You may have a bad solder joint on the card socket on the LCD module...by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
There's no need to try to match the masses of the extruder carriage and the bed. In general you want to keep moving masses as low as possible because the motors will do a better job of controlling the motion and that will translate to better print quality. Whichever axis has the greater mass will limit the maximum print speed/acceleration of the machine, assuming equal torque motors on both axeby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
I never heard of Kapton tape lifting off the bed due to a part warping. I think that either the manufacturer had a problem with the adhesive on the tape or you're running the bed temperature much too high. The former seems most likely. Have you checked the actual temperature of the bed with a thermocouple? The temperature reported by the printer's controller board is based on using a specificby the_digital_dentist - Printing
The Kapton tape on my printer lasts for months and only requires replacement when it gets damaged by too vigorous attempts to remove prints from the bed. Make sure you use a clean rag when you wipe the bed with acetone and check your leveling/zeroing.by the_digital_dentist - Printing
My machine, with its massive bed and drive screw in the Y axis, is running at 1000 mm/s^2 and producing extremely high quality prints at 40mm/sec print speed. If my printer can do that while driving all that mass, I would think you guys ought to be able to set acceleration and print speed a lot higher. Right now my machine has external drivers on the X and Y axis motors with 32V supplies, but bby the_digital_dentist - Printing
Did you use slic3r? I've seen strange behavior in files produced by slic3r even though the gcode looks OK, the printer does some crazy things. Slic3r has some sort of instability that will occasionally cause it to do weird things- I don't know if some windows or library updates are breaking it or some other problem, but it has behaved this way for a couple years. Signs of problems include slic3by the_digital_dentist - Printing
If the motor was getting really hot you probably had the current set too high. That may have damaged the driver module. Try swapping in a different module and see if the motor operates normally.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Try saving a gcode file to the card using the computer's OS, not the host software, then plug the card into the printer and see if you can read it with the printer's controller.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Those display modules use SPI to communicate with the controller board and long cables cause them to lose sync. I think the cables should be kept under 300mm.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Three things to try: First, if you're connecting to the machine via USB and sending the file to the card that way, you should understand that the printer and your computer can't share the card. If you mount the card on your computer the printer won't be able to use it. Make sure it is not mounted on your computer (pull the USB cable) when you try to print from the card using the LCD panel intby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
I've seen this caused by static discharge. Try grounding the frame of the printer, and try to touch the grounded frame before adjusting anything with the encoder. It could be a cable problem- try swapping the two cables to see if the problem remains, changes, or goes away.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Yes, some very narrow ridges at the 2" intervals, but nothing that matters. When I got the tape about 3 years ago it was on sale for some reason for about $40, and was a screaming bargain at that time. We used the usual 1-2mil tape at the makerspace and it gets torn easily so has to be replaced a lot. One tip to help the tape last a long time: let the print cool before you try to remove it froby the_digital_dentist - General
It appears to be under extruding. Make sure the nozzle temperature is high enough, and clean the filament drive gear in the extruder. Are you using Slic3r? I've seen this happen when slic3r gets screwed up. If slic3r behaves oddly- maybe it doesn't store changes to your bed size or other settings- the only solution I have found is to reinstall slic3r. Slic3r seems most reliable when compiledby the_digital_dentist - General
Kapton tape works great for ABS printing and doesn't require making a mess of your print bed. I use 5 mil thick tape and it lasts for months before I have to replace any of it. I use 2" wide strips on my 12" x 12.5" bed and only have to replace the strips that get damaged (typically the two in the center of the bed). I've been working off the same roll of tape for about 3 years including puttiby the_digital_dentist - General
Three questions: Are you trying to use wifi to connect to your printer while running host software on a remote computer? Do you expect host software connected by wifi to be as reliable as printing from an SD card on the controller board? Why?by the_digital_dentist - Controllers
It might not be as expensive as you think. You wouldn't have to make the whole nozzle out of diamond. A coating would do. There are a lot of companies that do diamond coatings...by the_digital_dentist - General
Of all the stupid stuff idiot politicians do, this one ranks a solid "meh".by the_digital_dentist - General
That actually looks pretty good, and if you're in the UK, probably cheaper than having a Smoothieboard shipped from the US.by the_digital_dentist - Controllers
It's physics. Plastic shrinks as it cools. The curling is because of the overhang. There's less plastic under the overhung line, so when it shrinks, it lifts upward. I've seen some fan nozzles designed as a ring that surrounds the extruder nozzle but I have no idea if that works any better.by the_digital_dentist - Printing
Have a look at this:by the_digital_dentist - Controllers
QuoteAndersE I have been looking around on smoothieboard, azteeg and some other. But no-one offers all i want. All lack something it seems. If it have drv8825 drivers, it only has ability to run 4, does it have 5-6 stepperdrivers it lacks the possibility to remove them, or they are soldered., Or if it has actually 5-6 swappable drivers, it has no more than 3 mosfets (1 fan, 1 bed, 1 hotend) and nby the_digital_dentist - Controllers
The error is -2%, so increase the steps per mm by 2% to 4080.by the_digital_dentist - Printing
I use two pairs of 16 gauge teflon insulated wire twisted together to connect my 24V 450W bed heater to the transformer that powers it. The heater is rated for 450W and it will take about 20A but once the bed has reached print temperature the duty cycle drops to a low value and the average power required to maintain the 100C or so on the bed is maybe only 1/3-1/2 the rated power. The wires I usby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Foam insulation board is cheap and cuts with a razor knife. You can tape it together or use printed plastic clips...by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
This is always a problem with end supported rods. You could try getting larger diameter rods so they flex less or convert to fully supported rails or linear guides. Something like this would work nicely, though it's probably bigger (wider) than needed. Look around on ebay for something the right length or a little longer- 15mm wide is plenty for an extruder carriage. Make sure it comes witby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Here's what I did originally: Recent changes, not yet added to the web site include a complete rebuild with ball screw drive on the Y-axis and linear guides added to the X and Y axes to replace the 1/2" round guide rails. I upgraded the electronics along with the mechanics, so I never tried the external drivers, 32V supplies, etc. on it when it still had the round rails.by the_digital_dentist - General
Quotefatesalign Quotethe_digital_dentist I'd stay away from anything built out of threaded rods. Do both of them have threaded rods? If so, why are you against it? Thanks for the feedback. If you have used nothing but computers that run Windows as the OS all your life, you think that constant security updates, frequent rebooting, frequent re-installation of the OS, frequent virus scans, and freqby the_digital_dentist - General
Why is the Bowden tube so long? The longer it is the more friction there will be between it and the filament running through it. If the hot-end is jamming maybe you need to look at the hot-end design or placement in your machine. If it starts to jam after running for a while with PLA, I suspect heat is creeping past the thermal break and causing the filament to swell and jam. Does the hot-endby the_digital_dentist - Printing
Diamond?! It is thermally conductive and hard enough to withstand any abrasive materials you can think of except maybe other diamonds...by the_digital_dentist - General