Hello from Issaquah

[dchauran]

Howdy - I received a Rostock Max v2 kit for my birthday, thanks to my wonderful family pooling their resources. The printer is amazing, and the build was super fun. I built it (mostly) stock to start with, but I changed a few things.

1. Nothing is hard wired. The only soldering I did was the thermistor to the leads which go into a connector, and to add a header for the Rambo fan, which I also put a connector on. I added connectors most other places, and rather than using the extruder motor pigtail I just used one of the RAMBO kit connectors. This should make life easier when I inevitably want to do upgrades.
2. I tossed my electric screwdriver out the window. IMHO, this instruction should be removed from the manual, as not all electric drivers are created equal, and mine doesn't go slow enough to avoid heating the nylon nuts and seizing them. I broke a screw this way.

Anyhow, my printer (I named him von Neumann) is up and running, and working great. Minor setback - I seem to have gotten a bad PSU, it turns off when you jostle it. Fortunately I have an identical PSU as a spare for my HAM radio hobby, so I'm back in action while I work out a replacement with SeeNC.

And of course, now I'm thinking about upgrades! I'll probably upgrade in a few stages.

1. Motion upgrades: Not settled on exactly what yet, but will probably start with dampers, and then decide if I want to go for trucks and arms.
2. Power upgrades: 24v power, will probably go 24v across the board when I do this, as I want quieter fans anyhow. Especially if the dampers are going to reduce the motor noise (I love the motor noise!).
3. Extrusion upgrades: I want to get everything running really well before I do this. I'd like to try dual extrusion, as well as a hotter hot end with flexible capability. Possibly using a Chimera hotend, though cyclops intrigues me. It looks like they sell a kit with both. I may try something like a flystruder as well to shorten the bowden tube.
4. Bed upgrades: I actually haven't had too much of an adhesion problem with ABS using gluesticks, but I suspect when I get into other materials I may have problems. I may also get a bed leveling kit, as I may end up switching hotends on a semi-regular basis. I'll probably add a heat spreader and PEI. In fact, this may get bumped up to 1 or 2 if I start having issues.

Anyway, I'm not starting on the upgrades right away or anything. For all I know, I'll get it dialed in so well that I won't want to change a thing.

Issaquah is a suburb of Seattle, BTW.

[dcfc_sandy]

Congrats on the birthday and the build and welcome to world of tomorrow! (sorry rewatching futurama)

If you have any pictures of the build please share them.

I've done a few of the upgrade you are considering so I thought I would chime in... The PEI is probably easily the best upgrade I have done to date it really did solve any adhesion issues I was having with ABS and It's not to shabby for PLA either.

The kit that E3D sells for both Cyclops and Chimera is the Legends pack which I will soon be investing in. Only real differences I see are the abilities to print in multiple materials with the Chimera, useful for support, where as Cyclops appears to be better for stringing and blobs.

I recently did the 24v upgrade using the standing kit the Gurus recommend Meanwell SP-750-24 24-12 step down and Crydom SSR works a treat bed times to 105 7 minutes compared to impossible with stock PSU. I also did the stepper dampners at the same time as the horrible whining noise they made use to drive me mad! I was sooooooo excited to hear it print with them on. However one aspect I didn't properly look at was the fan of the new 24v PSU. Unlike ATX which control fans via load this fan is always on and sounds like an absolute jet engine, sort of spoilt the dampners! Just something to be aware of if noise is a big issue. I believe lover Amp 24v Meanwell have less fan noise, but this may require that PSU being devoted to the bed and another 12v (or whatever) running for the bed.

Happy printing

[dchauran]

Good to know about the fan on the 24v. I was thinking of going 100% 24v, since I'm planning to replace most of the 12v only components (heater, fans) anyhow. I don't mind the stepper noise, I actually really like it, but I've also heard that the dampers give better print quality, so I'll probably install them at some point. Anyway, here's a pic as it stands today. Bone stock. I have a few mods to print for it (e.g. a hotend cover to help hide the wiring mess), but I haven't opened my black ABS yet, and I want those parts in black.

Edit: I swear the pic is vertical on my phone...

[Eaglezsoar]

dchauran, I would like to welcome you to the forum and to let you know that you did a fantastic job
of building your new printer. I now know that the Rostock can print laying on it's side
I do suggest waiting on the upgrades while you work with your printer. The more work you do with it
the more you are certain of which upgrades are necessary.
HAPPY PRINTING!

[Eaglezsoar]

Congrats on the birthday and the build and welcome to world of tomorrow! (sorry rewatching futurama)

If you have any pictures of the build please share them.

I've done a few of the upgrade you are considering so I thought I would chime in... The PEI is probably easily the best upgrade I have done to date it really did solve any adhesion issues I was having with ABS and It's not to shabby for PLA either.

The kit that E3D sells for both Cyclops and Chimera is the Legends pack which I will soon be investing in. Only real differences I see are the abilities to print in multiple materials with the Chimera, useful for support, where as Cyclops appears to be better for stringing and blobs.

