Folger Tech 2020 i3 Printer Kit (Official Thread)

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Bert3D

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UltiFix
I can get a duplicator I3 for 350, thats tempting, then I can use that printer to print parts for an old prusa 2 a friend gave me.

I'm not so sure the quality of the Monoprice copy will be as good as the real Wanhao Duplicator I3. A real Wanhao Duplicator I3 V2 is only $399 directly from them.

Monoprice quality is good, and they have good warranty too. I would still stick with the folgertech, with their mediocre support, bad ramps board and mismatch screws it's still by far the best solution and easy to upgrade.

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Bert3D
Some kapton tape is included. You need to supply your on solder and soldering equipment, though.

Worth noting as it caught me off guard. The included Kapton tape is only 1/4" or so wide. It's not suitable for say, covering your print bed and printing on. It's good for things like holding in a replacement hot end thermister that doesn't have a brass collar since the Kapton can handle the heat of being wrapped around the hot end. Or like insulating the connections on the heated bed after soldering them. It's ok for things like bundling wires. Personally I'm not a fan of Kapton for general electrical insulating and wire bundling since it's not good at dealing with movement/abrasion. But anywhere you need to insulate and heat is a factor it's the best choice.

And if you're REALLY patient and have a VERY steady hand I suppose you could use it on the printbed...but some wider tape would be better for that!

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therippa
I think you just make a link to a page that doesn't exist (red link), and when you click on it, it will give you an choice to create a new page.

Sounds about right, that's how it generally works on wiki's. I'm not sure if we want to make an intro page for the homepage and link to the current page, or move what's on the current page to the homepage and break more stuff off to sub-pages. Just kind of hesitant to "be bold" (as wikipedia encourages) and make that kind of major change myself.

Quote
Bert3D

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UltiFix
I can get a duplicator I3 for 350, thats tempting, then I can use that printer to print parts for an old prusa 2 a friend gave me.

I'm not so sure the quality of the Monoprice copy will be as good as the real Wanhao Duplicator I3. A real Wanhao Duplicator I3 V2 is only $399 directly from them.

I can get a refurbished one (returns and stuff) for 350, im leaning that way now

Quote
marc2912

Quote
Bert3D

Quote
UltiFix
I can get a duplicator I3 for 350, thats tempting, then I can use that printer to print parts for an old prusa 2 a friend gave me.

I'm not so sure the quality of the Monoprice copy will be as good as the real Wanhao Duplicator I3. A real Wanhao Duplicator I3 V2 is only $399 directly from them.

Monoprice quality is good, and they have good warranty too. I would still stick with the folgertech, with their mediocre support, bad ramps board and mismatch screws it's still by far the best solution and easy to upgrade.

But what if I can get the duplicator i3 for 350? WIth free shipping? A folgertech with shipping is nearly $300 with no micro sd card reader or display, and the duplicator has better frame and a year warranty

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2016 04:35PM by UltiFix.

Quote
marc2912

Quote
Bert3D

Quote
UltiFix
I can get a duplicator I3 for 350, thats tempting, then I can use that printer to print parts for an old prusa 2 a friend gave me.

I'm not so sure the quality of the Monoprice copy will be as good as the real Wanhao Duplicator I3. A real Wanhao Duplicator I3 V2 is only $399 directly from them.

Monoprice quality is good, and they have good warranty too. I would still stick with the folgertech, with their mediocre support, bad ramps board and mismatch screws it's still by far the best solution and easy to upgrade.

My friend with the Wanhao Duplicator I3 pointed out that monoprice might be how Wanhao is selling off the Duplicator I3 V1 inventory. Just speculation, but if it is, they could be genuine. Even if not, they could still be a good clone.

I'm happy with my Folger, but if you want a ready-to-run printer, I'd say the Wanhao is your best bet for the money.

