Duet WiFi controlled Flashforge Creator Pro
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Hi Jeff
Thanks for the write up! Do you have any pictures of how you mounted the DuetWifi?
Cheers
Tony
Haaa, that's a funny subject. I actually printed the bottom of a case off TV for the Duet WiFi in ABS which has 4 screw mount points. I carefully pulled the stubs from the bottom of the FFCP (brute force) that were in my way and used 3M super strong double sided tape (grey in color, red liner) to hold the mount in 5 spots. I then hot glued the entire thing where ever I could for added comfort. It's not going anywhere!!. Black tape to cover the holes from the studs. Looks OK.
I just used the base of this http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1802496
Wiring wise I used all the correct crimping tools and connectors, my long time hobby is being an EE so I have the gadgets needed for this stuff. I was a bit too cheap to buy wire however when I have tubs of it floating around. It just needs to be safe, not pretty.
Got my fan duct done after much issue and it appears to work ok. Now for ATX like power control of the 350W Meanwell PSU in the FFCP. Ohh the LED lighting I just connected the 3 cathods of the LED strip to negative and the one anode to +24V. This gives me a mostly white light. I miss the RGB lighting, however that could be added.
Thanks,
Jeff
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Ok so I took a pic of the belly of the beast. Not all that pretty I know. The red box I just added to power the board and switch on and off the 350w supply. It's a 3A 5 volt switcher. I'm using a normal 5v relay with a flyback (snubber) diode to keep the spikes from killing the driver FET.
Jeff
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Cheers! good to see the external 5V and control interface being used
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Cheers! good to see the external 5V and control interface being used
You bet, I think it's an excellent feature. Little concerned the 5v supply drops out before the 24v supply cap does when the mains is turned off. Perhaps not an issue.
I just put a 3.15A fuse inline where Flashforge had the little red jumper wire. I think they thought the mains wiring was just one big fusible link by the looks of things. I've seen far worse, but certainly they could have spared for a bit more copper or more PVC to make it look like they did. Ohh well she's safe now.
Jeff
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Update on the printer, I've changed all the red components to a black ABS. I like the all black look a bit better. Will have to post a photo.
Now to the big step, how to convert the entire printer to a CoreXY setup. I think this can be done with the motors on the back of the printer.
Jeff
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@(In)Sanity:
…........................Now to the big step, how to convert the entire printer to a CoreXY setup. I think this can be done with the motors on the back of the printer.
Jeff
TBH, If I was building my big coreXY again, it probably wouldn't be a coreXY - in fact, I may well change it to a simple Cartesian. In theory coreXY gives you more speed because you aren't lugging around one of the motors. In practice, having done a LOT of research on speeds and accelerations and suitable steppers, the big limiting factor on speed is how fast you can melt the filament. Even with something like a Volcano hot end, I wouldn't be able get anywhere near the speed that the machine is theoretically capable of. For sure, keeping the moving mass down is a good thing but is it worth the added complexity? I'm not convinced that it is.
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@(In)Sanity:
…........................Now to the big step, how to convert the entire printer to a CoreXY setup. I think this can be done with the motors on the back of the printer.
Jeff
TBH, If I was building my big coreXY again, it probably wouldn't be a coreXY - in fact, I may well change it to a simple Cartesian. In theory coreXY gives you more speed because you aren't lugging around one of the motors. In practice, having done a LOT of research on speeds and accelerations and suitable steppers, the big limiting factor on speed is how fast you can melt the filament. Even with something like a Volcano hot end, I wouldn't be able get anywhere near the speed that the machine is theoretically capable of. For sure, keeping the moving mass down is a good thing but is it worth the added complexity? I'm not convinced that it is.
It's one of the reasons I went with the smallest motor I could get away with for the X-Axis as it took away that extra weight on the Y-Axis and it did produce noticeably better results. I just designed a 3 point LM8UU based carriage instead of the stock 4 point. I've found the 4 point to bind towards the ends due to the slight lack of precision in the gantry design. I'm not sure about stability of the 3 point yet, guess I'll print it out and see. I may just move away from the LM8UU bearings all together. I'm often running 70C inside the chamber of the printer printing ABS or PC, this is easy to do when my garage is 50C all on it's own in the summertime. Not sure what bearings will hold up best, the motors of course hate this.
Jeff
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got any tip for retract speed/amount with your bowden setup? I just got my E3DV6 and a titan extruder and I'm really considering just going bowden instead of direct. Printing a bowden mount for the titan extruder now so I guess I'm half way there allready. Got parts lying for both direct/bowden but lowering the weight really tempts me.
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I get excellent results with 4-5 mm retraction (can use less) at 70mm/s and as fast of acceleration on the extruder motors as you can stand. I was running 9000 acl for a while to get the Snap from the retract…never had a single issue...it's just noisy I reduced it recently to quiet down the retracts. I also did Extra Restart distance of - 0.05mm which improves the seams between layers significantly.
I'll not go back to direct drive anytime soon, I'm very happy with the bowden setup. Getting all that weight off the carriage helped soo much. Faster and more accurate.
Jeff
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Its worth experimenting with pressure advance on your bowden setup as well, helps to reduce the effect o the elasticity in the bowden tube that is the main disadvantage of bowden.
Edit: just saw the other thread where pressure advance is being discussed.
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Printer is offline at the moment, I had to tear it all down as I was getting some sticking on the y-axis. Turns out believe it or not the factory plastic parts were/are placing enough force on the LM8UU bearings as to deform them, this made a nice grove in one of the Y-Axis shafts and was causing it to stick and sound like gravel. So I ordered some good quality hardened, chromed linear rods from VXB along with new LM8UU bearings. This will fix the bent gantry at the same time. Which as I now realize is bent in all directions just a tiny bit.
Jeff
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Crazy, but 3 of the 8 LM8UU bearings in my printer are completely shot. This is after degreasing them in an ultrasonic cleaner with Zep citrus and re-lubing. Even with grease I have 2 that bind up and another that are so rough it belongs in the trash. I would say I have 4 of 8 that are OK if I had to be objective. This is from a printer I thought was going to last a bit longer. Bottom line, if you think you have issues….check.
Edit: Turns out I have LM8SUU (short) bearings in the printer. Now I'm waiting for those to come in so I can print all new parts to replace these stupid things with something normal.
Jeff
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What were you useing for grease ? I like to use molly diluted with 3 in one oil . Molly can make anything slippery . I use the oil mix to lube the smooth rods every 4 or so prints .
May I ask who made the carriage ?
I was also wondering why no heatsink on the processer and the mosfets ?
