mchughmp

Hi Everready, try this: FFF_PEEK_MikeMcHugh.pdf

Hi All; I got an UM2 printing PEEK well enough to complete my Masters research project. I received great help and advice on these forums and hopefully posting the results here helps the community. Here's a link to the system development: https://drive.google.com/a/tcd.ie/file/d/0B5czN7u52TZnZEhUN0x4NWFtams/view and here's a link to the whole masters: https://drive.google.com/a/tcd.ie/file/d/0B5czN7u52TZnWE1vRlBPSFEwWGM/view Thanks to everyone who gave me help and advice here. I also helped set up a Rapid Prototyping lab with 5 UM2s during my final year for students to use freely; was a great success, good little printers! Mike

Hey Mike... Thanks for your thread... very interesting and bang up to date... are you just keeping us on 'tenterhooks' or have you been so successful that you haven't got time for forums any more Would love to hear a progress report... I'm particularly interested in 3DXTECH'S carbon/PEEK blend so future UM2 hotend 'pimping' is a distinct possibility for me too... can you list/link your parts by any chance... and am I asking too much regards some photos of your upgraded UM2 please. much luck and regards (thanks to everyone else with your posts here too) Hi Artiz; I got it printing PEEK enough to complete my masters. Here's a link to the system development: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5czN7u52TZnZEhUN0x4NWFtams and here's a link to the whole masters: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5czN7u52TZnWE1vRlBPSFEwWGM The conclusion lists issues, future works etc. Thanks to everyone who gave me help and advice here I also helped set up a Rapid Prototyping lab with 5 UM2s during my final year for students to use freely; was a great success, good little printers!

Hi Daedalos; Forgive the late reply. Here's notes adapted from my findings in adapting the UM2 for PEEK: Thermocouple Installation: Add the AD597 amplifier and conditioner unit into the main board as shown in the attached figure: Then alter the firmware to recognise the input as a K-type thermocouple and to reassign the pin for the new location of the sensor input. The code below refers to the type of sensor used for the hot end temperature measurement, and is located in the Configuration.h file: #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 20 where TEMP_SENSOR_0 is defined as the hot end sensor, and the number following it, in this case a 20, refers to the sensor type used as stated below: //// Temperature sensor settings: // -2 is thermocouple with MAX6675 (only for sensor 0) // -1 is thermocouple with AD595 // 0 is not used // 1 is 100k thermistor - best choice for EPCOS 100k (4.7k pullup) // 2 is 200k thermistor - ATC Semitec 204GT-2 (4.7k pullup) // 3 is mendel-parts thermistor (4.7k pullup) // 4 is 10k thermistor !! do not use it for a hotend. It gives bad resolution at high temp. !! // 5 is 100K thermistor - ATC Semitec 104GT-2 (Used in ParCan) (4.7k pullup) // 6 is 100k EPCOS - Not as accurate as table 1 (created using a fluke thermocouple) (4.7k pullup) // 7 is 100k Honeywell thermistor 135-104LAG-J01 (4.7k pullup) // 8 is 100k 0603 SMD Vishay NTCS0603E3104FXT (4.7k pullup) // 9 is 100k GE Sensing AL03006-58.2K-97-G1 (4.7k pullup) // 10 is 100k RS thermistor 198-961 (4.7k pullup) // 20 is PT100 with INA826 amp in Ultiboard v2.0 which means a change in the sensor from the PT100 to the Thermocouple with an AD597 amplifer requires the change #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 20 to #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 -1 as the AD597 is equivalent to the AD595 for this purpose. Pins on the Main Board now needed to be reassigned via the firmware as the thermocouple sensor was now connected differently from the PT100 connector. The file pins.h designates the pins on the main board according to the type of board used. In configuration.h the main board is defined as: // 72 = Ultiboard v2.0 (includes Ultimaker 2) within the Ultiboard v2.0 section in the pins.h file the temperature sensor for the hot end is defined as: #define TEMP_0_PIN 8 Now the temperature readings are being fed via the thermocouple into the pin assigned as 0 on the main board and so the code is changed accordingly: #define TEMP_0_PIN 0 Once you upload this code the Thermocouple should provide temperature readings for the hot end.