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 Wiki

Custom google search for the Folger Tech 2020 i3 forum topic by Animoose

My Thingiverse Designs

Quote
Bert3D

Quote
marc2912

Quote
Bert3D

Quote
UltiFix
I can get a duplicator I3 for 350, thats tempting, then I can use that printer to print parts for an old prusa 2 a friend gave me.

I'm not so sure the quality of the Monoprice copy will be as good as the real Wanhao Duplicator I3. A real Wanhao Duplicator I3 V2 is only $399 directly from them.

Monoprice quality is good, and they have good warranty too. I would still stick with the folgertech, with their mediocre support, bad ramps board and mismatch screws it's still by far the best solution and easy to upgrade.

My friend with the Wanhao Duplicator I3 pointed out that monoprice might be how Wanhao is selling off the Duplicator I3 V1 inventory. Just speculation, but if it is, they could be genuine. Even if not, they could still be a good clone.

I'm happy with my Folger, but if you want a ready-to-run printer, I'd say the Wanhao is your best bet for the money.

It would be kinda fun! Even the duplicator is still a prusa 3 at heart, so easily modifible.

Has anyone tried using one of these aluminum heated build plates with a prox sensor and glass? [r.ebay.com]

I've got a BLTouch on order, but if it doesn't work out, I'm wondering if this would work?

In theory, if the BLTouch is accurate as they claim, it should be better, because it is measuring the distance to the glass surface. Even if the glass is uneven or not sitting flat on the bed, the auto level should still work.

A prox sensor will not work well if you have multiple glass panes in different thicknesses, and want to swap between them, for example. Printing with vs without tape on the bed also creates a tiny variance.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on the BLTouch, or the proximity sensor with aluminum heat plate?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2016 06:09PM by Bert3D.

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 Wiki

Custom google search for the Folger Tech 2020 i3 forum topic by Animoose

My Thingiverse Designs

Quote
UltiFix
But what if I can get the duplicator i3 for 350? WIth free shipping? A folgertech with shipping is nearly $300 with no micro sd card reader or display, and the duplicator has better frame and a year warranty

I ordered my 2020 i3 direct from Folger with the "2004 LCD" and an inductive sensor and a roll of PLA and a roll of ABS. Grand total with shipping was just under $330.

The LCD isn't the full graphical one...but it works and I print exclusively from SD because the computer near my printer tends to crash randomly for no good reason (well, other than it's over 10 years old.) It's good enough to run repetier and slic3r (and cura but I haven't really done much with cura yet - I like the options in rep/slic3r better) but I found printing from it to be troublesome. Small disclaimer - my LCD actually didn't work as received. It just kind of blinked when I hooked it up. I noticed though that it started working if i wiggled the cables "just so" and upon closer inspection found that only half of the pins on the adapter board were soldered. 2 minutes with the soldering iron and the LCD has been working great since.

The inductive sensor also had some ups and downs. On the downside it's only a 4mm sense distance so is best for aluminum beds...it works with a sheet of galvanized steel under glass but barely has 1mm of clearance above the print bed which makes me a little nervous. On the upside, despite being rated for higher power it actually does work off 5v and it's an NPN sensor so I was able to connect it straight to my RAMPS with no resistors and power it off the servo port's 5v.

The PLA/ABS from Folger has also been functional but not great. I've tried PLA samples from some other manufacturers and found them to be more consistent and I like the look of them better...but for the price the Folger roll has been great to get started with. The Folger ABS is even more inconsistent about it's diameter which I suspect may be why I'm having some surface finish issues with it...but I haven't got any other ABS to compare with just yet. Still again for the price it's nice to have for playing around and getting the feel of printing. I did re-print almost all of the 3d printed parts of my machine with it and they look better than the ones Folger supplied so it's not THAT bad.

As a fully optional but well worth it upgrade I paid just under $24 shipped for leadscrews and flexible couplers to match them from banggood.com to upgrade the i3.

I also bought 3 spare thermisters off amazon for $12 because I figured with prime I'd get them quicker than Folger would ship me a replacement for the bad one that came with my extruder.

