Wanhao Duplicator I3 3D Printer

[Barbarus]

Yepp, got it - see my "PPS" in the post above.
But the quesion is - how powerful can the fan be?

[Adamseye]

The duct I am liking is this one, http://www.thingiverse.com/make:190841/ I love it but the 40mm to 50mm adapter and that 50mm fan make it a bit shaky which I don't like. The fans I got are here, http://www.amazon.com/40x10mm-Bearin...&keywords=40mm 6 watts .05amps. The company is known for high quality quiet fans, probably best you can buy to my knowledge. They have a 6 year warranty to boot!

You measure the fan on the sides, but also keep in mind fans come in two types, high air flow and high pressure. A high pressure fan is designed to blow air over heatsinks, like the extruder heatsink. This is where I plan on using the Noctua, to cool the extruder. The fan you linked is a high pressure fan, and more suited to cool the extruder then blast the hot end with cool air.

You can almost tell by the pitch of the blades, but they are normally marked chipset fan or cooling fan. Chipset fans go against a heat sink, cooling fans blow lots of air. A blower style fan would probably be best for this application, however I have yet to need one. I can print as small as I want with the cooling system I have now.

hope that helps too!

P.s. I'm not 100 but I don't think you should have an issue with what ever fan you buy. I don't think it would do much more then not run at its full rating due to a lack of power.

[Barbarus]

Thanks a lot mate! I will try with the one I posted and see how it goes
My biggest Issue besides that is the freaking Cura.... for some reason it does not save a complete Gcode file... only first few layers... I tried to re-install and everything - didnt help.
I will eventually buy S3D, but right now I fell its a bit pricey. On the other hand - Cura issue is annoying...

For the Fan duct I will try this one:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:969338

PS
Can you take a look at the attached gcode? Does it look ok to you?

[curious aardvark]

yep fan is measured in sides. And getting a more powerful fan won't necessarily give you more cooling. If the fan's too strong you'll jjst get blow back as channels for the air won't be able to take the extra pressure.

So basically just buy cheap fans the right size :-)

Bear in mind that fans really don't pull much power so there's nothing stopping you wiring an extra fan into the same conenctors of an existing one.
That's what I've done for my replicators.

[Barbarus]

Care to take a picture and show us? Sounds like an interesting idea...

Could you maybe by any chance tale a look at the file I attached and if it loos OK to you? My Cura has a tendency to fail with Gcode...

[Adamseye]

I printed that cooler first, but I don't like not being able to see the extruder, at least the first layer. I just designed a bracket to hold just a fan with no shroud. My fans should be here later today so I will post a pic of that when completed.

I don't like Cura, and have been using Matter Control instead. From everything I tried, even matching the settings, Matter control will put out nicer prints then cura. It seems to have a much better way of creating the tool path, and it is highly evident in the prints. Biggest separation between them is in a single walled print.

Cura butchers the layers, leaves ugly lines, and even reverses direction in a single walled print. Same file sliced with matter controller prints the bottom layers in anticipation of creating a single spiral wall by building up the edges from 0 to layer height on the perimeter.

Matter control even handles bridging on it's own. Try slicing a bridge test in cura, then in Matter. Matter is going to pick it up and should slow to 20mm on the bridge with out your input. Cura will let you fall flat on your face, when the Z height plugin fails to change speeds or fan settings.

Cura falls short in it's crude toolpath, leaving me to wonder in the person who created the code has ever 3d printed anything. Matter controller on the other hands feels as if it is a wise Jedi, teaching you how to use the force. (as I typed that my freshly finished print cooled a popped from the glass.)

http://www.mattercontrol.com/

I have to get my stems printing I'll be back.

[Barbarus]

Hehe Nice review!
In the end it should say "Sponsored by MatterControl" (joke)

But it is interesting to see what settings you use. Can you give us a list. Cause what I felt with Cura was that Wanhao wants you to choose pre-installed options for Prusa I3. Now I am not sure how much it differs but it cant be exactly the same so I guess small changes could make the print better. So if you can share your settings in MatterControl - it would be interesting to see!

Thanks for the tip! Will try it this weekend.

PS
Damn, the 3D-print community is really nice and helpful. No one calls you noob just cause you are new to this Thanks for that!

[Adamseye]

From what I remember, was only a month or so ago lol, the stock settings in Matter were giving me the best prints as of that time. Since then I have altered my printer quite a bit, and I haven't quite topped the scales of my upgrades yet. I did a pretty large print at 40mm/s on my outside perimeters and 50mm/s for infill with a 150mm/s move speed. It was two plates plus large, so I got a good test of the dimensional accuracy. http://www.thingiverse.com/make:198660 you can see the results there.

With PLA I am printing anywhere from 200-210 with 60 bed, on glass with purple glue stick. The larger the print the higher the speeds you can go, because each layer takes longer to cool with more on the plate. Like the stem for the apple, I printed three of them at 30mm/s with the fan on high even though I only needed 1. This was to allow the layers to cool, and got to pick the one I wanted too lol. But the apple parts I printed at 50mm/s with an outside perimeter of 40mm/s. I had more to print, so I had less chance of coming back over another layer to soon. I was unsure how the tops would finish, but I left them at the same speeds and I am happy with the results.

The slow settings will work well for large or small prints, but you wont have much luck printing small parts at high speeds. I relate it to welding, I want enough heat to penetrate, but I don't want to warp the material. If you go back over a weld to soon it warps, just like a layer.

I would say if you print the outside perimeters at 20-30mm/s the print should come out clean, as far as the speeds for your infill and such I would relate that to the size of the print and thermal restrictions.

PS Everyone was a noob once!

[Adamseye]

Some settings I can tell you that should help are acceleration settings. These are found under the configuration section in the control panel. I set both x and y to 900 print, and 800 move. Also making sure your are extruding the right amount of filament can make a big difference. I found a formula online, (100mm / extruded amount) * current e steps. This was not that easy for me to do, and I got it to work once kind of.

For me printing a ring with a specific inner and outer dimension and measuring the results made it far easier to dial in my extrusion. As of today I am printing with in .1mm of dimensions inside and out, and not only are the prints more accurate wich is great for making parts. But the walls of the print come out much cleaner versus over extruding. I did however also find out with the ring test that my x and y are off a hair, not moving the same distance gives you a inconsistent circle. I would have never known if I didn't spend all that time calibrating my extrusion with rings. It cleaned up my corners too.

I would also recommend the z axis brace mod found here. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:921948 Cost me $15 in parts, and a few hours printing. Install was super easy, and this has made a huge difference in my printer. I went crazy the past week or two, swapped out the y carriage for a 3mm one with 3 point leveling. (haven't setup the 3 point yet but plan too) Z axis braces, printed bearing block all around, and a new y axis belt tensioner to allow the use of the new y carriage. New bearings, a few fans, a bunch of zip ties lol! Parts keep showing up at my door, still awaiting a few things lol. I got the bug big times.

[Koopaloup]

I am having issues with print not sticking to the bed. Any advice, it sticks for a while then It just comes off. I am using the printer completely at stock. I am printing at 45mm per second. Also any mods you would recommend?