Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[Syd_Khaos]

The machine shakes slightly when it prints and I'd always advise to check / re-plug all suspect motherboard connections when an electrical issue arises as the shaking could cause some wires to loosen.

Nice work and welcome Noircogi!

I sell a few items in my shop geared towards self-defense. These items are printed with very high infill and crazy amount of shell layers.

You REALLY wanna see this machine shake like a whore in church...print something with 85% true honeycomb infill. Will shake worse than a bowl of jello held by Michael J Fox.

[DarkAlchemist]

I have a bad time with PLA snapping on parts since it is pretty rigid but 85% infill is crazy though I wonder if that would help? ABS is less rigid so it doesn't snap (besides PLA is brittle) but more like a give and take which is why I always loved ABS.

S3D does true honeycomb? If a part snaps in PLA will having more shells help that or is it the infill amount that will?

[Syd_Khaos]

I have a bad time with PLA snapping on parts since it is pretty rigid but 85% infill is crazy though I wonder if that would help? ABS is less rigid so it doesn't snap (besides PLA is brittle) but more like a give and take which is why I always loved ABS.

S3D does true honeycomb? If a part snaps in PLA will having more shells help that or is it the infill amount that will?

Yes, S3D does true honeycomb infill.

From all my testing both shell layers and infill can greatly effect an items over all rigidity and durability.
The self-defense kitty keychains I sell use 6 shell layers (top, bottom, and perimiter all at 6) and 85% true honeycomb infill. After putting a few through the paces so to speak I would say they are near combat quality items (and I do have the qualification to make that call, in case your wondering lol).

I do very little in PLA...I only use when I have to have that extra bit of material viscosity for something to come out.....and Im not an artist, so that is very little. But, having seen the crazy diff with other materials and this amount of infill Id have to guess if ya printed PLA with such high infill it would be purdy durable...far as PLA goes at any rate.

edit:
And I was wrong about the nozzles....I have only seen the Mk10 nozzles from 0.3-0.6. Didn't see them at any particular place..I usually just use google shopping and pay little attention to where I'm actually getting stuff from.

[DaveB]

Got tired of unscrewing and rescrewing the bolts on my QIDI's side windows. Just added a magnetic side window clamp for the QIDI.
Gory details are all in http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1642529

[rcleav]

Got tired of unscrewing and rescrewing the bolts on my QIDI's side windows. Just added a magnetic side window clamp for the QIDI.
Gory details are all in http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1642529

Just curious why take the side windows off so much?

[DaveB]

Just curious why take the side windows off so much?

LOL, I've been playing with modifying the build platform, and it's just easier for me to reach what I need to from the sides. Printing with ABS so I try to keep the side windows in place and the door closed.

[DarkAlchemist]

Yes, S3D does true honeycomb infill.

From all my testing both shell layers and infill can greatly effect an items over all rigidity and durability.
The self-defense kitty keychains I sell use 6 shell layers (top, bottom, and perimiter all at 6) and 85% true honeycomb infill. After putting a few through the paces so to speak I would say they are near combat quality items (and I do have the qualification to make that call, in case your wondering lol).

I do very little in PLA...I only use when I have to have that extra bit of material viscosity for something to come out.....and Im not an artist, so that is very little. But, having seen the crazy diff with other materials and this amount of infill Id have to guess if ya printed PLA with such high infill it would be purdy durable...far as PLA goes at any rate.

edit:
And I was wrong about the nozzles....I have only seen the Mk10 nozzles from 0.3-0.6. Didn't see them at any particular place..I usually just use google shopping and pay little attention to where I'm actually getting stuff from.

Full honeycomb but I wonder if that is really better than rectilinear for PLA parts? I know it slows it down and a real Honeycomb is the strongest (Beehive) but I see more LARGE air gaps than when using rectilinear in the preview. On Slic3r Honeycomb wasn't really any better.

[rcleav]

LOL, I've been playing with modifying the build platform, and it's just easier for me to reach what I need to from the sides. Printing with ABS so I try to keep the side windows in place and the door closed.

OK makes sense now.

[RetroCreo]

So I was able to restore my "bricked" Qidi Tech with Sailfish 7.1 using Win AVR and the usbasp programmer over the 1280 ICSP port.

However, when I restored it, my original problem of the X axis stepper behaving erratically was still present.

The x axis would essentially be stuck in a "ghost print" and behave as if it was doing a print but shaking back and forth violently. If I helped the print head along then it would move a bit then back a bit. Homing of axes would also produce a violent shaking.

I had bought new stepper motor drivers to install, however, it appears there were slight differences between all of them.

As I mentioned previously, I ended up winning a Qidi Tech 2 on ebay, with the upgraded screen and it seems a different revision of the motherboard. It still has the ATmega1280 though. It came with a spare stepper motor driver, but when I installed that into the Qidi Tech 1 it heated up significantly and there seemed to be a great power draw.

I then tried a different stepper motor driver but it ended up popping and smoking and flaming...

All of the stepper motor drivers are not in the same orientation on the motherboard. This was as received. I will upload pics. Also the drivers I bought all seem to have different pin orientations or the board is flipped 180 degrees. This is definitely frustrating and I hope someone can help or point me to a resource that can.

I am considering ordering a new motherboard outright. Like a Mightyboard Rev G. Would that be a direct swap?

Qidi Tech 1 (previously bricked board)


Qidi Tech 2 (Good machine)


Stepper Drivers
Left: Qidi Tech 2 Spare
Right: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



I just realized that the right driver is a step stick...

[DarkAlchemist]

This was too good of a deal so I have to post this to everyone... 5PCS free shipping New arrival 3d printer M7 stainless steel MK10 Nozzle 0.4mm

I wonder how good these really are?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5PCS-New-arrival-3d-printer-M7-stainless-steel-MK10-Nozzle-0-4mm-3D0121/32647166744.html