General upgrades questions

[TheRealRocketBurns]

Hello all, I'm Rocket. I am looking to upgrade my printer a lot. If anyone has any experience with the upgrades I am mentioning, please chime in. First of all, does anyone know of a good 24v PSU to power the bed? I have also heard of some solid-state relays catching fire, can someone either validate or disprove this? What would be the best method for creating carbon fibre arms? I have heard of using arrows, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. Does anyone have any experience with the E3D V6, I am thinking about adding it. In addition, Is anyone on this forum from Trick Lasers, I was wondering if there was a way I could get the raw files for some of your products like the trick skates and the fly-n-strude mounts. I have access to a laser cutter. Thanks! (by the way, I have a lot of electronics experience, so don't hesitate on sharing complex mods).

[teoman]

I recommend first running stock and then doing upgrades as needed.

Some run thicker wires to the bed and that lowers the resistance. Lowering heatup time.

i have a 24v power supply that i operate with 2 mosfets in parallel (it is documented on this foeum, i would be glad to provide further details if needed) My psu is nothing special. And i have had ssrs smoke out probably because they were cheap copies.

I have no experience with carbonfiber arms but i have no complaints about the stock setup. The universal joints have seized a couple of times but since i have oiled them all is good (mine are aluminium).

That hotend is very popular, but then again i have no complaints about the stock hotend. The resistors did burn out after a year and i have put a heater cartridhe and screw in thermistor inlieue. I have bought a tri hotend but have not installed it (stock hotend does not do high temp plastics like nylon and the new fancy stuff)

Yes we do have some one on here from tricklaser. You would need to ask him for those files but hard work and a business is involved so not sure how that would go.


i am going in to rockets. Would you mind sharing info? All i have is a 3d printer and chemical components for a shugar rocket.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

I've run stock for about a year now, I just feel its time to make it better. Could you provide a link to the forum where you discussed your PSU? On the topic of the arms, I have the plastic joints, and they just feel weak. I already have heater cartridges installed, and they are working nicely. I just remembered I have some really thick speaker wire I can try, I'll look into that before I spend money on a new PSU. Could you point me to which user is from trick lasers (I remember when I was looking around someone from trick lasers offered to give someone else the dxf files for the trick skates without any problems)

[TheRealRocketBurns]

UPDATE: I just emailed Brian from Trick Lasers. Waiting for response.

[teoman]

http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=6890

[626Pilot]

Instead of upgrading your heated bed, you might want to try the dish towel mod. You put a dish towel on the glass when it's heating up. It will heat up 2-3x as fast. You're welcome.

E3D is a very popular hot end on the forums. I would recommend you look into the Prometheus hot end instead. I haven't built mine yet, but Brian from TrickLaser sells them and I trust his judgment. The reason I make this suggestion is that the E3D, while a fine hot end, is limited to ~3.0mm retracts. When printing some materials like PLA, you really want much longer retracts in order to combat spiderwebbing, but the E3D's transition from nozzle to heat break and then to heat sink leaves tiny cracks in the filament path that the filament can ooze into and seize. The Prometheus combines the heat break and the nozzle into one single piece, so there is no place for melted PLA to creep into and jam. As a result, you can use FAR longer retracts without worrying that it will jam. Again, look into some reviews before you decide - I haven't built mine yet, and I may never build it because I've moved on to multiple extrusion.

If you're interested in multiple extrusion, look at the E3D Cyclops (2 in 1 out) or the Diamond (3 in 1 out). Other options are E3D's Chimera (2 in 2 out) and Kraken (4 in 4 out). However, on these printers, it's better to use a switching extruder (2 or 3 in, 1 out) rather than a multiple-nozzle hot end, like the Chimera. If you have any tower lean at all (and you do!) it will twist the effector slightly out of plane with the build surface, so it will be tweaked a little. That means that multiple hot end nozzles that are perfectly lined up at bed center, will get out of whack the further you get from the center, drastically limiting the size of what you can print, if not making all printing impossible. With a switching extruder that has only 1 output nozzle, you don't have that problem.

