UM V1.5.3 -> Megatronics 2.0?

[chopmeister 0]

Ok, has anybody here ever used http://reprap.org/wiki/Megatronics_2.0?

I ask because my old UM V1.5.3 electronics are in a really bad shape. I guess there is such a thing as too much experimenting after all. I fried 2 mosfets, the fan darlington (twice already) and soldered and resoldered a bunch of stuff several times.

I also (dis)assembled it at least 50 times (I'm not joking) and some parts of it are really starting to irritate me. Like having 2 PSUs (for the heatbed), the electronics fan, the size of the board etc.

I'd like a bit more streamlined solution, and these megatronics+a huge LCD controller can be bought from China for less than the price of the Ulticontroller. Yes, I'm aware it's from China and there are certain risks with that, but I've used a lot of Chinese electronics over the years, and I must say that most of it works great.

I love the fact it supports the TI DRV8825 1/32 drivers, I would love to try those.

Also, it can run on 12V so I can just connect my beefy 12V 30A PSU and be done with it. (at least that's how I understand it).

I'm waiting for a SmoothieBoard from kickstarter, but I want to use that for a new 3d printer I'm building, so I can use the UM to print parts for it.

What do you guys think, does it make sense to try this board out?

 

[hreedijk 4]

Seems like a compatible board to me.

As far I can see, the board is limited to thermocouple based hot-ends.

I have a thermistor based hot-end, that's the reason I also wait for my SmoothieBoard.

 

 

The price makes it well worth to try comparing the UM board at € 236 ex. shipping !

 

[chopmeister 0]

Ah luckily no, the newest version supports up to four thermistors and four thermocouples. I just found out that the original board comes from reprapworld.com and version 3.0 is out now. It's a steal at €79 + VAT. I think I'm going to order the original one, since the chinese one + croatian VAT + customs would end up in a similar price range.

I have an E3D which I used with a thermocouple, but it broke down, so I switched to thermistors. And I'm so glad to be rid of the annoying little amplifier board. Now I ordered an UBIS hotend, so it's thermistors all the way.

The Megatronics are supposed to have 2 onboard TC amplifiers, and support two external ones, but I seem to recall I heard that the amplifier should be as close to the thermocouple as possible for it to work properly, maybe I'm wrong...

 

 

[hreedijk 4]

My previous post was based on the 2.0 version, but you already noticed that :smile:

I cannot find the 3.0 version on the net, I'm very curious about the specs !

 

[chopmeister 0]

There it is on http://reprapworld.com/?products_details&products_id=468&cPath=1591_1643.

I'm guessing they have really bad SEO, because it's impossible to find it on google.

Check it out, it looks awesome, especially given the price.

 

[hreedijk 4]

Indeed, not to find with google, thanx for the url.

Definetly a very promesing board, seriously thinking to buy one for my own build printer :-)

[msurunner 2]

http://www.panucatt.com/Azteeg_X3_Pro_p/ax3pro.htm Is another one to consider, more expensive, but IMHO, having the blade style fuses versus the goofy little ones that the Megatronics looks like it has is almost invaluable. I can't count the amount of frustration the little brick fuses in the Rambo have caused. Ended up ordering a bunch of higher amperage ones to counteract the over-protective nature of the hard to find fuse...

 

[chopmeister 0]

Yup, the Azteeg Pro looks great, I'd probably go for that one even if I don't have a clue what I would do with 8 stepper drivers , if only it were from Europe. This would probably end up costing me over $200. They also seem to have a SmoothieBoard derivative for $99. Looks interesting.

 

[msurunner 2]

Yup, the Azteeg Pro looks great, I'd probably go for that one even if I don't have a clue what I would do with 8 stepper drivers .

 

The ability to run two heated beds along with the 8 steppers would have me envisioning a multiplicity system, with a single controller running essentially two printers. Although, you would need 8 to be running a Kraken at full potential with dual z- motors as well...

 

[chopmeister 0]

Haha, the Kraken was one of the things that came to mind after I clicked "Post".

I'd love to try that, in combination with the crossflow fan idea. That would make a very small 4 nozzle print head.

 

[hreedijk 4]

The Azteeg does indeed looks a lot better then the Megatronics, also found these on e-bay, perhaps to risky to try ......

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultimaker-PCB-1-5-7-4988-stepper-driver-TC-1-Amp-board-reprap-3d-printer-parts-/151061721485?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item232bfaf18d&_uhb=1

(Hong Kong)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3d-Printer-Mega-Ultimaker-Shield-Compatible-with-RAMPS-/221292717109?pt=Altro_Elettronica_e_Elettricit%C3%A0&hash=item338612e435&_uhb=1

(Italy)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Neu-SunFounder-Ultimaker-PCB-1-5-7-Control-Board-fur-3D-Drucker-kompatibel-/161203839359?pt=Wissenschaftliche_Ger%C3%A4te&hash=item25887f617f&_uhb=1

(Germany)

 

[jenschr 6]

Old topic, but I thought I'd chime in regarding Megatronics 2. I've just built a new printer using that board and I really like it. I had a really cheap chinese version of the PCB that died on me. I dunno what happened, but the FTDI-chip would suddenly overheat and prevent uploading firmware. After that I got "the real thing" from reprapworld I haven't had any problems.

I also had some issues with the A4988 drivers from the same Chinese vendor, so I too switched to using DRV8825 drivers. The new printer sure is a lot more silent than my Ultimaker! It's so much less noise that I've thought about getting some of these for the Ultimaker as well. It's more or less the difference of printing over night and not, so they're def recommended if you want a more silent Ultimaker.