Woo Hoo!! New Toy!! Stratasys Dimension 3DP

Mega with a ramps. Both work now, but I need to get software working and test/adjust anything else needed.

 

Mega with a ramps. Probably need to redo connections to the bed, they look terrible. Endstops also are probably misdone. Need to figure out what versions of drivers and software also, etc etc. Otherwise, it's completely assembled and just been sitting for over a year now. I think I am just overwhelmed and worried of discovering more stuff I messed up on.

 

Thanks. I probably will this weekend when I get back.

 

Looking at boards...... I am so electronics illiterate it's painful! I need to have support for 2 extruders...... And this machine also has some weird things like an interlock to keep door from opening during printing..

I would also like to continue to use the filament cartridges (refilling them), those also have some type of electric "latches" on them to keep them in place.. I have to take this thing apart to see what my true needs are..

I'm currently considering the R2C2 board.

 

I don't think it's a kill switch, its more like a self cleaning oven interlock to prevent the door from opening, I'm assumming to keep the heat in the print chamber during operation since the chamber is heated as opposed opposed to a heated bed. That's another thing I need need to figure out... How to power / switch / temp regulate the chamber. It will probably draw too many amps to power from the board (use a seperate relay maybe?) and how to tie in the thermistor.... I assume I could just input the thermistor in the heated bed input and use a relay to switch the output to the heat elements.

 

I saw somebody using a $10 hair dryer to make a heated chamber on one of the reprap blogs.

If you go with the thermistor/relay combo I suggest using a solid state relay instead of a mechanical one since the mechanical relay contacts will wear out with a high current load. It would suck to have the relay stick in the middle of a print.

Ron Hunt

 

Well folks, my shiny new RepRap Ormerod 3d printer was supposed to have arrived on Friday. Today after work I visited the post office and made a bunch of phone calls, and found out that my printer *might* be stuck in a warehouse in Texas somewhere. It's all distressingly hazy. The package was shipped via USPS, and the tracking system says that it was accepted/picked up on the 12th. I ran a gauntlet of various USPS workers who all told me it was at a certain warehouse in Texas, but when I finally talked directly with that warehouse, the person over there denied having ever received it. Not good. The only helpful piece of information I got was that the "recipient" address for the tracking number was all ****ed up, listing only a three-digit code in the zip code space, and nothing listed in any of the other spaces.

I checked my information with the shipper, Allied Electronics, and they have all the correct address information. I've called them up and they were perplexed. I sent them the details and they are working on it, so hopefully my printer will be on its way soon.

 

As long as its not stuck in warehouse 13....

 

Did you get the pm?

 

My control board finally arrived...... at some point I can start trying to figure out how to incorporate it into the existing electronics. The on board stepper drivers aren't going to be able to provide enough amps to run the existing stepper motors, so I will need to figure out how to upgrade to heavier duty units at some point. I can use the current drivers on the board to start wiring things up and start learning the software and ins and outs for the time being.

 

I'm not completely sure...... on the motors it says 3A/ 6A. I'm not sure if the different amperages are based on different ways the motor can be wired (they are 8 lead motors), or if it is based on 12v vs 24v supply voltage. Any insight?????

 

I can't find a spec sheet for this specific motor...... I did find a PDF from the manufacturer, but the specific motor used here isn't listed. Nonetheless, they are over the typical 2A that most on board drivers can handle. I selected the Duet board for a few reasons.... having second thoughts, but I'm sure it will work out. I was definitely looking for something with a bit more processing power than most of the reprap boards, and expandability...

I was already planning on running the chamber heaters off of a solid state relay triggered by the bed heater output on the board. I wonder if I can do the same for either the hot end fan or the chamber air circulation fan to latch the door whenever one of those fans are on?? It would probably be more firmware work than I am capable of to have the door latch whenever the chamber is above a set temperature threshold.....

This is really overwhelming to me...

 

The bed is not heated, only the chamber. Looks like the heating elements are 120v, but I'm not sure yet.... I have to dig the printer out from under all the stuff that has accumulated on and around it so I can start figuring this stuff out.

The machine does have functional 12v, 24v, and 120v power supplies, so I should be able to trip a 120v solid state relay to turn the heaters on. I'm not sure what to do with the heat circulation fans yet... probably run them full time like the hot end fans.

Good point on the hot end fans.. I don't have much knowledge yet on how this all works.. I didn't even know the hot end fans were on anytime the machine was powered up, never thought about it yet.... lot's to learn!!!!

Your last suggestion on the door is honestly the one most likely to be incorporated

There are a number of other odd challenges to deal with on this thing... I need to learn to start taking the easy way out.