thereza

Thanks for the suggestions. It's worse with Kapton, it's level but depending on which software I use I have to manually tweak the first layer height. netfabb prints the first layer way too low and cura seems to print a bit high. I've not tried brim, I'll give it a shot. What causes it, and why would a slower fan help? And why would it be worse on the heated bed than just the blue tape? I want to understand the phenomenon so I can better figure out what things to try and why. Thanks, Reza

So I was using blue tape without much problems, though I had some parts that would curl up at the corners. I've switched to a heatbed that I've tried with both kapton and blue tape. The initial adhesion is great, but now the curling is much much worse than without the heatbed -- which was what the heatbed was supposed to solve. What could be causing my problem? Should I just rip out the heatbed?

I can't get netfabb to support the heatbed that I've added. I've even tried to add the M140/M190 commands to the header/footer of the gcode, but netfabb keeps adding M104 S0 commands to turn off the heatbed all over the gcode. Is there some way to force netfabb to work with my heatbed? thanks, reza

I'm just wrapping up my heat bed using an external power supply and wanted to share one little tidbit. You'll need to remove D2 or D3 (depending on where you've connected the heatbed) in order to avoid having the external power supply keep the ultimaker board powered while it is off. you'll just not be able to see the indicator light turn on on the ultimaker board which you can't see anyhow. -r

Hi, I've connected the heat bed to the 2nd temp input but just read that it should have been the 3rd. not wanting to move and resolder the temp sense resistor, i wanted to see if this is the required change in software to make it work with the second temp sensor.. this is from pins.h. So change #define HEATER_BED_PIN 4 #define TEMP_BED_PIN 10 #define HEATER_1_PIN 3 #define TEMP_1_PIN 9 to #define HEATER_BED_PIN 3 #define TEMP_BED_PIN 9 #define HEATER_1_PIN 4 #define TEMP_1_PIN 10 Is there anything else that I would need to change? Reza

btw, any chance you can incorporate these replace entries automatically as checkboxes in the config dialog?

actually, it wasn't that hard to figure it out assuming that bridge rotation is turned on. in gcode_small.py : --- ../Cura_RC4_orig/Cura/cura_sf/skeinforge_application/skeinforge_plugins/craft_plugins/export_plugins/static_plugins/gcode_small.py 2012-05-21 01:51:12.000000000 -0700+++ ./Cura/cura_sf/skeinforge_application/skeinforge_plugins/craft_plugins/export_plugins/static_plugins/gcode_small.py 2012-10-12 22:36:09.805801800 -0700@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ self.output = cStringIO.StringIO() self.layerNr = 0 self.parsingAlteration = False+ self.bridgeLayer = False def getCraftedGcode( self, gcodeText ): "Parse gcode text and store the gcode."@@ -123,10 +124,17 @@ self.output.write(';TYPE:SKIRT\n'); elif line.startswith('('): self.output.write(';TYPE:WALL-OUTER\n');- elif line.startswith('('):+ if (self.layerNr == 1):+ self.output.write(';TYPE:LAYER0-WALL\n');+ elif line.startswith('('): self.output.write(';TYPE:WALL-INNER\n');+ if (self.layerNr == 1):+ self.output.write(';TYPE:LAYER0-WALL\n'); elif line.startswith('('):- self.output.write(';TYPE:FILL\n');+ if (self.bridgeLayer):+ self.output.write(';TYPE:BRIDGE-FILL\n');+ else:+ self.output.write(';TYPE:FILL\n'); elif line.startswith('('): self.output.write(';TYPE:CUSTOM X\n'); self.parsingAlteration = True@@ -137,4 +145,8 @@ elif line.startswith('('): self.output.write(';LAYER:%d\n' % (self.layerNr)); self.layerNr += 1+ self.bridgeLayer = False;+ elif line.startswith('('):+ self.output.write(';BRIDGE-LAYER\n');+ self.bridgeLayer = True; along with this config .. I get this fix to the bridging problem and

I've finally had a chance to look at the code, and have since upgraded to Cura_RC4 (btw, I noticed you fixed some of the divide-by-zero errors that I had found but never submitted patches for in RC1). I can't find the infill.py file anymore; did that code migrate elsewhere? Thanks, Reza p.s. your code still works amazingly, and NETFABB is still A WORTHLESS PIECE OF S*IT. I just upgraded that as well, and it is just junk. thanks for the hard work!

it seems as if many sections in the generated code are prefixed with the type of section, such as ";TYPE:FILL" -- why doesn't the bridging section have this behavior? I know the code knows that it needs to bridge as it fills the bridged section differently. Any idea where that code might live? Also, can you point me to section of your code which handles the replace.csv -- I can have a go at modifying it to enable conditionals. given the complexity of SF, the replace.csv might be the best place to implement a lot of features if it was more robust.

And I forget, but will those commands disable the fan during bridging? Is there some way to enable it for the bridge? Thanks, Reza

I want more control over the fan - I think it makes a big difference in the quality of the print. I want to combine some suggestions from users from your posts, but they seem incompatible.. ;TYPE:FILL M107 ;TYPE:FILL ;TYPE:WALL M106 S255 ;TYPE:WALL ;LAYER:1 ;LAYER1 M106 The M106 commands get inserted before the LAYER:1 which defeats its purpose. I just removed the manually. Would it be possible to add conditional commands like IF (LAYER<1) then do this substitution? Thanks, Reza

@thedudevt the only thing I don't like about your design is the large thermal mass the aluminum presents. It will take longer to heat and cool. I am thinking of adding a thin piece of aluminium to the top of my build (or glass) -- whichever I can source cheaper really.. I finished wiring the board into the ultimaker - though I've not tested it yet (I will do so in stages), but I'm confident that it should work. I just added another 4 photos to the same album as my last post ( https://picasaweb.google.com/1129126825 ... PX36KvqwE# ) showing the power supply hookup and thermistor hookup.

updated posted here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=970 for those following this thread

@rewolff I agree with the enclosure issue, but I plan on modifying it to allow for more air to flow over the FET. Also, that's when it's on full power. I would imagine the power output would drop significantly when the board came to temperature. @thedudevt I can't tell how you've mounted your PCB and if you have glass over it or print directly onto it? I've finally made a bit of progress with my build. I was surprised how easy polycarbonate is to work with -- i'm used to acrylic which melts when you try to drill, etc. Anyhow, I made the polycarb holder for the heating element. I overlapped the heater by 1" and followed the contour of the acrylic bed otherwise. Aligning the holes didn't go as well as I would have liked, and I ended up drilling some of the holes much larger and using washers to compensate. I wasn't sure how the heating PCB was intended to be used. I think i mounted it upside down, but I didn't like all that lame 'keep away from children' crap written on the visible surface. Also, the pads to attach the power cables were way small and I used a knife to scratch off more of the soldermask to allow for a bigger soldering area. The thermister is attached via katpon tape (not sure how others have done this). There is a short bit where the wires are also attached to the PCB, but I hope they can tolerate the heat (I will find out shortly). I also have the wires simply running down into a hole. I don't expect them to get caught on anything, though the wire carrier looks good. My current issue is that now my build surface area is reduced and I need to adjust the location of the limit switches so it doesn't bang into anything. I've posted pictures here : https://picasaweb.google.com/1129126825 ... PX36KvqwE#

some implementation details can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=970