MakerFarm 10" i3v build

[printbus]

Again, this is great information. I actually copied your approach for the LED strips under the X-carriage, but haven't wired them up yet. I'm thinking of putting them on D9 (IIRC) of the RAMPS board so they only run during the print process.

There's nothing wrong with wiring them to D9, but you'll have to remember to tell your slicer to enable cooling so that D9 gets turned on for the print. Personally, I'd save D9 for the option of adding a print cooling fan. You may find you want those LEDs on more than you think - when checking bed clearance, when manually extruding after a color change, when wiping off the hot end nozzle, etc. If you followed my LED scheme, note that clough42's revised hex hot end shroud system uses a different baseplate on the X-carriage that has a 25mm fan right where you probably have those undercarriage LEDs.

[dacb]

There's nothing wrong with wiring them to D9, but you'll have to remember to tell your slicer to enable cooling so that D9 gets turned on for the print. Personally, I'd save D9 for the option of adding a print cooling fan. You may find you want those LEDs on more than you think - when checking bed clearance, when manually extruding after a color change, when wiping off the hot end nozzle, etc. If you followed my LED scheme, note that clough42's revised hex hot end shroud system uses a different baseplate on the X-carriage that has a 25mm fan right where you probably have those undercarriage LEDs.

Very useful details, thank you. I hadn't thought about the other ways the lighting might be useful.

Actually, the need to replace the baseplate for clough42's fan is a big concern I've had. Among other things, I worry that the ABS might heat up and sag.

How is your pot holder/trivet that you mentioned in your build thread working? I think the cardboard I'm using isn't providing enough insulation and this causes the bed temp to drop from 110 to 100 during the start of the printing process (I'm doing ABS right now). I will mention that I did apply Kapton tape the underside of the bed per your idea, to prevent scratching the traces while removing the clips.

[printbus]

Very useful details, thank you. I hadn't thought about the other ways the lighting might be useful.

Actually, the need to replace the baseplate for clough42's fan is a big concern I've had. Among other things, I worry that the ABS might heat up and sag.

How is your pot holder/trivet that you mentioned in your build thread working? I think the cardboard I'm using isn't providing enough insulation and this causes the bed temp to drop from 110 to 100 during the start of the printing process (I'm doing ABS right now). I will mention that I did apply Kapton tape the underside of the bed per your idea.

The pot holder thing seems to be working fine, although I unintentionally ended up with a pretty good air gap under the heat bed too. I adjust all four corners of the bed now, and I'll bring the bed down a bit the next time I'm adjusting the Z endstop. 10 degrees seems like a pretty hefty temperature drop. The 10-inch comes with a heat bed relay; I'd probably start by measuring the voltage at the output of the relay and seeing how much it changes when you see the temperature drop. That might at least eliminate concerns that the power supply is dropping or that the wire gauge to the relay is too small.

Seems like a smart move on the kapton under the edges of the heater circuit board. I haven't had things apart enough to install it yet.

[dacb]

I wanted to make a note for anyone who upgrades to the aluminum spiral couplings like I did: you will need to put some foil tape around the lead screw to make it large enough to fit a 5mm coupling. Also, the two different brands of couplers I tried (one from MakerFarm and another random from ebay) obscured the Z end-stop so that it is nearly impossible to adjust. That is remedied by either taking your 5mm hex wrench and cutting 7mm or so off the short leg so that there is room to work behind the coupler or better yet, moving to the screw adjustable end-stop for the 10" from MiniMadRyan.

10 degrees seems like a pretty hefty temperature drop. The 10-inch comes with a heat bed relay; I'd probably start by measuring the voltage at the output of the relay and seeing how much it changes when you see the temperature drop. That might at least eliminate concerns that the power supply is dropping or that the wire gauge to the relay is too small.

Great suggestion. I used two 16 gauge ATX power supply wires into the heat bed relay from the PS. This should be enough for the current the bed draws. For the next print I do, I'll put a voltmeter on the relay and set it up next to the camera. I note that I don't have any temperature drop for PLA when I run the bed at 70. I'm wondering if the extruder fan shroud is blowing air down onto the bed and cooling it faster than it can reheat. Once my working piece of ABS gets a centimeter or more tall or wide enough, the temperature goes back up to 110. I'm using the stock fan shroud model, though I have had to print it as the original melted before I discovered your trick if cutting it out and using Kapton tape.

[cliffgi]

Hello. Did you have any problems with the extruder gears being to close together? Started my i3V 10" a couple days ago and today put the extruder together. Very difficult to get motor bolted on because slots in extruder bracket did not line io well with the motor mount holes. Basically had to force gears hard against one another to get the top screw in place. Result is that gears do rotate freely, and are difficult/jerky to rotate by hand. There is no was to back the motor off and ease the presure between them,Tried filling gears with some success, but still not smooth. Colin says it is normal and they will break in but I'm concerned.

[dacb]

Congratulations on your new printer!

Yes, I had a lot of frustration with the printed parts of the extruder. I remember having to grind down the inside of the hinged idler to be able to seat the bearing without damaging it. The filament hole in the extruder body did not align with the hob in the bolt so we filed down one of the washers that go on the outside of the bearings. Lots of other bits of shaving and filing. There was a ton of cleanup to do on the pieces and some of the screw holes and nut traps had sagged and had to be drilled, shaved or otherwise reamed.

When assembled, the gears were ragged on their surface and very tight even with the stepper at the farthest spot on the extruder. The gears didn't rotate smoothly and the steps of the stepper motor were amplified by the tightness. I was concerned enough to put the stepper on a stepper motor tester to play with it. It ran smoothly so I installed it and it worked perfectly. Now the gears are worn down and mesh better. Unfortunately, the printer has a fine dust of ground plastic all over it from the extruder gears as they "burned in."

[dacb]

Lights. Much like OME and printbus...

WP_20140905_039.jpg

[cliffgi]

Thanks for the quick response. Nice to know it is not just me. No sense having slots in the extruder bracket if the only way to mount the motor is HARD against the outside limit. It is obvious that the either the top slot is misplaced or the quality of the gears provided in the MakerFarm kit is very low. Kind of ironic that they are gears made by 3d for 3d. Hope this is not a sign. Not willing to deal with feed issues until gears wear in... pulling apart to file and clean the gears. Job one after my first good test print will be to make and replace all kit parts. Not happy. MTF

[dacb]

I was disappointed also, but when my prints started coming out of the machine, that all melted away. My own prints of the extruder parts are beautiful (if I do say so myself). So, I was thinking for a while, why weren't the ones in my kit this nice? Then I realized that I spent 6 hours printing all my pieces for one extruder. That isn't going to work for MakerFarm which has to turn out a bunch of these a week. In a way, t doesn't make sense for MakerFarm to go crazy with making perfect pieces as the ones I received with my kit that I was so frustrated with worked great after I cleaned them up.

[printbus]

I don't recall which thread mentioned it, but 1stage has tweaked the extruder base a bit to provide more adjustment room in the NEMA17 holes - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:409162. Even this was still tight on my extruder rebuild, and I used a needle file to lengthen the slots a bit more. I then also use longer bolts on the motor so the heads are on the rear side of the plate, ensuring I can use as much of the increased slot length as I can (otherwise the recessed bolt head will still be limiting this). I also believe the original Wades design had gears with straight teeth. I've wondered whether the tightness issue is with whoever adapted to the herribone gear design.

EDIT: Here's the post where 1stage mentioned the revised base - http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ll=1#post15505