Finally I paid about $8 on ebay for 4 40mm cooling fans after finding out that the one that came on my extruder didn't work. Folger did send me a free replacement for the broken one, but I didn't want to wait and wanted more fans for print cooling anyway so I ordered some spares before I heard back from Folger about the bad one.

Oh, almost forgot, I also spent $4.14 for a IEC 320 power socket/switch so I could turn the printer on/off without unplugging it and so I could use a standard removable computer power cord and not worry about tripping over it when moving the printer to my workbench (er...dining room table) for upgrades.

I'm really really happy with how it does. I look at the 2015 Make printer shootout and I'm getting far better prints than many $2k commercial printers produced with a total expenditure of just under $380. Add in the roll of B grade PETG I snagged from Atomic filament for $20 and I'm right at about $400 total investment and despite printing almost non-stop every moment I've been home and awake since Dec 31st I've only gone through about half of the PLA, not even a 1/4 of the ABS, and a bit more than 1/4 of the PETG.

I do plan on putting about $50 into doing the Y axis upgrade SonnyLowe came up with and at some point want to get an all metal hot end since I really want to try printing some Nylon. But other than those upgrades don't see making any expenditures other than some more filament to give me more colors to choose from

Hey yall. New guy here, located in Colorado Springs CO. Ordered my i3 2020 kit on December 29th, received on Jan 12th and got first print on Jan 14th.

I'm actually quite happy with the kit considering the shipping problems in the beginning. The printer is actually starting to turn out some pretty decent prints and
the kids have already started sending me links to cases for their phones from thingiverse.

I've been lurking here for quite some time and found the forum to be an invaluable source of information during and since the build.

I've got a problem with my prints though that has me stumped. I've gone and changed something in Repetier host that has caused my skirts to be very wide....like 15 or 20 trips around
and I can't seem to get it back to the 3 or 4 I want. I'm using the Slic3r engine in Repetier host. Anybody got any idea what setting I need to tweak to get it working right again?

Thanks

I finally pulled the trigger on the Folger Tech RepRap 2020 Prusa i3 Full Aluminum 3D Printer Kit, were should I start reading!!

Quote
JustAGuy
Hey yall. New guy here, located in Colorado Springs CO. Ordered my i3 2020 kit on December 29th, received on Jan 12th and got first print on Jan 14th.

I'm actually quite happy with the kit considering the shipping problems in the beginning. The printer is actually starting to turn out some pretty decent prints and
the kids have already started sending me links to cases for their phones from thingiverse.

I've been lurking here for quite some time and found the forum to be an invaluable source of information during and since the build.

I've got a problem with my prints though that has me stumped. I've gone and changed something in Repetier host that has caused my skirts to be very wide....like 15 or 20 trips around
and I can't seem to get it back to the 3 or 4 I want. I'm using the Slic3r engine in Repetier host. Anybody got any idea what setting I need to tweak to get it working right again?

Thanks

Go to the slicer tab in repetier, then configuration > printer settings > skirt and brim. The values you would need to change are the amount of loops, and the minimum extrusion length.

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Folger Tech I3 2020 Wikia page: [folgertech.wikia.com]

Custom Folger Tech I3 2020 custom search

Once I get my printer im going to make sure I have ALL of the parts, is there a good BOM I can use? What did you folks do?

Thanks!
Sam

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UltiFix
Once I get my printer im going to make sure I have ALL of the parts, is there a good BOM I can use? What did you folks do?

Thanks!
Sam

LOL a bom. Cute.

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marc2912

Quote
UltiFix
Once I get my printer im going to make sure I have ALL of the parts, is there a good BOM I can use? What did you folks do?

Thanks!
Sam

LOL a bom. Cute.

Lol, im used to em from smt soldering at work.

There is a BOM on the hardware bag. But...it doesn't really matter. I got all excited when I inventoried mine and found that not only did I have everything on the bag I had 2-3 extras of everything! Then on the first step I ran into a minor stumbling block when the instructions called for a screw size that wasn't listed on the BOM!

