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Anything related to printer controllers not being Duet, RAMPS or Sanguinololu: microprocessors, motor and heater driver circuitry, gEDA/KiCAD issues, soldering tips, etc.
Re: MakerFarm Prusa i3 - 11 years ago
There are designs out there for fan shrouds. They should allow you to "focus" the air flow just on the top of the hot end.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Heated Bed QUBD Silicone vs MK2 vs ? for Prusa i3 - 11 years ago
Well they (on their web site) say: "... We have tested these with a Azteeg X1 and X3 from as well as the RAMPS 1.4 directly with no problems (YMMV)....." RAMPS 1.4 directly sure sounds like a no relay situation.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Heated Bed QUBD Silicone vs MK2 vs ? for Prusa i3 - 11 years ago
This is physics. You have a maximum amount of power the Ramps (or what ever) can handle The standard heater board just about maxes out the Ramps 1.4. The silicone gizmo probably maxes it as well. Heat rise is related power you put in and the heat capacity of the material. That silicone is a very flimsy material. It doesn't hold much heat. Less heat capacity / same power gives faster rise. If youby uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: i3 - Temperature won't stop rising (350deg) - 11 years ago
I would bet that the heater is not wired right. Check for a short in the "ground" side wire on the heater. Having the heaters cross wired is another very common goof (the wire you *thought* went to the heated bed really goes to the hot end heater...)by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Power Supply for Prusa i2? - 11 years ago
.... and thus a *much* better place to buy one than some ebay seller with a total of 6 transactions listed...by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Power Supply for Prusa i2? - 11 years ago
If you pay for a Meanwell, make sure that's what you get. There are a lot of "clones" with very similar names. They do make good supplies. I suspect that's why people try to rip off the name.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Burnt Regulator? - 11 years ago
There are a *lot* of cheap switcher regulators on ebay. Typical delivered price is sub $3. They will take 15 to 30 volts in and turn it into a nice save 6 or 7 volts for the cpu board.by uncle_bob - Tantillus
Re: Power Supply for Prusa i2? - 11 years ago
All you really need is a 12 volt power supply. The rest of the "stuff" in a PC power supply is wasted. If you are using a Ramps board, it will only handle 16 amps (200W). Some of the other boards will handle even less. The gotcha with PC power supplies is that a "400 watt supply" may or may not be able to deliver 16A at 12 W. A lot of the power in a PC is on the lower voltage outputs.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: MakerFarm Prusa i3 - 11 years ago
I have evidence (as in a UPS confirmed tracking number) that they are now shipping in one business day. Ordered it Sunday and it shipped out mid afternoon Monday. Only disappointment so far is that UPS is going to get it here in a week rather than 4 days. Would have liked it to be here to beat on over the weekend.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Bed doesn't heat over 90°C, 24V to RAMPS ok? - 11 years ago
Here's a little more complete answer: You can keep +12 on the 5A input and take the 11A input to +24 volts. That will only impact the two outputs on the 11A line. When you go over 11A the first thing that fries is the green screw connector that the heater bed attaches to. You would need to pull it and replace it with something heavier. The MOSFET is rated at 30 amps, but that's with a real heaby uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: prusa mendel i3 rework at replikeo.com - 11 years ago
That answers a lot of questions about what's included with the machine. I'd say that looks pretty complete.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: PCB Heat Bed Resitance - 11 years ago
There is a tolerance on all things. That includes the amount of copper on a pcb layer. Most processes are optimized to deliver some minimum amount of copper to meet a spec. In the case of "low cost" processes that's a pretty low spec. The real answer is to have multiple layouts and match them up to what the supplier is doing. Yes, I know, that's not easy at all. Yes I lay out pc boards as partby uncle_bob - Developers
Re: Bed Auto Leveling.. check this out - 11 years ago
Ok, sounds great. I'm simply thinking about a binder clamp holding the Z stick on. Probably some cute little printed part to go between the clamp and the stick(or simply print the stick as well). It would need to be rigid enough to trigger the microswitch. That's not a real demanding design constraint ... Thanks! Bobby uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Bed Auto Leveling.. check this out - 11 years ago
Ok, could the data be extracted (or displayed) after the level process and then input to one of the header files? Put another way - could an "initial leveling" be compiled into the code? Obviously, I'm looking at getting rid of the normal initial level process.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Bed Auto Leveling.. check this out - 11 years ago
Would a "switch on a stick" work with your code? I'm thinking of a one time leveling rather than a fully automated process. Mount the stick, run the code, remove the stick.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: i3 is complete but how to calibrate ?? - 11 years ago
Each of the issues you mention seems to have an active thread here. Reading through the posts might help a lot. Most of what you are talking about is troubleshooting rather than calibration. The Z axis issue could be a problem with the limit switch (pretty likely) or an overheated stepper driver (less likely) or slipping connections to the z steppers (much less likely).by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: prusa mendel i3 rework at replikeo.com - 11 years ago
Am I missing something on their web site? I don't see any pictures of a fully assembled I3. Since they sell they assembled, I would think they would have a picture.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Slightly offset layers along y-axis? - 11 years ago
Never rule out the little stuff - maybe it's a bad connection on the stepper motor connector (or a bad solder joint on the pc board). You can have a great crimp on the connector, but if there's insulation left between it and the wire - not so good.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Z Axis Steppers sometimes switching directions - 11 years ago
Sort of a random guess - are both motors the same manufacturer / model? Since they are run in parallel they pretty much need to be same / same.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: i3 gaps on curved thin walls - 11 years ago
From the curve wall pictures, it looks like all goes fine for a while and then it goes nuts. Once it starts it never gets back to "ok". Just for fun - when the printer gets to the point that it messes up the curved walls: Do a touch test on your stepper drivers. You should not get burned touching them. If you can hold a finger on them for a count of 5 all is well. A count of zero, one, or twoby uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: HeatBed shuts down after 70ºC - 11 years ago
A voltmeter is your friend with problems like this. A cheap one will do just fine in this case. Check your power supply voltage, voltage at the 11A connector on the Ramps (or what ever) board. Check the voltage at the heated. That should help you figure out where things are running out of power. If it's a polyfuse popping, check for things like shorts at the heatbead mounts. Black burn marks areby uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Prusa, heatsink for a4988? DIY - 11 years ago
I know this is a little late, but a cheap fan is also a good way to cool the entire Ramps board. Get a quiet one and just hook it to the power supply. Let it run all the time.by uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics
Re: Bed doesn't heat over 90°C, 24V to RAMPS ok? - 11 years ago
Some simple answers: 1) The Ramps board will handle 24 volts and up to 11 amps. 2) The rest of your electronics likely will not like the 24 volts very much at all. 3) If you have a normal 1.2 ohm PCB heater board, it will pull 24 amps at 24 volts. The Ramps will not be happy at 24 amps. Best advice - don't do this. Work on insulating your heater board instead. It should be pulling the max cby uncle_bob - General Mendel Topics