Here's one of the failed prints, a carabiner:

Hi Labern; I actually printed some PEEK today on the UM2, but had issues. Lifting, and lots of filament getting stuck to the nozzle after extrusion; most of the prints ended up stuck to the nozzle. Temperature settings was bed at 110°C, nozzle at 400°C (I wanted higher for both, 130° and ~430+° respectively but this is the current max I've gotten to; the heater gives me an error a couple of minutes into a print if I go higher; the max it reaches is only about 10° more anyway before it stays static). The PEEK is pretty gummy at 400°, I'm thinking/hoping the flow will be nice at 430° I used Kapton tape on the bed as was having adhesion problems, this works much better. The prints still lift, but I think this is more to do with the ambient temperature so I am going to try to build an enclosure and heat it to as high as I can before the steppers get annoyed; I've read this is ~80°C. All in all a good day

Hi Daedalus; Thanks for your reply! I got the thermocouple working, and now can measure as high as the heater is going to, about 400°C; I'm still hoping to get another 30-50° out of it with a bit more modification! To answer you question about the hot end: I installed the E3D v6 all metal hot end; it seems to work fine at the higher temps, would recommend it. Thanks again, Mike

Hi Hregfroop; I too am having trouble with the PT100s now; have gone through three or four of them at this stage; at temperatures above 300 they seem to fail quickly. I am going to try to replace them with another type; I don't suppose you have any knowledge on what would plug directly into the UM2 board and allow higher temperature readings? All the best, Mike Hi Sergiu; Thanks for the reply; I managed to install a k type thermocouple so can now measure the higher temperatures But I ordered some thermistor parts rated for high temps, and will try to incorporate them into the UM2 just to see if they work! Crimping seems the way to go, yes, thanks All the best, Mike

Hi all; An update! I now have a thermocouple installed (with an ad597 amp) and am able to read higher temperatures than before. The current issue is that the heater (40W,24V from E3D) gets to about 400°C, and no further. 430°C is my goal. I wonder now whether I am running out of available power from the UM2, or is this the max. temp of the heater cartridge itself. If it is the power supply, does anyone know what I would need to do to beef it up? Thanks, Mike

Hi all; I'm trying to get an Ultimaker 2 to print at temperatures up to 450°C for testing with PEEK. I've got a v6 hot end and a 40W heater installed, and I've modified the firmware to allow these temperatures; the issue I'm having now is with the PT100B sensor; it seems to be failing at temperatures below 400°C. So I am looking to install a k-type thermocouple; I have this thermocouple: http://e3d-online.com/Type-K-Thermocouple and this amplifier board: http://e3d-online.com/External-Thermocouple-Board-v1.0 but I have no idea how to get them connected and working with the UM2. By any chance does anybody know what I should do? Or is there another solution you might recommend? Thanks, Mike

Thanks Labern, gone back to 14.07 in firmware now, no error warnings, thank you

Thank you for the reply Labern; very helpful; Sorry for the late response, I had issues with the thermistor which (hopefully) were due to a broken/faulty unit. Yes I think my issue is timing out because the heater cartridge is not suitable; would you happen to know could I upgrade the cartridge easily, i.e. just swap in a higher wattage one onto the board, or does it get complicated? Thank you again, Mike Hi Mike You can get higher wattage heater cartrages at 3d solex Or one of there on sellers. Thanks Labern, Got a 40 Watt heater from E3D; seems good, problem now is PT100s keep failing, looking for a thermistor that I can swap into the UM2 board that can handle 400°C + reliably now. Hopefully it will be that simple All the best, Mike

Thanks Tommy; I insulated the block and it improved things significantly, though I still needed a new heater cartridge (went from 25 to 40 W), but I will insulate the block when I have a reliably working thermistor for 400°C + (that is the current problem!). All the best, Mike