Thankfully it was easily solved, there was only one size of 5M screws in the hardware kit and nothing else called for 5M screws so obviously they had just changed the specifications on the part since making the manual.

But that's the kind of thing you'll run into. Screw sizes or styles that don't quite match the instructions. Just takes a little bit of creativity and reading ahead to figure out which included parts you will use.

You may want to see my blog post about my build...I only have part 1 up so far but it includes some reading lists about the Folger and a rundown of most of the issues I ran into. (Part 2 will address the x axis end stop...when I have time to write it up.) [www.nevermindthesand.com]

Hey guys,I'm having a few issues. at the moment I just want to get printing so i can figure everything else thats wrong haha.

right now my x,z endstops do nothing,but light up also I cannot home. im new to the building aspect. I had a davinci,but wanted a more upgradable printer. here is my config i need help with. thank you in advance.
let me know if you need anything else.

// corse Endstop Settings
#define ENDSTOPPULLUPS // Comment this out (using // at the start of the line) to disable the endstop pullup resistors

#ifndef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
// fine Enstop settings: Individual Pullups. will be ignord if ENDSTOPPULLUPS is defined
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
//#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

#ifdef ENDSTOPPULLUPS
// #define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMAX
// #define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMAX
// #define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMAX
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_XMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_YMIN
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_ZMIN
#endif

// The pullups are needed if you directly connect a mechanical endswitch between the signal and ground pins.
const bool X_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
const bool Y_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
const bool Z_ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true; // set to true to invert the logic of the endstops.
//#define DISABLE_MAX_ENDSTOPS

// For Inverting Stepper Enable Pins (Active Low) use 0, Non Inverting (Active High) use 1
#define X_ENABLE_ON 0
#define Y_ENABLE_ON 0
#define Z_ENABLE_ON 0
#define E_ENABLE_ON 0 // For all extruders

// Disables axis when it's not being used.
#define DISABLE_X false
#define DISABLE_Y false
#define DISABLE_Z false
#define DISABLE_E false // For all extruders

#define INVERT_X_DIR false // for Mendel set to false, for Orca set to true
#define INVERT_Y_DIR true // for Mendel set to true, for Orca set to false
#define INVERT_Z_DIR true // for Mendel set to false, for Orca set to true
#define INVERT_E0_DIR true // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false
#define INVERT_E1_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false
#define INVERT_E2_DIR false // for direct drive extruder v9 set to true, for geared extruder set to false

// ENDSTOP SETTINGS:
// Sets direction of endstops when homing; 1=MAX, -1=MIN
#define X_HOME_DIR -1
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1
#define Z_HOME_DIR -1

#define min_software_endstops false //If true, axis won't move to coordinates less than HOME_POS.
#define max_software_endstops true //If true, axis won't move to coordinates greater than the defined lengths below.
// Travel limits after homing
#define X_MAX_POS 200
#define X_MIN_POS 0
#define Y_MAX_POS 200
#define Y_MIN_POS 0
#define Z_MAX_POS 175
#define Z_MIN_POS 0

#define X_MAX_LENGTH (X_MAX_POS - X_MIN_POS)
#define Y_MAX_LENGTH (Y_MAX_POS - Y_MIN_POS)
#define Z_MAX_LENGTH (Z_MAX_POS - Z_MIN_POS)

// The position of the homing switches
//#define MANUAL_HOME_POSITIONS // If defined, MANUAL_*_HOME_POS below will be used
//#define BED_CENTER_AT_0_0 // If defined, the center of the bed is at (X=0, Y=0)

//Manual homing switch locations:
#define MANUAL_X_HOME_POS 0
#define MANUAL_Y_HOME_POS 0
#define MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS 0

Quote
Zeegzeigler
Hey guys,I'm having a few issues. at the moment I just want to get printing so i can figure everything else thats wrong haha.

right now my x,z endstops do nothing,but light up also I cannot home. im new to the building aspect. I had a davinci,but wanted a more upgradable printer. here is my config i need help with. thank you in advance.
let me know if you need anything else.