If you want better calibration and access to newer features, consider replacing the RAMBo with a Smoothieboard. I have a fork of Smoothie that uses machine learning to calibrate the printer for reduced error in the XY plane, and better 1st layer adhesion across the entire build surface. Link in sig. Smoothieboards can be had with up to 5 stepper drivers, so you can do up to 2-material printing. If you want 3 materials, you're limited to Arduino-based boards that support more than 5 drivers.

Finally, I recommend you pick up three things from TriDPrinting. The first two are here - you want the geared 5.18:1 stepper motor (part #1040229), one per extruder, and three of the steel and rubber vibration dampers (part #MY17RMDAMP) for your XYZ axis motors. The last is here - an 8mm-bore hobbed gear to work with the geared stepper, which has a thicker shaft than the 5mm you get with a standard EZStruder motor.

The vibration dampers take the Rostock from screaming loud to a whisper, and make it far easier to sit next to all day. (The extruder motor is quiet enough that you don't need a damper for it, whether it's regular or geared.) The geared extruder motor is to give you better print quality, and to greatly reduce filament jamming. If you use a mixing extruder like the Cyclops, it will be quite impossible to print without this upgrade. Not only are these motors far torquier, but the fatter hobbed bolt will put more tension on the spring and thereby make it harder for the filament to get chewed up. If you do this upgrade, reduce the motor current to 1.0 amps and re-do the steps/mm calibration for your extruder.

In my opinion, SeeMeCNC should ship all Rostock/Orion printers with the dampers and the geared extruders. Those mods by themselves make these printers so much easier to live with.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

Those sound like some good suggestions. The only thing I don't really like about Prometheus is the 300-degree limit imposed by the thermistor, but I am sure a thermocouple could be found cheaply on eBay or somewhere like that. In addition, I am only seeing the.4mm nozzle, does anyone sell more/less precise nozzles for Prometheus? Would anyone be selling blanks I could machine myself?. I like that better retraction for PLA, though, because that is one of the main filaments I use. The cost is certainly better as well. . While I do like being able to print the high temp. filaments, would you have any recommendations on the best nozzle for PLA printing? I have all of my quick-connects on so it would be much easier to just swap out multiple hot ends.

I like the e3d cyclops, And I think that is a goo solution to avoiding extruder calibration issues. The only other different solution I have seen is using a servo motor to switch from 2 individual hot ends. They are mounted in an upside-down 'V' shape and the servo is at the point of the V. By rotating the servo, each of the hot ends can be used. That almost sound like more of a PITA to level, though. While the Diamond hot end looks interesting and the use of 3 different filaments could mean experimenting with RGB colors and only using 3 colors, however the sheer price and the fact that it hasn't been extensively tested worries me. printing with only 2 colors would also allow me to upgrade to a smoothieboard.

I think the smoothieboard is a definite improvement for any delta printers, I am experiencing problems printing at fast speeds with the rambo.

The stepper motor upgrades are a very good idea as well, sometimes the stock one can't handle the pressure and the filament slips. Using the fly-n-strude I would also be able to print with better retractions and precision due to the vastly shorter Bowden tube. The noise level isn't a major concern for me right now, so I may save the money there and use it on other upgrades. I already have the parts to add a heatsink and fan to my steppers (they run really hot for longer prints, and this results in diminishing accuracy due to skipping steps), and the parts look like they will be compatible with the geared motors you suggest.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

Also, I found some mylar blankets for cheap online, I think I'm going to try those as well as dish towels.

[EL Cuajinais]

Instead of upgrading your heated bed, you might want to try the dish towel mod. You put a dish towel on the glass when it's heating up. It will heat up 2-3x as fast. You're welcome.

I just tried this...
THANK YOU!!! You are my new favorite poster!

24 schwerty four. Towel is the way to go!

Also, shame on all of you for not mentioning the PEI bed. Many here mention they print "mostly in PLA". I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those who print "mostly in PLA" would be printing "mostly in ABS" if they had the PEI upgrade (and their printer was not located inside their living quarters, which is a pretty big IF).

[TheRealRocketBurns]

Instead of upgrading your heated bed, you might want to try the dish towel mod. You put a dish towel on the glass when it's heating up. It will heat up 2-3x as fast. You're welcome.

