Aluminum Heat Dissipator plates now available

[mhackney]

I've completed the first run of ten Aluminum Heat Dissipator Plates for the Onyx heated bed. These will work on both the version 1 and 2 Onyx beds. The plate is fabricated from 1/8" aluminum and is 12 1/8" OD so it can be attached securely with the six original Onyx screw mounting locations (a 12" diameter plate will likely not be large enough to allow screwing down at all six locations). A cutout for the Onyx's electronics pad maximizes your available print area. You can print directly on the plate, add tape (Kapton or blue painters) or top with the SeeMeCNC borosilicate glass. One nice feature is the plate acts as a spacer so you can properly center the borosilicate glass on your bed). You'll also get six longer mounting screws and 4" of Kapton tape for insulating the exposed traces on the Onyx.

Advantages of the Aluminum Heat Dissipator:

1) Very even heat distribution. I only see a difference of 2°C from the center to the very edge after 15 minutes of warm up time.
2) Flat print surface - the Onyx warps as it is heated. This can stress glass placed on top and/or change the geometry of your build surface. This plate bolts directly over the Onyx and holds it firmly in place.

Most of the ten heat dissipators are already spoke for. I have 3 available. If you are in the US, you can order directly from my site and USPS Priority Mail is added. International customers, please email with your address and I will send a PayPal invoice that includes shipping.

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v7/ ... 7498-3.jpg[/img] [img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v81 ... 4304-2.jpg[/img]

[dbarrans]

Done. Thanks for making this available.

- dan

[mhackney]

Got it Dan, thanks. Yours will ship today. They are disappearing quickly. I have ordered material for another batch but there was a price increase for the aluminum. This batch was made from stock I had purchased mid last year. Net result, the price will go up to $35 after this batch is gone.

Also - it turns out that shipping is coming in less than Priority Flat Rate so I have been refunding the overages to folks. All the way to Oregan was only $10 and to Ohio was $6!

regards,
Michael

[mhackney]

Ok, all 10 Aluminum Heat Dissipators are sold. I am considering fabricating a much larger number for the next batch so if you are interested please email or PM me to get on the list. This will help me with supply and machining time and estimate how many I need to make.

[mhackney]

All 10 of the first run of Aluminum Heat Dissipator plates have been shipped. There has been enough interest to do another batch of 10. Many of these are already spoken for so if you would like one, please email or PM asap!

I can't give an exact availability date as the aluminum stock has not yet shipped. Should ship today I hope. When I have more info I'll post an update.

If anyone is interested in the Steve's Extruder Spacer, let me know, I am considering making 10 of these too.

regards,
Michael

[mhackney]

I published the prints for the heat distribution plate on my blog this morning. Here's a little more info on building one:

You do need to insulate a few exposed traces on the Onyx. And if you accidentally scratched yours, you will need to insulate that area too.

It's also prudent to insulate the edge of the electronics pad opening "just in case". This is the backside of the plates I sell, they come with the opening taped, some extra Kapton to insulate the Onyx traces, and longer 1" x 4-40 screws to hold it all down. Note the random pattern of scratches on the backside, they are unique to each plate and engineered to most effectively transfer heat (just kidding, they are a manufacturing artifact) The front side is burnished with a scotchbright wheel to create a grippy print surface.

Backs Side.jpg (143.63 KiB) Viewed 14073 times

[mhackney]

It turns out that more than 10 of the proposed new batch have been spoken for so I am increasing production to 25 for this batch. I'm working on the schedule now. At this point, 15 are spoken for.

[mhackney]

The good news is that I should have this batch of 25 Aluminum Heat Dissipator plates ready to start shipping on Friday in the order of the wait list. And, as a special thanks, I will honor the original $30 price for everyone on the wait list before end of day Thursday 3/7. On Friday the price will be $35.

Also a note on shipping, I have USPS Fixed Rate Priority added to your order. However, as everyone how bought one of the plates this week will attest, if I am able to ship for less, I will refund the overage. That actually happened in almost every case and the average ship price to the US was about $6.50. If you would like an exact price with shipping, email or PM me your zip code and I'll calculate the actual shipping and send you a PayPal invoice for the total. That's actually easier for me too since I don't need to go through the process of issuing refunds!

Also, I will also have the Steve's Extruder Spacer rod available to ship on Friday as well. These will be $3.00 each. Shipping USPS First Class should be inexpensive in a small padded envelope or basically no extra charge for shipping if added to an Aluminum Heat Dissipator plate order. There will be a limited number of these in the first batch too - 15 of them - and 6 are already spoken for so if you would like one of these let me know.

Regards,
Michael

[mhackney]

Hello everyone, I am happy to announce that I now have the Aluminum Heat Dissipator Plates in stock! Due to overwhelming response for these, I really increased the production of this run and have plenty in stock (until they run out of course!). You can purchase yours at 3D Fabrication Works and check out the new Steve's Extruder Spacers! They come stock in your choice of aluminum or black, white or red powder coat. Add a little splash of color while you improve your extruder!

