Thinking of upgrading (Ramps to Duet) Have a few questions
Posted by p40whk
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Thinking of upgrading (Ramps to Duet) Have a few questions December 18, 2018 08:26AM |
Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 45 |
So I have a Makerfarm Pegasus 10 which is a modified Prusa and I've been happy with it but not so happy with the hoops I have to jump through for every little upgrade with the Marlin Firmware. I have been struggling to add BLtouch to it and get it working properly so I got frustrated and it sat for 2 years!
Now I have renewed interest in getting it running again and decided to do a few modifications such as the Piezo Z-Probe to replace the BLtouch, a Titan Aero to replace my original Titan, and precision heat bed.
Doing research on the Piezo, I stumbled on this Duet board which I had no idea existed and I got excited about another possible upgrade.
I just have a few questions:
1) Do I need the PanelDue or can I do everything with my computer which sits next to my printer? I have an LCD with my Ramps setup but it's buggy however I do use it more than I use the printer connected to my computer (I do everything on my computer and transfer it to an SD card)
2) How steep is the learning curve? I've looked through some of the documentation and checked out the web interface and there seems to be a lot there. My concern is not the physical setup but getting it setup to work with my printer as far as the firmware goes.
3) I only have one 12V power supply, will I need two as I've seen in other setups?
Thanks
Now I have renewed interest in getting it running again and decided to do a few modifications such as the Piezo Z-Probe to replace the BLtouch, a Titan Aero to replace my original Titan, and precision heat bed.
Doing research on the Piezo, I stumbled on this Duet board which I had no idea existed and I got excited about another possible upgrade.
I just have a few questions:
1) Do I need the PanelDue or can I do everything with my computer which sits next to my printer? I have an LCD with my Ramps setup but it's buggy however I do use it more than I use the printer connected to my computer (I do everything on my computer and transfer it to an SD card)
2) How steep is the learning curve? I've looked through some of the documentation and checked out the web interface and there seems to be a lot there. My concern is not the physical setup but getting it setup to work with my printer as far as the firmware goes.
3) I only have one 12V power supply, will I need two as I've seen in other setups?
Thanks
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Re: Thinking of upgrading (Ramps to Duet) Have a few questions December 18, 2018 11:07AM |
Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 5,780 |
Yeah, having to compile firmware for every config change gets old, fast, as does having to keep obsolete Arduino IDE working so you can compile the firmware.
1) If you keep a computer connected to the Duet board, the LCD panel is mostly redundant. I have a Duet Ethernet and Panel Due on my printer and find that the web control provides more functions and info than the Panel Due. The Panel Due has a uSD card slot that you can use to print, but the slot is on the bottom edge of the board and you have to design an enclosure pretty carefully to be able to access it. In my case, I can't access the uSD card slot so the only way for me to get gcode into the Duet is to use the web interface running on a netbook computer that I sit on top of the printer. I use a direct connection between the network ports on the netbook and the Duet board, which is pretty easy to set up. Once the gcode is on the Duet board, you can select files to print from the LCD panel. If you get a Duet wifi, you transfer gcode files to it that way.
2) There is a bit of a learning curve for configuring the Duet board, but the documentation is pretty good, but a little scattered. I was used to having all the configuration in a single text file with the SmoothieBoard, so switching to a bunch of config files felt like a backward step for me. I wrote up my experience converting from a SmoothieBoard to a Duet board here. I monitor the Duet forums and find there are a lot of things I still don't know about some of the finer configuration options. The firmware is constantly being upgraded, so you can load the RC versions of the firmware if you like to experiment with all the newest stuff, or just use the stable releases if you prefer to let others debug the firmware.
3) I don't know why you'd need 2 power supplies...
Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]
1) If you keep a computer connected to the Duet board, the LCD panel is mostly redundant. I have a Duet Ethernet and Panel Due on my printer and find that the web control provides more functions and info than the Panel Due. The Panel Due has a uSD card slot that you can use to print, but the slot is on the bottom edge of the board and you have to design an enclosure pretty carefully to be able to access it. In my case, I can't access the uSD card slot so the only way for me to get gcode into the Duet is to use the web interface running on a netbook computer that I sit on top of the printer. I use a direct connection between the network ports on the netbook and the Duet board, which is pretty easy to set up. Once the gcode is on the Duet board, you can select files to print from the LCD panel. If you get a Duet wifi, you transfer gcode files to it that way.
2) There is a bit of a learning curve for configuring the Duet board, but the documentation is pretty good, but a little scattered. I was used to having all the configuration in a single text file with the SmoothieBoard, so switching to a bunch of config files felt like a backward step for me. I wrote up my experience converting from a SmoothieBoard to a Duet board here. I monitor the Duet forums and find there are a lot of things I still don't know about some of the finer configuration options. The firmware is constantly being upgraded, so you can load the RC versions of the firmware if you like to experiment with all the newest stuff, or just use the stable releases if you prefer to let others debug the firmware.
3) I don't know why you'd need 2 power supplies...
Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]
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Re: Thinking of upgrading (Ramps to Duet) Have a few questions December 18, 2018 11:19AM |
Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 45 |
Thanks for the info TDD!
I found a decent Youtube video of someone walking through the setup and it didn't look to difficult. Duet How To
So I'll start without the Panel Due and see how I like it. Good to know that it isn't a requirement.
I can't remember which power supply I have but do think it may be a 24V PSU, will have to check when I get home but I had seen some people set their machines up to run the heated bed and hot end off one and the electronics off another. If I can do it without two that's money in the bank!
I found a decent Youtube video of someone walking through the setup and it didn't look to difficult. Duet How To
So I'll start without the Panel Due and see how I like it. Good to know that it isn't a requirement.
I can't remember which power supply I have but do think it may be a 24V PSU, will have to check when I get home but I had seen some people set their machines up to run the heated bed and hot end off one and the electronics off another. If I can do it without two that's money in the bank!
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Re: Thinking of upgrading (Ramps to Duet) Have a few questions December 18, 2018 12:57PM |
Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 465 |
1. I don't have one. The web interface is plenty good enough for most of what I want. I'm looking at adding a couple of buttons to a panel for some functions, but that's definitely not a need.
2. I didn't find it that bad personally, but YMMV. There's pretty decent support both here and on the Duet forum. The on-line configurator tool will do most of the work for you, which you may or may not want to tweak.
3. Eh? I use one PSU. (I have 2 PSUs for my MKS board printer, but that's because I'm doing something weird with it.) You CAN have a separate 5V PSU, then use either a relay or an ATX computer PSU to have the "main" power switched by software, but it's absolutely not needed. I have one switch and one PSU for my Duet powered machine.
The Duet will be happy with either 12V or 24V, so long as the heaters and fans are good with that. |the Duet can do 5V fans/lights as well.
MBot3D Printer
MakerBot clone Kit from Amazon
Added heated bed.
Leadscrew self-built printer (in progress)
Duet Wifi, Precision Piezo parts
2. I didn't find it that bad personally, but YMMV. There's pretty decent support both here and on the Duet forum. The on-line configurator tool will do most of the work for you, which you may or may not want to tweak.
3. Eh? I use one PSU. (I have 2 PSUs for my MKS board printer, but that's because I'm doing something weird with it.) You CAN have a separate 5V PSU, then use either a relay or an ATX computer PSU to have the "main" power switched by software, but it's absolutely not needed. I have one switch and one PSU for my Duet powered machine.
The Duet will be happy with either 12V or 24V, so long as the heaters and fans are good with that. |the Duet can do 5V fans/lights as well.
MBot3D Printer
MakerBot clone Kit from Amazon
Added heated bed.
Leadscrew self-built printer (in progress)
Duet Wifi, Precision Piezo parts
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