Itty Bitty Double Extruder

[ChadroG]

First, thanks to Clough42 for making the Itty bitty. One look and I knew it was for me! I printed one up, ordered the hardware kit, made a slight mod to the gears by putting side guards on them and thought I was ready to go. That's when I hit my first snag....and it's a big one! I have a MakerFarm i3v 12" with the hexagon hot end. It has worked good, but when I was going to make the change to duals I thought "I'll get better ones". So, I ordered two of the new E3D V6's. Man, are they sweet. But...man are those heat-sinks big! Two of them side by side are too big to fit in the Itty bitty dual as is. I thought of cutting the fins down, but that would ruin some of the heat dissipation the head needs...so no go there. I thought, well I''l just stretch the extruder out and make the room. Well, there's too much going on, when I do that, for my machine to handle and it will crash while trying to merge the objects back to one single item. I guess I'm asking too much from 123D as my machine can hold it's own ( I7, 32 GB of RAM, GTX OC 650i and a SSD). So, I'm stuck using a single extruder (yes I'm running the V6 in it now and not the Hexagon) in my Wade's with a pack of hardware for an extruder I can't use. I still want to go the Itty Bitty route, but I need some help from someone who is better than me and my setup. I'm sorry if this is against the rules or if there is a different place to request such things. Please forgive a first time poster. I would be eternally grateful if someone could make me a .STL ( or any other file type I can open with 123D or Simplify3D (yes I paid that much for slicing software and would again as it is truly awesome)). I would need it to hold two of the E3D V6 ( the 1.75mm Universal models)hot ends running the factory fan shrouds. I want it to run the NEMA 17 motors as well. It will need to go on the i3V 12" MakerFarm that I mentioned earlier, but I can handle the X carriage part. The wiring can come out of the hot ends anyway, so I'm flexible there. I know this can be done, but is beyond what I can pull off at this point. There are several examples of the X carriage on thingiverse, if someone needs a reference. Also, on thingiverse there is a working NEMA 17 motor version of the extruder already out there. The hot end has documentation on E3D's website and there are CAD files for it on GrabCAD as well. Thanks in advance to any kind souls!

[sniffle]

wow wall of text...

you aren't the first to request this of C42, there are several of us with E3DV6's and were willing to buy another to test an itty bittyV6... he has some E3D Models, but i don't know if he has made much ground on this. Will just have to wait and see.

I've also considered building my own. It will just take a little time for me to actually get it going as i am working on converting his single extruder cooling solution over to the E3DV6. :-)

Once's that's done... maybe... I just can't remake his work on this one, he worked too hard on this for me to rightfully do so.

[clough42]

First, thanks to Clough42 for making the Itty bitty. One look and I knew it was for me! I printed one up, ordered the hardware kit, made a slight mod to the gears by putting side guards on them and thought I was ready to go. That's when I hit my first snag....and it's a big one! I have a MakerFarm i3v 12" with the hexagon hot end. It has worked good, but when I was going to make the change to duals I thought "I'll get better ones". So, I ordered two of the new E3D V6's. Man, are they sweet. But...man are those heat-sinks big! Two of them side by side are too big to fit in the Itty bitty dual as is. I thought of cutting the fins down, but that would ruin some of the heat dissipation the head needs...so no go there. I thought, well I''l just stretch the extruder out and make the room. Well, there's too much going on, when I do that, for my machine to handle and it will crash while trying to merge the objects back to one single item. I guess I'm asking too much from 123D as my machine can hold it's own ( I7, 32 GB of RAM, GTX OC 650i and a SSD). So, I'm stuck using a single extruder (yes I'm running the V6 in it now and not the Hexagon) in my Wade's with a pack of hardware for an extruder I can't use. I still want to go the Itty Bitty route, but I need some help from someone who is better than me and my setup. I'm sorry if this is against the rules or if there is a different place to request such things. Please forgive a first time poster. I would be eternally grateful if someone could make me a .STL ( or any other file type I can open with 123D or Simplify3D (yes I paid that much for slicing software and would again as it is truly awesome)). I would need it to hold two of the E3D V6 ( the 1.75mm Universal models)hot ends running the factory fan shrouds. I want it to run the NEMA 17 motors as well. It will need to go on the i3V 12" MakerFarm that I mentioned earlier, but I can handle the X carriage part. The wiring can come out of the hot ends anyway, so I'm flexible there. I know this can be done, but is beyond what I can pull off at this point. There are several examples of the X carriage on thingiverse, if someone needs a reference. Also, on thingiverse there is a working NEMA 17 motor version of the extruder already out there. The hot end has documentation on E3D's website and there are CAD files for it on GrabCAD as well. Thanks in advance to any kind souls!