CONFIG

Where do you have the endstops on your printer? To test your endstops, manually activate your endstops, and enter a m119 command into the g-code bar under the manual tab in repetier, this will tell you whether or not your endstops are actually triggering the proper signal pins. Usually if your endstops are not doing anything, that means that they are in the wrong spots on your ramps. Here is a picture where the endstops are supposed to go on the ramps based on where they are placed on the printer. Front, left, and bottom are the min positions on the printer, and back, right, and top are the max positions.



Depending on where your endstops are on your printer, you may need to inverse the homing direction for some axis, and comment or uncomment some of the defines under "#ifdef ENDSTOPPULLUPS". Also make sure that all of the values in repetier under "printer settings match up with your printer's configuration. Once you have your endstops working, you may need to reverse your stepper motor's connectors on the ramps, because they may turn in the wrong direction once everything is fixed wih yous endstops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2016 11:59PM by Mach.

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Folger Tech I3 2020 Wikia page: [folgertech.wikia.com]

Custom Folger Tech I3 2020 custom search

Quote
Bert3D
Has anyone tried using one of these aluminum heated build plates with a prox sensor and glass? [r.ebay.com]

I've got a BLTouch on order, but if it doesn't work out, I'm wondering if this would work?

In theory, if the BLTouch is accurate as they claim, it should be better, because it is measuring the distance to the glass surface. Even if the glass is uneven or not sitting flat on the bed, the auto level should still work.

A prox sensor will not work well if you have multiple glass panes in different thicknesses, and want to swap between them, for example. Printing with vs without tape on the bed also creates a tiny variance.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on the BLTouch, or the proximity sensor with aluminum heat plate?

I bought the Anodized Aluminum Heated Bed Buld Plate for 3D Printer RepRap Prusa i3 Short Kit from Leap 3D on eBay: eBay link. It bolts directly to the top of your MK2B, and works really well with an inductive sensor. I have to say I am very pleased with that upgrade. I covered the surface with Kapton tape and it looks really sharp. It is nice not having to deal with those clips holding the glass on. My nozzle was always colliding with them. Plus, the aluminum surface heats up more uniformly.

Quote
UltiFix
I finally pulled the trigger on the Folger Tech RepRap 2020 Prusa i3 Full Aluminum 3D Printer Kit, were should I start reading!!

Start here: [forums.reprap.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2016 02:36AM by SteveRoy.

LCD ENCODER (KNOB/BUTTON) FIX

I found that the encoder was operating backwards for me (having to turn it anti-clockwise instead of clockwise) and also I didn't have fine control as it would jump 4 steps at a time (e.g. using the LCD display to move the X axis 1mm would actually move it 4mm for each click of the encoder)

The following changes (found online) fixed both issues for me:

Reversed Direction fix
In pins.h (~line 777) swap BTN_EN1 and BTN_EN2 pin numbers:

      #ifdef REPRAP_DISCOUNT_SMART_CONTROLLER
        #define BEEPER 37

        #define BTN_EN1 33 //Original 31
        #define BTN_EN2 31 //Original 33
        #define BTN_ENC 35

Encoder Steps fix
In configuration.h (~line 589) change ENCODER_PULSES and ENCODER_STEPS (these could also be defined in the main 'LCD and SD support' section if you prefer, but doing it this way means it will only apply to the RepRap 20x04 & 128x64 LCDs and won't affect if you upgrade the display to another LCD in future:

#if defined(ULTIMAKERCONTROLLER) || defined(REPRAP_DISCOUNT_SMART_CONTROLLER) || defined(G3D_PANEL)
 #define ULTIPANEL
 #define NEWPANEL
// FIX ENCODER STEPS
#ifndef ENCODER_PULSES_PER_STEP
 #define ENCODER_PULSES_PER_STEP 4
#endif