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v80 ... 2270-3.jpg[/img]

These work on the original H-1, H-1.1 and Rostock MAX Steve's Extruders.

More Rostock MAX and other printer hop-ups coming soon!

cheers,
Michael

[mhackney]

Just wanted to give a quick update that there are only 2 more of the heat dissipator plates available. I don't intend to make another batch of these until I have enough pre-order interest for 10 more. Plenty of the Steve's Extruder Spacers in red, black or aluminum and I now am offering your choice of color for no additional charge.

cheers,
Michael

[DaGroundZero]

I just checked out for one of the dissipator plates. Thanks

[mhackney]

Thanks and got the orders. They are sold out now.

[cambo3d]

Micheal,

Is it possible for you to mill these to account for the bow in the onyx.???

[mhackney]

Probably not since each Onyx is different but what did you have in mind?

These are made to be flat. The Onyx sandwiches between it and the snowflake Melamine spacer. This keeps the Onyx reasonably flat and in good contact with the plate. I saw your posts on your base "dishing" and the heated bed mount you made. Is there another problem you are grappling with?

regards,
Michael

[cambo3d]

i was thinking maybe have the underside milled to match the bow of the onyx, while the top stays flat. I still get height fluxuations when the bed heats and cools. the bow in the middle never goes away.

when cool it sits flat, when hot it bows in the middle.. frustrating.. i didn't have lock tight on my screws that may have been the problem too.

Imma give it another shot after i have lock tightened and reset bed calibration.

[mhackney]

Do you have the snowflake spacer installed underneath? If so, you are seeing that bow?

[cambo3d]

Do you have the snowflake spacer installed underneath? If so, you are seeing that bow?

yes its installed, I will try again after thread locking the screws to see if it takes the bow away.

[aehM_Key]

I glued the onyx to the snowflake and it helped a lot against warping, before I installed my aluminium plate.

[cambo3d]

that's probably a good idea to do

[ApacheXMD]

What kind of adhesive did you use aehm_key?

[aehM_Key]

http://www.uhu-profishop.com/uhu-heat-r ... -80ml.html
(The same I used for the hotend.)

[mhackney]

Folks, I have decided to discontinue manufacturing and offering the aluminum heat dissipator plates. Apparently, the waterjet cutting can lead to internal stresses that can relax and cause warping over about a two day period. I had the batch of 25 cut and kept 2 for myself. These are still dead flat. However, I've now had two customers contact me with warped plates. This relaxation warping likely occurred during shipping. I picked the plates up within an hour after they were cut, completed the finishing work (countersinking, deburing, etc) and shipped them with a few hours. I am hopeful that the majority of the plates are fine. The original batch of ten I made on my CNC equipment and I know are dead flat and won't warp. For those of you with the waterjet plates, if you have ANY QUESTION that it is warped, contact me and I will give you a complete refund immediately. You have two options for this refund:

PREFERRED: bend or otherwise destroy the plate and email me a photo, I will refund the price of the plate AND your shipping costs. I would prefer that you do this as I do not want defective product on the market. I run a squeaky clean business, and do not tolerate imperfection. I will lose money on each returned plate as it is, so it does not make sense to have you ship it back and go through the hassle of packing and mailing. Please recycle the destroyed plate!

ALTERNATIVE: If you choose to keep the plate, I will refund the purchase cost but not the shipping costs. You are welcome to do this if you so choose but it is a one time offer - you can't choose this and then come back later and ask for a shipping refund.

If you have another suggestion, I am willing to work with you. But, I am not going to be manufacturing 1/8" plates. I have received prototypes in 3/16" and 1/4" and after a week these have not warped. However, the added cost is considerable and the added mass requires more energy to heat up. I have also experimented with a three-point mount/leveling system but I am not sure that these will be a cost effective option, so no decision to offer them has been made.

I'm very sorry for any inconvenience. As I mention above, I am hopeful that the majority of the plates arrived flat but if not, I'll refund everyone and take the loss on the chin. Everyone on the wait list has already been notified and the wait list signup has been removed.

Warm Regards,
Michael Hackney

[JohnStack]

Product Questions:

Dissipator:
Why does the dissipator help? Does it lower the bed temperature?

Roller:
What does the roller do? Why is it needed?

[mhackney]

The Onyx has hot spots and the temperature can vary by 10s of degrees C across its surface - especially at the outer edge. These temperature variations can lead to the part pealing off during a print. The dissipator evens this heating so there is very little variation in temperature.

It's not a roller, it's a spacer. The front part of the Steve's extruder can bow inward after time. This was more of an issue on the H-1s since the extruder was right above the hot end, but it can still happen on the MAX. The spacer just prevents this.

[geneb]

If it's any consolation, my plate is very flat. I'd offer to make them for you on my ShopBot, but they would take a while to make - you can't take big bites of material. It would take two or three passes to mill through. (that's only true for non-ferrous metals - I've cut 3/4" plywood at 4 in/sec on the machine... )

g.