My super fun time build!

[TheDon]

Not really...

This is my first printer build and I'm on hour 12 I think? Not sure but I'm about to start assembling the top. I broke one thermistor already and am still hunting for the elusive bag labeled "84497". I'm also stuck on the wiring for the power panel and switch.

The provided crimp connectors kind of leave a lot to be desired. I'll have to go out and buy more tomorrow since I apparently could not get decent crimps and they are all ruined. But only the blade connectors. Why they aren't solder and heat shrink is beyond me. And I wish I had picked up a power switch that had an obvious on and off switch. For now I sharpies what I believe to be "off" and "on" on the plate that holds the switch.

I really hope and pray my hot end works and isn't a waste of like 5 hours of my life. Is the thermistor supposed to hang in the air of the little hole for it? Because I could not for the life of me get a good bend without breaking the first thermistor.

Sorry about the semi rant. Im not a happy camper right now and I just want to return the thing and buy a preassembled printer and be done with it.

[Xenocrates]

Hey Don, it helps if you tell us which printer (I am assuming the V3, given the reference numbers match). Yes, the thermistors are fragile, and I broke one myself in my early days. (Thus why I largely dumped thermistors, other than for the Onyx, but that's beside the point). If you've got the correct parts so far, then stop looking for the hardware pack by the number, as it may have been on a packing slip for a bag, or be an internal part number (The guide is also used internally).

Connector-wise, the crimp connectors have a number of advantages over solder, namely that they are removable, and that you need to crimp connections at some point anyways for the thermal fuse and the power supply terminals. The ones chosen seem to be chosen for easy availability (IE, Walmart carries similar ones, as does Home despot), and insulation coverage, as SeemeCNC doesn't want to deal with people touching mains voltage if they don't have to. If you can't get them on with a set of needlenose pliers, Home Depot has wire strippers with (Terrible) crimp jaws near the handle, and actual crimpers with jaws.

Ideally, you want the glass body of the thermistor touching the bottom of hole, so that there is direct contact, so that the temperature reading will be accurate and well coupled (Without this, it will lag, and usually be biased low as well).

[TheDon]

Correct Rostock max v3. I'm not sure if I used the correct bag of parts to assemble the base. I hope I have more hardware for the top. When I'm at lowes tomorrow I'll get more crimp on connectors with full coverage to play it safe.

I have two types of the terrible crimpers but it may be time to get a proper pair.

[TheDon]

Any tips on how the flip to get the black and two white wires through the extrusion?

I've tried blue painters tape to hold the wires together but after about 10 inches it becomes impossible to get the thick wire through.

[Xenocrates]

Take them, bundle them carefully without tape, and spin them through. Failing that, drop thin cord through and tie it to the wires, and pull them like that. You could also strip the ends a bit, and solder a smaller wire, although make sure you don't solder anything going in a spring or screw terminal.

[TheDon]

I might try the solder and push method. All 3 wires are super longer than they really need to be so I can probably afford to cut off 1/2"

I'll hopefully get it through tonight.

[TheDon]

Soldered wires, thin steel cable, and a second helper To pull the wires through.

Currently stuck on assembling the 6 wire connector. The thick and thin wires do not want to stay in their home.



Photo uploaded keeps rotating my photo to a non vertical orientation...you get the idea.

[TheDon]

Mini Schnauzer for scale (I could probably print a less smelly copy of her)

Stuck on the firmware portion. My Mac isn't seeing the com port for the Rambo board. A friend of mine used the 1.6.5 version of arduino to program his Rambo.

Powered the printer on and no fire or smoke. Yay! T
I call that a success!

[TheDon]

Also I don't know why my iPhone photos do that. I guess I'll try shooting photos landscape next time.

[TheDon]

Just printed a calibration cube in black PLA. Came out rather nice. I think I need to look into first layer heigh or something because the first three or four layers aren't as nice as the rest. I need to figure out matter control and how to print off of an SD card. I had my laptop connected via USB and the laptop went to sleep and the print stopped. I'm guessing it was streaming the G code over USB.

[IMBoring25]

There are several types of phones that, rather than producing a rotated JPG, save the file in a fixed orientation and set an EXIF tag stating that the image should be rotated for display. If the file is then displayed on a device or program that doesn't support that tag, it will appear wrong. Running it through an image-editing software that physically rotates the image would fix it.

[TheDon]

And that requires additional steps. I'll just upload to imgur from now on

Printing a benchy right now. First layers go on translucent and it caused the print head to scrape away the letters on the first layer. Also have some fine spider webbing and some oozing. When it's done I'll attempt photos

I'm using matterControl for now. I'll probably buy sinplify3D in a few weeks