#ifndef ENCODER_STEPS_PER_MENU_ITEM
 #define ENCODER_STEPS_PER_MENU_ITEM 1
#endif
// END FIX ENCODER STEPS
#endif

Boff

Quote
Boffster
LCD ENCODER (KNOB/BUTTON) FIX

I found that the encoder was operating backwards for me (having to turn it anti-clockwise instead of clockwise) and also I didn't have fine control as it would jump 4 steps at a time (e.g. using the LCD display to move the X axis 1mm would actually move it 4mm for each click of the encoder)

The following changes (found online) fixed both issues for me:

Reversed Direction fix
In pins.h (~line 777) swap BTN_EN1 and BTN_EN2 pin numbers:

      #ifdef REPRAP_DISCOUNT_SMART_CONTROLLER
        #define BEEPER 37

        #define BTN_EN1 33 //Original 31
        #define BTN_EN2 31 //Original 33
        #define BTN_ENC 35

Encoder Steps fix
In configuration.h (~line 589) change ENCODER_PULSES and ENCODER_STEPS (these could also be defined in the main 'LCD and SD support' section if you prefer, but doing it this way means it will only apply to the RepRap 20x04 & 128x64 LCDs and won't affect if you upgrade the display to another LCD in future:

#if defined(ULTIMAKERCONTROLLER) || defined(REPRAP_DISCOUNT_SMART_CONTROLLER) || defined(G3D_PANEL)
 #define ULTIPANEL
 #define NEWPANEL
// FIX ENCODER STEPS
#ifndef ENCODER_PULSES_PER_STEP
 #define ENCODER_PULSES_PER_STEP 4
#endif

#ifndef ENCODER_STEPS_PER_MENU_ITEM
 #define ENCODER_STEPS_PER_MENU_ITEM 1
#endif
// END FIX ENCODER STEPS
#endif

Boff

Thanks, was having the same issue with the backwards rotation, just hadn't gotten around to it.

M.

No probs, the encoder changes are worth doing aswell (was for me on the 12864 anyway).

Quote
Bert3D
Has anyone tried using one of these aluminum heated build plates with a prox sensor and glass? [r.ebay.com]

I've got a BLTouch on order, but if it doesn't work out, I'm wondering if this would work?

In theory, if the BLTouch is accurate as they claim, it should be better, because it is measuring the distance to the glass surface. Even if the glass is uneven or not sitting flat on the bed, the auto level should still work.

A prox sensor will not work well if you have multiple glass panes in different thicknesses, and want to swap between them, for example. Printing with vs without tape on the bed also creates a tiny variance.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on the BLTouch, or the proximity sensor with aluminum heat plate?

I ran the BLtouch (Yellow) version for a while (I just removed it the other day) and I really liked it, I love the mechanical nature of it and the fact you can actually hear it working ;-) You are correct, it hits the glass, ALM plate, whatever, so it seem it might be a bit more accurate over varying surfaces, especially multi-layered surfaces like glass over ALM. It takes a bit of effrt to get to work, but well worth it when you consider you can run anything, and add any additional surface material and never have to reset the Z offset. If you use a proximity sensor and add say a Buildtak sheet adjustments will have to be made to the Z offest. The BLtouch on the other hand hit the actaul Buildtak Sheet, so no Z addjust should be required.

I would not suggest using a Inductive Sensor over an ALM Bed Plate with glass on top, as it will only measure how leveling sub-plate is, not the glass, any variation in the glass flatness or gaps between the glass and bed will go unnoticed by the sensor which could cause first layer problems. I think the Buildtak over ALM would be fine as it adheres to the bed.

If you want glass over alm I would highly suggest this sensor: OMRON E2K-X4ME1 Capacitive Proximity It can be had used on Ebay for as little as $10.00, or directly from China for as little as $14.00. It measures changes in density so it will work with any material, hell my hand set it off when I was testing mine. It will actually measure whatever surface you have on top of the heated bed (some sufaces may work better than others). It is what I'm currently running and it seems to be working great. I print on glass directly over the heated bed.