I just tried this...
THANK YOU!!! You are my new favorite poster!

24 schwerty four. Towel is the way to go!

Also, shame on all of you for not mentioning the PEI bed. Many here mention they print "mostly in PLA". I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those who print "mostly in PLA" would be printing "mostly in ABS" if they had the PEI upgrade (and their printer was not located inside their living quarters, which is a pretty big IF).

Actually, I print mostly in PLA due to the low time it takes to heat up the printer, which makes it ideal for rapid prototyping. Also, With the stock hot end I am limited in temperature, and sometimes when I print fast I like to print quite hot (i.e. 220 for PLA) for better results. I cannot do this with ABS. PLA is also, in my opinion, better for structural prints and working parts due to its low tendency to warp as well as how rigid it is compared to ABS, which makes it useful for gears and mechanical assemblies. I have not experienced any issues with printing ABS with the stock setup and have run a couple 10-hour prints with it in my bedroom with fans turned on. I do live in Florida, however, so the room is reasonably hot.

[626Pilot]

Well, ABS has a much higher softening temp than PLA. It will stand up better to heat. Some things I printed were run through a dishwasher, and they came out comically warped. If you leave PLA objects in a car in direct sunlight, they might change shape a little by the time you get back. If you make that mistake in the real desert, you could come back to an amorphous blob!

That said, I like PLA and I almost always print in it. That or one of the Taulman products. There seems to be a lot more variety in materials - you can get PLA with copper, brass, wood, translucent (more than ABS), etc.

Re: the thermistor being limited to 300C, that's common. E3D warns against taking the hot end higher than... 280? 290? I think it's 290.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

the thermistor being limited to 300C, that's common. E3D warns against taking the hot end higher than... 280? 290? I think it's 290.

Well E3d Does supply a thermocouple and a converter board for their all metal hot ends which allows you to go right up to the melting temp of the aluminum if the PTFE insulators on the leads were replaced with something a little bit better.

http://e3d-online.com/Electrical/Compon ... ermocouple
http://e3d-online.com/Electrical/Compon ... Board-v1.0

These would probably work for the Prometheus, or I could find something similar elsewhere online.

[elmoret]

E3D's thermocouples are now rated to 900C with fiber insulation.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

E3D's thermocouples are now rated to 900C with fiber insulation.

That's good to know, I could probably get them through filastruder to avoid shipping from the UK.

[Polygonhell]

E3D's thermocouples are now rated to 900C with fiber insulation.

Which is pointless since the aluminum heater block will melt at 660C.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

E3D's thermocouples are now rated to 900C with fiber insulation.

Which is pointless since the aluminum heater block will melt at 660C.

At least it gives me a better sense of security, the thermocouples used to be PTFE insulated, capping them out at 300C before the insulation would melt. The fiber is good because it will allow me to get the heater hotter than 300C, even though I would never go above 660C.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

UPDATE: just ordered the prometheus hot end from brian. Up next is the smoothieboard.

[TheRealRocketBurns]

Just built my hot end, it looks nice. Can't wait top get it installed.

[U.S. Water Rockets]

UPDATE: just ordered the prometheus hot end from brian. Up next is the smoothieboard.

I've been interested in the Smoothieboard for a few months now, but I thought I read that it did not support the display on the front of the Rostock Max. Has this been resolved? How difficult is the upgrade? Do I need to rewire anything, or is it pretty much a drop-in?

Thanks!

[TheRealRocketBurns]

UPDATE: just ordered the prometheus hot end from brian. Up next is the smoothieboard.

I've been interested in the Smoothieboard for a few months now, but I thought I read that it did not support the display on the front of the Rostock Max. Has this been resolved? How difficult is the upgrade? Do I need to rewire anything, or is it pretty much a drop-in?

Thanks!

while it does not support the display directly (it likes the GLCD, which in itself is a nice upgrade) I have heard it can be adapted via an arduino. I am actually currently discussing many of your questions on this thread: http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=8628
which is like this thread but focused on the smoothieboard.

[U.S. Water Rockets]

I am actually currently discussing many of your questions on this thread: http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=8628
which is like this thread but focused on the smoothieboard.

Thanks! See you there!