I don't like to pre-announce usually, because my time is limited, and I don't want to commit to something that may take a while to finish.

That said, I am working on a modified version of the dual that will support e3d got ends (27mm spacing) and flexible filament.

It will use the same hardware, so there shouldn't be anything more to buy to get it working.

I have the first prototype printed, but I don't have the x carriage designed yet. It won't fit between the brackets on a normal Makerfarm carriage due to the wider hot ends.

If you are interested in testing early prototypes, pm me with an email address and we'll chat. I'm committed to keeping this open source, but I want to make sure it's good before it gets into the wild and too many people start trying to build it.

[Poindexter]

I'm having difficulty setting my pot for one of the steppers. It is either too low and the motor skips or it is too high and I get an intermittent response from the motor. The other stepper driver does this as well, however there is at least a window of functionality. Does this sound like a stepper driver problem or maybe a motor problem?

P.S. this happens without any filament as well

[voodoo28]

Im having the same issue but I use the Rambo board. it doesnt matter what i set it to on the digi pots , it still skips. I can hold with my finger tips softly and make it skip.

I'm having difficulty setting my pot for one of the steppers. It is either too low and the motor skips or it is too high and I get an intermittent response from the motor. The other stepper driver does this as well, however there is at least a window of functionality. Does this sound like a stepper driver problem or maybe a motor problem?

P.S. this happens without any filament as well

[clough42]

I'm at a loss on this one. I'm running three of these motors on RRD and StepStick drivers and I've never seen this.

How fast are you stepping? I'm assuming it's slow?

[voodoo28]

I contacted Pololu support, and it appears that my motor might actually be defective. I'm Still awaiting their response for the exchange. Just seems weird that No matter what Voltage setting i use in Marlin 100 - 255(max) it still skips with slight pressure of resistance, Clough are you able to make your motors skip by applying some resistance by hand?

I'm at a loss on this one. I'm running three of these motors on RRD and StepStick drivers and I've never seen this.

How fast are you stepping? I'm assuming it's slow?

[clough42]

I can make them skip, of course, but I have to apply some pressure. I don't know how to characterize the pressure, except to say that it seems reasonable to me. I have my current set to .75A (.31V measured on the Pololu driver pot).

Do the coils on your motor ohm out correctly? They should be 2.7 ohms each.

Voodoo28 and I have been exchanging PMs over the last few days about his difficulties with PLA, so I ran a 5.5 hour test with MakerFarm PLA on my printer, just to make sure I'm not going crazy. I usually print ABS. Here's a time-lapse of the print:

[voodoo28]

Im going to check the omhs reading tonight when i get home. Each coil should give me a reading of 2.7 ohms? The Rambo board doesnt have Adjustable pots instead its controlled digitally through Marlin on a scale from 100 - 255. Marlin specifies (135 = .75a). If i set it to anything lower than 135...If i sneeze it will skip. All my other motors are set from MakerFarm to 100. I dont think the issue is solely related to PLA at this point.

What feed rate are you using in the slicer? im using the defaults from Marlin and Simplyfy3d. Perhaps thats where an issue lies...At this point anything is possible...lol

I can make them skip, of course, but I have to apply some pressure. I don't know how to characterize the pressure, except to say that it seems reasonable to me. I have my current set to .75A (.31V measured on the Pololu driver pot).

Do the coils on your motor ohm out correctly? They should be 2.7 ohms each.

[clough42]

Im going to check the omhs reading tonight when i get home. Each coil should give me a reading of 2.7 ohms? The Rambo board doesnt have Adjustable pots instead its controlled digitally through Marlin on a scale from 100 - 255. Marlin specifies (135 = .75a). If i set it to anything lower than 135...If i sneeze it will skip. All my other motors are set from MakerFarm to 100. I dont think the issue is solely related to PLA at this point.

What feed rate are you using in the slicer? im using the defaults from Marlin and Simplyfy3d. Perhaps thats where an issue lies...At this point anything is possible...lol

Yes. 2.7 ohms.

I'm printing at 100 mm/s maximum.