My only issue with the heated alm bed plate you linked would be flatness, I can't imagine it's very flat...I know my machined ALM bed plate was not flat, it ran out of .010" from the edge to the middle, it's reason I went back to glass

I didn't like how long it took to heat the alm plate either, even after running PID several times it just seemed to take forever...I much prefer the heated bed under glass.

---

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MakerSL.com

I have completed my Folger acrylic printer and finally gotten to the point where it runs in manual mode. My issue now is when I home any axis it stops responding and the com port is lost, I have to reset the board to get it moving again what am I doing wrong ?

Sounds to me like an electrical problem - have you checked over the RAMPS and Arduino boards for any obvious shorts? If the COM port is lost then probably Arduino...

Quote
sonnylowe

Quote
Bert3D
Has anyone tried using one of these aluminum heated build plates with a prox sensor and glass? [r.ebay.com]

I've got a BLTouch on order, but if it doesn't work out, I'm wondering if this would work?

In theory, if the BLTouch is accurate as they claim, it should be better, because it is measuring the distance to the glass surface. Even if the glass is uneven or not sitting flat on the bed, the auto level should still work.

A prox sensor will not work well if you have multiple glass panes in different thicknesses, and want to swap between them, for example. Printing with vs without tape on the bed also creates a tiny variance.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on the BLTouch, or the proximity sensor with aluminum heat plate?

I ran the BLtouch (Yellow) version for a while (I just removed it the other day) and I really liked it, I love the mechanical nature of it and the fact you can actually hear it working ;-) You are correct, it hits the glass, ALM plate, whatever, so it seem it might be a bit more accurate over varying surfaces, especially multi-layered surfaces like glass over ALM. It takes a bit of effrt to get to work, but well worth it when you consider you can run anything, and add any additional surface material and never have to reset the Z offset. If you use a proximity sensor and add say a Buildtak sheet adjustments will have to be made to the Z offest. The BLtouch on the other hand hit the actaul Buildtak Sheet, so no Z addjust should be required.

I would not suggest using a Inductive Sensor over an ALM Bed Plate with glass on top, as it will only measure how leveling sub-plate is, not the glass, any variation in the glass flatness or gaps between the glass and bed will go unnoticed by the sensor which could cause first layer problems. I think the Buildtak over ALM would be fine as it adheres to the bed.

If you want glass over alm I would highly suggest this sensor: OMRON E2K-X4ME1 Capacitive Proximity It can be had used on Ebay for as little as $10.00, or directly from China for as little as $14.00. It measures changes in density so it will work with any material, hell my hand set it off when I was testing mine. It will actually measure whatever surface you have on top of the heated bed (some sufaces may work better than others). It is what I'm currently running and it seems to be working great. I print on glass directly over the heated bed.

My only issue with the heated alm bed plate you linked would be flatness, I can't imagine it's very flat...I know my machined ALM bed plate was not flat, it ran out of .010" from the edge to the middle, it's reason I went back to glass

I didn't like how long it took to heat the alm plate either, even after running PID several times it just seemed to take forever...I much prefer the heated bed under glass.

Since you're running glass over your heated bed I was hoping you might be able to give me some pointers. For ABS I heat my bed to 120c. My glass is sitting on top of the bed held down by binder clips. What I've found is that when printing on the glass I get corner lifting. My guess is my glass isn't reaching the 120c and that it's heating unevenly. I tried printing on the bed directly and while i do have some lifting it's much less pronounced. The reason I don't want to print on the bed though are same as yours, it's not straight, also it's much more of a pain to remove prints.

Have you experienced this and if so how have you worked past it?

Thanks,
M.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2016 10:14AM by marc2912.

I have checked the boards but don't see anything. I am a complete noob with Arduino and trying to wrap my head around the config. I have built 2 cnc routers and a laser cutter from scratch but they run with Mach software. I guess I need to get new boards and try again.

