m-wakileh

It would make sense to stick with the Arduino layout for compatibility with the various shields... either the newest arduino or the pcduino that CodeMaven suggested ( http://www.pcduino.com/?page_id=12 )

I can only calculate it as my meter is rated 10A max.. and i will likely look for an opto isolated solution.. i assume the control signal is ttl? regards

P.S. I also checked that the connections were correct (for the 100th time) ... no fault there..

Hi! Ok so today I got back to the issue of the lights... the blue LED strip turning off got me thinking the official ultimaker psu might have tripped... as the green MK2 led was still turned on when the LCD and LED strip turned off the external psu must still have been powering the hotbed? so I measured the Ultimaker PSU Voltage: 0 Volts... after unplugging it from the mains for at least 10 seconds I got the 19 Volts back.. plugged that back into to Ultimaker shield and it appears to be working!!! (autohoming and temperature controll of the hotend functional...) So I got curious about where the smoke came from and replicated the issue =D (for about 0.5 seconds) ..the smoke comes from the Hotbed FET solder joints, the Ultimaker PSU trips, I disconnect the eternal hotbed PSU... then revive the machine by unplugging the Ultimaker PSU from mains for at least 10 seconds...before pluging back in... (and yes autohome and pid hotend control still work... testprint to follow).... any ideas on whats going on here? Could the problem lie in a faulty solder joint? (I've had issues with this when I first got the machine)... regards, Michael

Hello everyone! I am dearly seeking help after a failed hotbed upgrade: The upgrade entailed a custom aluminium bed, MK2 pcb, external pollin PSU (Computer-Schaltnetzteil FSP FSP4 6094-351112), epcos 100k thermistor and the 4,7k resistor at R4. First I checked my connection according to the wiki: (http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Heated_Bed...) " Secondary DC supply, e.g. 12V for reprap pcbs: The ground of this supply should be connected to the ground of the Ultimaker supply. Than one power connection of the PCB goes to the +12V of the secondary supply, while the other goes to the pin2 of the HotBed connector of the Ultimaker PCB. Its a lowside n-channel Mosfet circuit, thats why this should work. (I have not tried this personally, please be careful). Then the Ultimaker PCB should be able to control the bed. " This meant connecting MK2- to PIN2, MK2+ to PSU +12V, PSU- to PIN1 (the eagle board shows PIN1 is connected to ultimaker shield ground). I powered up the external PSU about a second before pluging in the ultimaker PSU cable (sidenote: my ultimaker power switch worked for ~ 1 week...since then I've been pluging in and unpluging the ultimaker psu cable to turn on/switch off the printer) Immediately I smelled smoke and the lights from the Ultipanel LCD and blue LED strip went out, leaving only the eerie green glow from the MK2 board LED. This surprised me especially because the blue led strip is connected/powered directly at the ultimaker shield power jack! Anyway..it's really a great shame... I have had extremely reliable and satisfying print results after a recent extruder upgrade... I welcome any explanations and hints on damage assessment or repair! regards, Michael Wakileh

One issue that must be considered is the rotation of the shaft due to x/y movements of the printhead itself (try clamping the motor end of the flexible shaft and see what happens at the printhead end during x/y movements)... perhaps not an issue using a big gear ratio... with gears there's that weight issue to solve... Perhaps it would be possible using a rotating threaded rod to advance the filament... then extrusion and retraction speeds will be slow...

Nice work alaris! Will be watching this thread closely...(I may choose to abandon watercooling in favor of air cooling ) @destroyer: my current prototype weighs 245-250grams vs 95-100 before (both including bowden clamp etc).. That weight can definitly be brought down.. I built it with what I had at hand (3mm alu) - the sidewalls holding the linear bearings needed to be extended approx. 2cm. The metal bowden clamp and top plate are practical and indestructible.. I will be keeping those... Further updates on my prototype(s) will go into a seperate thread.. regards, Michael

...

I've decided to post some progress on the full-metal water-cooled hotend prototype. Perhaps others could chime in as to whether my posts should be moved to a seperate thread or not. Initial design flaws were circumvented by using 3mm aluminium vs 4mm for the last pieces. If the titanium heat barrier concept and alu welding concept works out, I would likely see if a refined design can be produced locally. What would Ultimaker's stance be on that (seeing what the initial design was based on... I would release cad files under some open source license as well)?

