THERMOCOUPLE SENSOR REPLACEMENT

[mechaneil 20]

Hello again,

Broke my thermocouple sensor on my stock UMO. Looking for alternative replacement

aside from the official one.

Found this on Aliexpress.

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Type-K-Thermocouple-TC-for-Ultimaker-Original-3D-printer-3mm-K-type-thermocouple-for-Ultimaker-Original/2412069_32728579529.html

Would this be a good replacement.

And while I'm on it, will be upgrading the hotend to this.

http://www.banggood.com/0_4mm-E3D-V6-All-metal-3D-Printer-Extrusion-Head-Nozzle-With-Fan-p-1036420.html?rmmds=myorder

Anything that I should watch out for. Advice from the experts and experienced highly appereciated.

Thanks again everyone.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Guest

[SandervG 1,521]

Perhaps @Neotko would be the best person to answer since he is a frequent customer to Aliexpress. But I would doubt anything is a 'good replacement' from Aliexpress, unless you can do your own quality control and know what to look for.

It can be that there are some good ones in between, but overall it is a gamble and there is no consistency in quality.

[neotko 1,417]

Dunno @sandervg

I would ask the reseller to measure the thermocouple to be really 3mm. I never bough a thermocoupler so no idea. I know that some aliexpress sellers did sell me a pt100 with 3.05mm (it doesn't fit in) so is good idea to ask for a photo with a caliper before paying.

The other item, the clone e3d hotend, I would stay very far far away from a clone e3d. E3D already are hard to control, and a clone of that hotend is a 90% chance of pain and headaches.

[amedee 349]

Chinese shopping is a lottery...

The thermocouple may or may not be OK, you can try it, most will be OK.

For the E3D hot end I would advise as well to stick to a genuine E3D one, there are too many bad clones, guaranteed clogging...

I am frequently buying items on AliExpress, but for these kind of things, I do not want to take the risk of having bad parts. One failed print and you loose the benefit...

Edited March 22, 2017 by Guest

[mechaneil 20]

Thank for the input guys.

I do have a genuine E3D V6. Was initially planning on putting it on the UMO but

decided to use it for an FT5 I'm putting together.

Did some research, and plan to use a hybrid E3D hotend similar to what Tech2c

used on on his hypercube build. He used the genuine E3D heaterblock to replace

the one on the geekcreit clone, and seems to get good print results.

 

My plan is to use a spare genuine E3D block, nozzle,  with the clone (Aluminum heatsink/fan/clip and heatbreak/throat)

I will be using the stock UMO heater cartridge and thermocouple sensor. Verified that it fits the E3D heater block.

This venture is out of curiosity to see if such setup works. Just hope that this curiosity doesn't kill this cat.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Guest

[creditcard 0]

Hi Guys,

               Wellcome to site. we have  to get good print results the one on the geekcreit clone, and seems.the risk of having bad parts i do not want to take.

..............................................

MAGNETIC SCIENCE FUN

Edited March 24, 2017 by Guest

[SyntaxTerror 344]

I can of course only speak for myself, but when it comes to these things I'd chose buying from a reputable vendor rather than going with something that I just can't be sure of.

It's all well and good when it works out, but considering the times when it doesn't... it's just not worth the few bucks you saved. Not even close. Quality control is not really something that a lot of these manufacturers are passionate about. If they even have anything implemented. So if it's a relatively cheap part, I'd get something I could trust instead. Every time.

I do have a question though, out of interest? The UMO has a thermocouple instead of an RTD? I was operating under the assumption it was a PT100.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Guest

[SandervG 1,521]

Yes, it has a thermocouple. The UMO I believe, the UMO+ has a PT100.

There were reasons.. but I can't think of them right now

[amedee 349]

The UMO has the 'old' UltiBoard 1.5x which is a shield for an Arduino Mega, with the Pololu / Allegro stepper drivers plugged on it (Like the RAMPS controllers).

At that time RTDs where not very popular, and most printers came with thermistors. To improve the temperature feedback loop Ultimaker decided to use a thermocouple with an amplifier on top of the print head, which gives better results in particular at higher temperatures.

If you want to use a thermsitor instead of the thermcopule, you just have to swap the connections, and add a resistor on the board (the place for the resistor is foreseen on the board).

You can even go for an RTD using E3D's adapter plate.

The UMO+ is using the UltiBoard 2.x which is the same as in the Ultimaker 2, so it is PT100...

[SyntaxTerror 344]

Interesting! I wasn't aware of that. You learn every day

In any case, if it can be swapped for a PT100 with a minimum of fuss for god's sake do it. They're just superior in pretty much every way for temperatures in our range. Plus they're a great deal easier to troubleshoot when everything goes wrong.