Hi Hregfroop; I too am having trouble with the PT100s now; have gone through three or four of them at this stage; at temperatures above 300 they seem to fail quickly. I am going to try to replace them with another type; I don't suppose you have any knowledge on what would plug directly into the UM2 board and allow higher temperature readings? All the best, Mike

Hi Hregfroop, thanks for the news on your developments. I found a research paper on printing with PEEK which, while it uses a different printer than the Ultimaker 2, is very informative on different settings and results of those, you might find it interesting: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shoufeng_Yang/publication/283270065_Extrusion-based_additive_manufacturing_of_PEEK_for_biomedical_applications/links/562fbdbf08aefb4c6cb9ceba.pdf?origin=publication_list All the best, Mike

Hi isby; no 300°C has been no problem; currently I'm at 361° beofre I get error warnings and I think the issue is as stated above; that my heater cartridge needs to be a more powerful one. But 300°C; no problem; just change the code as I stated in my original post. Remember to be careful of fumes etc. All the best, Mike Apologies isby; note also that I changed my hot end to the E3d V6 using a kit from their site; I'd recommend doing that as well before going above the Ultimaker 2s default max temp. All the best, Mike

Thanks DidierKlein; Yes I agree; and since it heats up so slowly (about 15 seconds per degree from 355°C on, before timing out at 361°C) rather than trying to modify the software much more I think it might be better to upgrade the heater cartridge. Would you happen to have any advice on the best way to go about this? Something that just plugs into the board in place of the current cartridge but goes to 450°C no problem would be lovely of course but I can't be that lucky can I? Thanks again, Mike

Thanks Nallath; I appreciate the warning; I will print under a fume hood if I get it working. I tried to raise the temperature in sequence as you suggested (actually I went in steps of 10°C) and I got to 361°C before it timed out (at least that's what i think the issue is). My cartridge is likely not suitable; I'm looking for ways to get something more powerful, but it would be nice if the solution I find plugged into the board and ran without any extra hassle or equipment; that's the dream anyway! Thanks again, Mike

Thank you for the reply Labern; very helpful; Sorry for the late response, I had issues with the thermistor which (hopefully) were due to a broken/faulty unit. Yes I think my issue is timing out because the heater cartridge is not suitable; would you happen to know could I upgrade the cartridge easily, i.e. just swap in a higher wattage one onto the board, or does it get complicated? Thank you again, Mike

Hi isby; no 300°C has been no problem; currently I'm at 361° beofre I get error warnings and I think the issue is as stated above; that my heater cartridge needs to be a more powerful one. But 300°C; no problem; just change the code as I stated in my original post. Remember to be careful of fumes etc. All the best, Mike

Hi all; I'm in the process of converting an UM2 so that it can print PEEK (melting temperature about 350 celsius) to test 3D printed parts for possible biomedical applications as part of my Masters degree. So far this forum has been a great help for reference and learning, thank you all. I converted the hot end to a v6 HotEnd with a V6 Heater Block for PT100 which I believe are capable of getting up to 400 degrees celsius in combination with the PT100 sensor; I then used the Arduino IDE to alter the UM2 Marlin code in the Configuration.h file from: #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 275 #define HEATER_1_MAXTEMP 275 #define HEATER_2_MAXTEMP 275 to #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 415 #define HEATER_1_MAXTEMP 415 #define HEATER_2_MAXTEMP 415 and loaded that onto the UM2. Then in advanced settings on the UM2 I've been using the Heatup Nozzle function to see how high I can get the temperature up to. I can set it to 400 now; it slowly rises up to ~330 celsius and then gives this error: ERROR - STOPPED TEMP SENSOR I'm wondering is that high a temperature triggering some other fail safe condition or setting within the Marlin code? Or is there a hardware reason this might be happening that someone might be able to shed some light on? Any help/feedback much appreciated, thank you. Mike