This isn't really a build thread, as it's already built (following Gene's excellent instructions), but I thought this would be an appropriate place for me to collect the various (non-radical) modifications I've made to the machine. I'll list the mods I've made to date in this post, and will add more later as further mods accumulate.
Installed Astrosyn dampers on the three tower steppers, as described here. I did this while building, so I have nothing to compare it to, but they aren't very loud, and the extruder motor seems to be louder (when it's rapidly retracting).
Per Gene's recommendation, learned how to lace wire bundles, and laced every wire in the printer to within an inch of its life (... big fun...):
Wire lacing around RAMBo board
Flattened the actuators on the end stop switches, making the end stop points much more consistent. Described (with pictures) here.
Replaced the RAMBo cooling fan with a much quieter one. The original fan was noisy with a nasty whine, substantially louder than the PSU or PEEK fans. I replaced it with a Scythe Mini KAZE ULTRA 40mm fan from Amazon for $6.84 (free shipping):
New RAMBo cooling fan, with original fan in foreground
It's twice as thick as the original, which makes installing the RAMBo slightly more fiddly, but it is a WHOLE lot quieter. I can barely hear it over the PSU and PEEK fans now.
Added an extender to the reset button on the LCD front trim panel so that you don't have to press the trim panel tongue in 1/4" to get any results. I used one of the cylindrical leftovers from the Melamine sheets, trimmed a bit shorter and SuperGlue'd to the tongue on the trim panel. Be careful about positioning; you need to put it further towards the end of the tongue than you think. The results are good, with a nice positive snap action:
Reset Button Extension
Used a wire tie anchor on the USB cable where it entered the printer, so that a yank on the cable won't break the RAMBo USB jack.
Added a bit of lithium grease to each of the U-joints (both where rotate on the axles and where the delta arms rotate on them)
Added the quick disconnects as recommended by Gene, but had trouble getting the crimp-on pins to work (perhaps because I skimped on buying a good crimper). So, I added a dab of solder to each pin-to-wire joint, making sure that the solder didn't go where it shouldn't be (e.g. into the female sockets).
Removed the levers on the binder clips holding the borosilicate glass to the Onyx. (No, not a big deal, but it does make things look cleaner.)
Well, that's enough for now. I'll add more mods when (if) I do them.
Tinyhead wrote:Holy crap that's a lot of lacing. You're going to want to cry the day you have to make a wire modification.
Heh, you should work on aircraft!
It was a lot of fun; I released my inner neat freak. (Then again, given how many comments I've submitted about the manual, maybe that neat freak isn't so "inner" after all.)
Lacing is SO much nicer than using wire ties. When I start building out the side console harnesses for the F-15, I'll post a few pics. It'll involve a 5 foot long pin board in order to align and locate all the connectors along the harness. Fun stuff.
A new tweak, involving the EZStruder. I've been frustrated recently with binding in the filament guide block in two places:
- 1.75mm filament tends to bind in the guide block, and any friction here is bad friction. To fix this I disassembled the guide block, removed the Bowden adaptor, reassembled the guide block, and then cleared out the hole with a 3/32" drill. Reassemble everything, and the filament slides MUCH more freely.
- The holes for the 2" 6-32 screws fastening the guide block to the mounting bracket are too small; as-is the screws have to be threaded all the way through the guide block whenever you install or remove it, which is a pain in the wazoo. (This is because the guide block is reversible, and those holes do double duty with the smaller metric screws attaching the guide block to the stepper.) Enlarging the holes with a 9/64" drill makes assembly/disassembly much easier.
BTW, as part of fixing this I bought a new EZStruder. The new guide block seems to be cast of harder/stronger plastic than the original, so I'm optimistic it will maintain its dimensions better.
dtgriscom wrote:A new tweak, involving the EZStruder. I've been frustrated recently with binding in the filament guide block in two places:
- 1.75mm filament tends to bind in the guide block, and any friction here is bad friction. To fix this I disassembled the guide block, removed the Bowden adaptor, reassembled the guide block, and then cleared out the hole with a 3/32" drill. Reassemble everything, and the filament slides MUCH more freely.
- The holes for the 2" 6-32 screws fastening the guide block to the mounting bracket are too small; as-is the screws have to be threaded all the way through the guide block whenever you install or remove it, which is a pain in the wazoo. (This is because the guide block is reversible, and those holes do double duty with the smaller metric screws attaching the guide block to the stepper.) Enlarging the holes with a 9/64" drill makes assembly/disassembly much easier.
BTW, as part of fixing this I bought a new EZStruder. The new guide block seems to be cast of harder/stronger plastic than the original, so I'm optimistic it will maintain its dimensions better.
It's the little things...
Quick question about this, I'm having problems with my ezstruder and found this thread. My ezstruder won't turn either way manually, I think I remember being able to turn this manually when setting up the machine. It's working during prints but it seems to not be laying the first few skirts/ lines. Would you suggest I try your solution or does this sound like another problem?
Dan
Machines- Rostock Max v2 with E3D v6, Corsair 750 power supply, PEI bed,injection molded carriages and new arms. Aluminum mount. X carve with x controller. Stratasys Uprint SE
1, if the extruder stepper is energized, you won't be able to turn it manually. Can you turn it while the printer is off?
2, it sounds like the extruder might not be sufficiently primed with filament before you start the print. I always waste just a little bit making sure the extruder is nice and oozy before I hit the start button.
nitewatchman wrote:it was much cleaner and easier than killing a chicken on top of the printer.
BenTheRighteous wrote:jram, that sounds like 2 things.
1, if the extruder stepper is energized, you won't be able to turn it manually. Can you turn it while the printer is off?
2, it sounds like the extruder might not be sufficiently primed with filament before you start the print. I always waste just a little bit making sure the extruder is nice and oozy before I hit the start button.
Thanks, I didn't realize that I shouldn't be able to turn it when it's energized. I just retracted the filament by hand with machine off, I can see where the gear has been digging into the filament. Is that normal? I'm using seemecnc white abs, I measured in 5 spots and got an average of 1.72 for diameter, this was when I first set it up. I just took a few more readings and I'm seeing 1.76-1.80 and sometimes 1.81, I wonder if I need to reset this in my material profile? Does the extruder respond based on the number I put in in regards to average diameter?
Machines- Rostock Max v2 with E3D v6, Corsair 750 power supply, PEI bed,injection molded carriages and new arms. Aluminum mount. X carve with x controller. Stratasys Uprint SE
jram wrote:I can see where the gear has been digging into the filament. Is that normal?
Yep.
jram wrote:I measured in 5 spots and got an average of 1.72 for diameter, this was when I first set it up. I just took a few more readings and I'm seeing 1.76-1.80 and sometimes 1.81, I wonder if I need to reset this in my material profile? Does the extruder respond based on the number I put in in regards to average diameter?
Yes that's right. The extruder speed is determined primarily from your steps_per_mm in the eeprom and the filament diameter you feed into the slicer. You definitely want your filament diameter setting to be as close to the actual average as possible.
nitewatchman wrote:it was much cleaner and easier than killing a chicken on top of the printer.
When I start building out the side console harnesses for the F-15, I'll post a few pics. It'll involve a 5 foot long pin board in order to align and locate all the connectors along the harness. Fun stuff. 