Thanks

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nobrakes
I have checked the boards but don't see anything. I am a complete noob with Arduino and trying to wrap my head around the config. I have built 2 cnc routers and a laser cutter from scratch but they run with Mach software. I guess I need to get new boards and try again.

Thanks

If this is a new printer reach out to folgertech, they know they have bad ramps boards.

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sonnylowe

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Bert3D
Has anyone tried using one of these aluminum heated build plates with a prox sensor and glass? [r.ebay.com]

I've got a BLTouch on order, but if it doesn't work out, I'm wondering if this would work?

In theory, if the BLTouch is accurate as they claim, it should be better, because it is measuring the distance to the glass surface. Even if the glass is uneven or not sitting flat on the bed, the auto level should still work.

A prox sensor will not work well if you have multiple glass panes in different thicknesses, and want to swap between them, for example. Printing with vs without tape on the bed also creates a tiny variance.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on the BLTouch, or the proximity sensor with aluminum heat plate?

I ran the BLtouch (Yellow) version for a while (I just removed it the other day) and I really liked it, I love the mechanical nature of it and the fact you can actually hear it working ;-) You are correct, it hits the glass, ALM plate, whatever, so it seem it might be a bit more accurate over varying surfaces, especially multi-layered surfaces like glass over ALM. It takes a bit of effrt to get to work, but well worth it when you consider you can run anything, and add any additional surface material and never have to reset the Z offset. If you use a proximity sensor and add say a Buildtak sheet adjustments will have to be made to the Z offest. The BLtouch on the other hand hit the actaul Buildtak Sheet, so no Z addjust should be required.

I would not suggest using a Inductive Sensor over an ALM Bed Plate with glass on top, as it will only measure how leveling sub-plate is, not the glass, any variation in the glass flatness or gaps between the glass and bed will go unnoticed by the sensor which could cause first layer problems. I think the Buildtak over ALM would be fine as it adheres to the bed.

If you want glass over alm I would highly suggest this sensor: OMRON E2K-X4ME1 Capacitive Proximity It can be had used on Ebay for as little as $10.00, or directly from China for as little as $14.00. It measures changes in density so it will work with any material, hell my hand set it off when I was testing mine. It will actually measure whatever surface you have on top of the heated bed (some sufaces may work better than others). It is what I'm currently running and it seems to be working great. I print on glass directly over the heated bed.

My only issue with the heated alm bed plate you linked would be flatness, I can't imagine it's very flat...I know my machined ALM bed plate was not flat, it ran out of .010" from the edge to the middle, it's reason I went back to glass

I didn't like how long it took to heat the alm plate either, even after running PID several times it just seemed to take forever...I much prefer the heated bed under glass.

The mk3 bed like I linked to is an aluminum plate with the heat strips directly on it, rather than an aluminum bed on top of a mk2 pcb. It's basically an aluminum PCB. You mount it circuit side down and print directly on the aluminum back. I was wondering if that would work better, but I expect to get good results you would need to use it without glass, and always the same coating (buildtak, PEI, etc.). They cost about twice as much as the regular mk2 type PCB, but they are still pretty cheap. Less than the cost of the BLTouch.

I haven't tried a capacitive sensor, because I've heard so many bad things about them. I've heard the detection range is not very accurate to begin with, and varies even more with humidity, and detection distance is different for each material you put under it. I've heard from a few people who used them that they were just all over the place in the results they reported for repeated readings of the same spot. None of this is personal experience, though.

What did you not like about the BLTouch? Was it any harder to get working than a servo probe? Right now I'm using a servo, and it doesn't always deploy to the exact same angle, causing inconsistencies in the readings. The arm is a bit wobbly too, and deflects some upon contact, again causing variance. I ran several G29 passes in a row, and noticed it never gave exactly the same results. According to Charles Lee, the BLTouch will give the exact same reading on repeated G29 commands. He made a video showing that. A hall effect sensor is supposed to be very precise and accurate, so it seems like it might be possible.

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