kvones

Hello All, I got a Bocusini Paste Extruder from a Kickstarter pledge about 18 months ago, and it has taken me this long to source a suitable printer to install it on. It is essentially a syringe type paste extruder with a geared plunger and heater. Now I have finally managed to install it on an UM2 extended, I am starting to wonder whether I could just use the regular UM2 (modified) firmware rather than their restrictive proprietary one. I am not intending to print food, but rather silicone and other experimental paste materials. The motor that normally runs the extruder here lowers the plunger to squeeze out material. It's not too different from the way it usually works. Do I need to adjust the E Steps/mm and acceleration? If so, how do I do that and how do I calculate the new settings? Is there anything else in the firmware I might need to modify? Any help at all would be much appreciated...

Hello, I was wondering if you'd be prepared to share the files for your custom E3D V6 mount? It looks great and I have been looking for something like this for ages! I'm in the UK, so sadly can't buy your printer...

I have just today experienced this problem for the first time after three years of impeccable service. Has a definite solution for this been identified? My hotend and bowden appear to be connected as usual.

Cloakfiend, in the UK there are a lot of companies that do electroplating out-jobs - doing it at home is only worth it if you want to do a lot . You could save some money though if you covered your object in the conductive medium at home before sending it off. There is a great book out there on the process if you're interested, but finding a supplier in London should not be too hard.

Sander, can I just ask - did you literally just solder the four fan wires together (2 black + 2 Red) to one cable with two wires that goes into a single fan port or did you use two fan ports? I am about to do this mod and don't want to blow my board up . I've got 2 x 24V fans.

I would NOT use the XTC 3D for casting, especially the lost wax method as it is resin and creates toxic fumes when burning it out...

I'm gonna add my 2cents as well - absolutely love my UMO+. Upgrades I am doing/considering: add a 2nd fan (have got all the parts but need to make time to do it), buy exchangeable nozzles from E3D, upgrade belts to GT2 and in the distant future maybe try the E3D Hotend. But even as it is now it turns out great prints. I have quite a few friends with UM2s and I really don't think there's much of a difference (especially with 2nd fan on UMO+). I have to admit I also love the Builder you're talking about, especially because of the colour mixing hotend - this will be high on my list if I win the lottery or something tomorrow and get to extend my makespace. There's a great blog entry about it here: http://nicklievendag.com/big-builder-dual-feed-review-part-1/

I would agree with this assessment. The quality is better than I expected, but not as good as the UMO+ I have. I got my UMO+ after sponsoring the Micro, then spent a lot of time learning about Cura settings etc, finally getting great prints on my UMO. If I had had the Micro first I would have been quite happy, the other way round it's a bit harder. It will still use it a lot for workshops, meetups etc, because it is sooooo tiny and light...

gearsawe, have you posted your plugin for the earlier version of Cura somewhere? I have a Micro now and would love to use Cura instead of the software it comes with. Can you send the files directly to the printer through Cura?

You're completely right, I looked at the fan again and it says 0.12A, which I believe is 120mA, and the original fan on the other side (Sunon KDE2405PFVX) draws 91mA according to this datasheet I found: http://www.rapidonline.com/pdf/189354_da_en_01.pdf , so that should be well below the 500mA you say the transistor supports. That means now it's only a question of cutting the cable and soldering everything together. Do you think it would be better to print the shroud in XT PLA as it's more temperature resistant? Have you found that a problem? I take your point about the fans starting up, I usually run mine at full speed or not at all (for ABS), but with two fans it might be too much cooling to have both on full.

Thanks Neotko, I am pretty new to electronics so still learning a lot. For the parallel wiring, did you just solder the power and ground wires directly to the wires of the original fan (and added a bit of sleeving?)? Do I need to add a resistor at any point? How can I check if that port provides enough current to power both fans? My new one draws 330mA I think...

Thank you, that would be amazing! Anyone on whether port J20 is the right one to plug an extra fan in on the UMO+?

I am trying to do this modification and just got my new fan. Do I simply plug it into the J20 port on the circuit board that says Fan 19-24V? And do you know what kind of connector I need to fit to the cable? Also Neotoko, I downloaded your files but my version of Rhino is too old to open the Rhino drawings - could you possibly upload a version saved in compatibility mode with Rhino V4.0?

Thank you Tommy, that's great! I might exchange the original hotend for an E3D one eventually, mostly to print in higher temps, but for the moment I would be content to use the stainless nozzles to print bigger bronzefill objects without worrying about wear, and maybe to try the different diameters available.

Tommyph1208, I am thinking of using an E3D nozzle in my UMO+ heatblock in the near future (I want to go stainless to print lots of Bronzefill) - is it just a case of unscrewing the original nozzle and screwing the new one in its place or do I have to change another part too?