I recently did the 24v upgrade using the standing kit the Gurus recommend Meanwell SP-750-24 24-12 step down and Crydom SSR works a treat bed times to 105 7 minutes compared to impossible with stock PSU. I also did the stepper dampners at the same time as the horrible whining noise they made use to drive me mad! I was sooooooo excited to hear it print with them on. However one aspect I didn't properly look at was the fan of the new 24v PSU. Unlike ATX which control fans via load this fan is always on and sounds like an absolute jet engine, sort of spoilt the dampners! Just something to be aware of if noise is a big issue. I believe lover Amp 24v Meanwell have less fan noise, but this may require that PSU being devoted to the bed and another 12v (or whatever) running for the bed.

Happy printing

Yes, the Meanwell SP-750-24 has a very noisy fan and I have placed dc motor controllers on mine. The controllers can be mounted on the Meanwell's case with double sided tape and the Meanwell will have to have the screws taken out so that you have
access to the fan. I drilled a 3/8 hole in the side panel, cut the fan wires and connected the fan wires to the dc motor controller, the other side of the dc motor controller goes to 24VDC and with the potentiometer on the motor controller you can now
control the speed of the fan. This is the link to the motor controller I used and I hope this all makes sense, if not just leave a message. It is important that the polarities of the fan and PS are followed per the wiring diagram.

http://www.amazon.com/Unique-Goods-Cont ... detailpage

[dcfc_sandy]

Yes, the Meanwell SP-750-24 has a very noisy fan and I have placed dc motor controllers on mine. The controllers can be mounted on the Meanwell's case with double sided tape and the Meanwell will have to have the screws taken out so that you have
access to the fan. I drilled a 3/8 hole in the side panel, cut the fan wires and connected the fan wires to the dc motor controller, the other side of the dc motor controller goes to 24VDC and with the potentiometer on the motor controller you can now
control the speed of the fan. This is the link to the motor controller I used and I hope this all makes sense, if not just leave a message. It is important that the polarities of the fan and PS are followed per the wiring diagram.

http://www.amazon.com/Unique-Goods-Cont ... detailpage

Well joink!

Few quick questions: are you still using the stock fan on the PSU, do you know the voltage the fan runs at (I assume 24v, but one should never assume!) and do you find the cooling adequate at lower RPM?

P.S. sorry for tread jacking! And great looking machine congratulations to you!

[Eaglezsoar]

Yes, the Meanwell SP-750-24 has a very noisy fan and I have placed dc motor controllers on mine. The controllers can be mounted on the Meanwell's case with double sided tape and the Meanwell will have to have the screws taken out so that you have
access to the fan. I drilled a 3/8 hole in the side panel, cut the fan wires and connected the fan wires to the dc motor controller, the other side of the dc motor controller goes to 24VDC and with the potentiometer on the motor controller you can now
control the speed of the fan. This is the link to the motor controller I used and I hope this all makes sense, if not just leave a message. It is important that the polarities of the fan and PS are followed per the wiring diagram.

http://www.amazon.com/Unique-Goods-Cont ... detailpage

Well joink!

Few quick questions: are you still using the stock fan on the PSU, do you know the voltage the fan runs at (I assume 24v, but one should never assume!) and do you find the cooling adequate at lower RPM?

P.S. sorry for tread jacking! And great looking machine congratulations to you!

I am using the Meanwell 24VDC power supply with a motor controller for the 24v fan, the cooling is adequate down to around 50% of stock rpm.
The normal power supplies shipped with the original kits use a 12V fan and I see no need for a motor controller because they are not that loud.

[dcfc_sandy]

I am using the Meanwell 24VDC power supply with a motor controller for the 24v fan, the cooling is adequate down to around 50% of stock rpm.
The normal power supplies shipped with the original kits use a 12V fan and I see no need for a motor controller because they are not that loud.

Well thank you! That's my weekend sorted XD

[dchauran]

So far so good - I printed all weekend long, with no failures that were not user induced. I really do think I want the dampers, but since I have some cork laying around I may try that before I drop $$ on a set of dampers. I wavering between trying PEI or a 24v bed. Waiting for the bed to heat is currently my largest pain point. I've had no failures to adhere with ABD on gluestick at 110c, but I had a few failures at 80c, and 110 seems to take quite a bit longer. If I go to PEI and I can print ABS at a lower temp, waiting for the bed to heat isn't going to be as much of an issue. Then again, I'll still have to heat the bed, and the motors and hotend would benefit from 24v as well.

I do want to try print some stuff with flexible filament, so I was thinking of printing a different extruder. I tried one from thingiverse, but I've had a hard time tapping threads in it, it just ends up with a stripped hole. Last night I printed one, and just painted the hole and a PTC fitting with ABS juice and screwed it together, so we'll see if the threads hold after I remove and reinstall the PTC. Some folks seem to print those in nylon, but again I'd need to do a hotend upgrade to print nylon.

[Xenocrates]

I would favor PEI before a 24V conversion. It's easier to do the PEI, reduces the pain of waiting some, and requires very little fiddling to get it working right. It's also much cheaper (I might combine this with a heat spreader, and save the glass for things that don't play nice with PEI, such as ninjaflex (It sticks too well, from reports). So far, no issues having eliminated the glass, and I don't even have an upgraded board to do bed mapping or anything).

Also, a very appropriate name, Von Neuman is, although only if it also eventually encompasses a shredder and filament extruder (Possibly also a laser cutter/mill), as while the Max is great, it isn't quite a self replicating machine (I know von neuman can also be a reference to the computational contributions he made, but as it's a manufacturing machine i presumed otherwise)