe NYC customs is a lot busier?

IDK where it will come through customs, I would imagine it would be LAX and then transfer to a truck. But that's just a guess. I order a ton of stuff from china on eBay but I've never ordered something this big or heavy before.

You guys are making me nervous...I just ordered a kit from them 2 days ago. Still in pending status and no email updates (I emailed them to substitute a 1.75mm hotend).
Have you guys had good communication with them?

Great communication with them. China Post is the weak link. My order shipped in 4 days and it was 3-4 days after that that it showed up on the China Post tracking website. Be patient. Replikeo seems to be doing right by their customers from everything I've read. Though they might want to consider a better carrier...

gadget_greg: On what page do you track your package? Because on [track-chinapost.com] you will not be able to track package in your country. Use [www.17track.net] instead. Also do not take into consideration my shipping time, I live in Czech Republic and here we have very specific post service (next day delivery is almost standard) and international airport + customs office is in the same city, so I can go directly to the customs office, pay fee there and take my package.

Btw: Yes Replikeo have great support team, i asked them for yellow ABS filament as my "free spool" and I got it

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2014 03:29PM by Allnei.

Today I opened a dispute as I fear it is gone. I called the post office but they see the same thing that it was processed through new York on the 9th and there has been no other information. Hopefully I can get my money back. Don't let my bad luck deter from buying. They have great communication and ship fast. It's not their fault my package is lost.

New prints (wade gears)

Small - green PLA HE-200°C HB-60°C
Big - yellow ABS HE - 230°C HB - 95°C (actually it was 88°C)
both printed on clean carbon fibre bed. Big is little bend (just 1mm) but still usable

Nice prints Allnei!

Sadly 17track.net has no new news for me. Maybe tomorrow...

Anyone know a cheap source for filament? I'd like to pick up a spool of colored PLA. eBay pricing puts it at $19 to $22 (and up). Preferably in the states...

Finally the kit arrived today!

Like Trike and others the box looks as though it's been sat on or something. Nothing missing though and everything seems ok so far.

The printed ABS parts don't look that great, but I guess as long as they work ok initially we can print better quality replacements. I posted a quick unboxing video YouTube