Actually I think the weight will be acceptable... I do care about the weight- that is the reason why I'm first attempting to make the watercooler out of aluminium and not copper, even though the thermal conductivity isn't quite as good. The welding should definitely be more difficult with the aluminium. I will know how that goes in about a week. This first iteration has 1 design flaw and was based on some false measurements so unfortunately I cannot reuse the wooden parts that hold the linear bearing. Perhaps this is for the best as wood = firehazard. In any case..that is the part I will (re)design next so that I can use the parts I've already cut (I typically only remove 0.2-0.25mm per layer so the cnc does take some time). I will measure the weight when I have all the parts, but I am pretty confident that tweaking the motor currents will alleviate any weight issues. I will probably follow up with a redesigned watercooler for easier welding and I plan to show off a new extruder as well =)... Anyway, I really hope this will work... The most critical part in the design is an M6 threaded titanium tube which connects the hotend with the cooler...the titanium is the thermal barrier... Unfortunately I was only able to source Grade 2 Titanium locally ..so only testing will show if it can stand up to the temperature, pressure and mechanical stress... regards, Michael Wakileh

...and here the top plate with a threaded bowden holder...

Hi there... Just posting to say that I'm working on full metal hotend myself... Had the new UM Nozzle or this thread come out sooner I would have waited... but I'm in too deep now...that I think I will push ahead (time permitting)... The design is based on the UM assembly.. its watercooled with the intent of being able to print nylon and other high temperature plastics..The bowden holder and the extruder will be redesigned as well... Here some early pictures of the incomplete prototype.... regards, Michael

Thanks Daid! I will do some testing after my vacation. Are there any safety features I need to consider / disable (max min temperature readings of the second extruder), If I wanted to drive a stepper for other uses? best regards, Michael

Hello Daid, I dont fully understand your question (I havent done any arduino programming or looked at the firmware). I meant as in g-code to control the 5th stepper motor, be that an extruder motor or any other motor (ie.for pick and place or abp).. How is the 5th Motor addressed (X,Y,Z,E, ? ) ? What would the actual G-code command look like for the second extruder, ie advance filament x mm or x Steps? regards, Michael

Hello Everyone, I just wanted to ask if marlin already supports g-code for a 5th polulu driver. I havent been able to find any references. regards, Michael

Sorry IAN, I haven't checked back here in a while... Nice that you found someone in the same town! I'm leaning towards starting my own space, a plan I've had for some time... I am currently training some students/introducing them to the technology... I already have a room setup for electronics/product design (Reflow oven, Electronics equipment, CNC-machine, Plastic bender, Ultimaker...planing to get a lasercutter end of the year). ...and yes I've made some nice parts from thingiverse but am still working on perfecting the machine...building a better feeder, upgrading to prints from sd card. The 3d printing capability has led me to spend more time learning how to design 3d parts, and also machine them with my CNC (previously only by 2+1/2D). Unfortunately I am always strapped for time, as I am a doctor for my dayjob (My interests lie in prototyping and product design in the paramedical field.) regards, Michael

=) Yes, I'm quite happy with the silver + blue metallic paintjob. It really took a lot of patience not starting with the build right away! I also used the supplied LED strip to add internal platform lighting to the acrylic print bed. (got the idea from those diffuse illumination/frustrated total internal reflection touch screens). Unfortunately I wasn't as patient when it came to building the extruder. As I didn't have appropriate PTFE sealant tape, I used high temperature kapton tape instead. I suppose thats whats causing the plastic leak / extruder jam issue. Can anyone point me to instructions for disassembly / servicing of the extruder?- I do have the appropriate tape now. regards, Mike

Hello Ian, I can't say I have much experience as I just finished my build. What do you consider "in the area"? I am in Rostock. Perhaps there are some hackerspaces in Berlin or Hamburg? regards, Michael Wakileh

Thanks for the hint on bad soldering... Indeed the Ultimaker PCB was damaged during production. A solderpad had been ripped off the PCB (forcefull adjustment of a badly soldered through hole component)... Naturally resoldering didn't work so I ran a seperate wire after looking at the board files. regards, Michael Wakielh

Hi, I recently finished the assembly of my Ultimaker, and ran into an issue testing the right x-axis end-switch, which doesn't stop travel in the Replicator G control panel. All other switches are working as they should. I have tested the endswitch (via resistance) using a multimeter and also the connection to the jack on the ultimaker board (v.1.5.4). The switch works fine so the issue must be on the Ultimaker- or the Arduino- board it came with. ( I will install eagle-cad later today and see what I can come up with after looking at the board files. Unfortunately I have no Arduino experience, so I wouldn't know how to quickly troubleshoot that board.) I welcome any suggestions for further analysis/repair. regards, Michael Wakileh