Best upgrade investment?
Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 4:51 pm
Not sure if this is the best board to ask this question, but I figured it might be the board most likely to get a response. (feel free to move it elsewhere if needed)
So... I'm looking to do an upgrade to my V2 (July of 2014) Frankenstein and I'm just curious what route would be best long term.
My current upgrades are as follows:
e3d v6 hotend
He280 accelerometer probe/board
e3d PT-100 Temp sensor (ugh... that was PITA to install! lol)
e3d Titan Extruder
Aluminum heat spread and flexible magnetic plate w/PEI
Injection molded carriages and 290mm arms
Tricklaser hotend j groove mounting plate
My WILL be done upgrades in the next 1-3 weeks:
SSR for running the onyx Heatbed at 24v with a separate dedicated PSU.
Longer arms (either These, These, or These) Any recommendations between these 3?) *Note* I'm only considering the mag arms based on what my my decision below ends up being.
Right now, I'm looking at two possible upgrade paths (cheap or spendy).
Upgrade Path 1:
(After adding the longer control arms)
Upgrading to an e3d Volcano copper block and some larger sized nozzles.
Reasoning: Can be done for less than $75 or less with the block, socks, and 2-3 nozzles. My goal is to get the full use out of my available bed area (right out to 304mm, which is the the max I can go before the control arms start brushing the tower belts.) the problem is, even after mechanically tweaking, calibrating and using the he280 probe/octoprint delta calibration plugin, I still have a bed height variance of +/- .15mm across the surface. this means with a .4mm nozzle at a first layer height of .2mm I have areas that won't extrude for being too close and areas that won't stick for being too far away. With bigger nozzles I can print a thicker first layer that sticks well across the bed, but doesn't block the nozzle. (.6mm at .35mm first layer works Extremely well.)
The Downside: Lose the ability to print higher detailed parts.
Upgrade Path 2:
Upgrade to Duet and take advantage of the bed leveling abilities and detail improvements of the DC42 Firmware branch.
To do this effectively I figure this is the minimum amount of parts I would need to achieve it (please correct me if I'm wrong)
Duet 2 WIFI board with the PT-100 daughter board
Duet Smart Effector Platform (can the SeeMeCNC ball cup arms work with this effector or does it need the mag arms?)
I also figure to get the most out of it I would need to upgrade the Tower Steppers to .9 degree motors?
What About the stock V2 display? Will it work with the Duet 2? I have a dedicated Shop PC sitting 5 feet away, which I do most of my stuff through octoprint. I really only ever use the onboard display for the purpose of it's SD card, which I trust a lot more to handle prints. Do I really need to got to one of DUET's touch screen controllers? Seems like a waste of $100 knowing how often I'd be likely to use it.
Assume I do those three things, I can probably get it done for around $300... which isn't too bad. If I have to go with the mag arms, I can figure another $20-30. If the Touch screen is required I can figure another $100. So what is the bare minimum hardware requirement for running duet with the mesh bed leveling ability? At what point am I throwing too much money at this particular printer in upgrades? Estimate $300 on the low end (duet boards, platform, and arms) and $500 on the high side (with the steppers, touch screen, and mag arms)
Any solid advice on which option I should pursue would be really appreciated! Thanks all!
So... I'm looking to do an upgrade to my V2 (July of 2014) Frankenstein and I'm just curious what route would be best long term.
My current upgrades are as follows:
e3d v6 hotend
He280 accelerometer probe/board
e3d PT-100 Temp sensor (ugh... that was PITA to install! lol)
e3d Titan Extruder
Aluminum heat spread and flexible magnetic plate w/PEI
Injection molded carriages and 290mm arms
Tricklaser hotend j groove mounting plate
My WILL be done upgrades in the next 1-3 weeks:
SSR for running the onyx Heatbed at 24v with a separate dedicated PSU.
Longer arms (either These, These, or These) Any recommendations between these 3?) *Note* I'm only considering the mag arms based on what my my decision below ends up being.
Right now, I'm looking at two possible upgrade paths (cheap or spendy).
Upgrade Path 1:
(After adding the longer control arms)
Upgrading to an e3d Volcano copper block and some larger sized nozzles.
Reasoning: Can be done for less than $75 or less with the block, socks, and 2-3 nozzles. My goal is to get the full use out of my available bed area (right out to 304mm, which is the the max I can go before the control arms start brushing the tower belts.) the problem is, even after mechanically tweaking, calibrating and using the he280 probe/octoprint delta calibration plugin, I still have a bed height variance of +/- .15mm across the surface. this means with a .4mm nozzle at a first layer height of .2mm I have areas that won't extrude for being too close and areas that won't stick for being too far away. With bigger nozzles I can print a thicker first layer that sticks well across the bed, but doesn't block the nozzle. (.6mm at .35mm first layer works Extremely well.)
The Downside: Lose the ability to print higher detailed parts.
Upgrade Path 2:
Upgrade to Duet and take advantage of the bed leveling abilities and detail improvements of the DC42 Firmware branch.
To do this effectively I figure this is the minimum amount of parts I would need to achieve it (please correct me if I'm wrong)
Duet 2 WIFI board with the PT-100 daughter board
Duet Smart Effector Platform (can the SeeMeCNC ball cup arms work with this effector or does it need the mag arms?)
I also figure to get the most out of it I would need to upgrade the Tower Steppers to .9 degree motors?
What About the stock V2 display? Will it work with the Duet 2? I have a dedicated Shop PC sitting 5 feet away, which I do most of my stuff through octoprint. I really only ever use the onboard display for the purpose of it's SD card, which I trust a lot more to handle prints. Do I really need to got to one of DUET's touch screen controllers? Seems like a waste of $100 knowing how often I'd be likely to use it.
Assume I do those three things, I can probably get it done for around $300... which isn't too bad. If I have to go with the mag arms, I can figure another $20-30. If the Touch screen is required I can figure another $100. So what is the bare minimum hardware requirement for running duet with the mesh bed leveling ability? At what point am I throwing too much money at this particular printer in upgrades? Estimate $300 on the low end (duet boards, platform, and arms) and $500 on the high side (with the steppers, touch screen, and mag arms)
Any solid advice on which option I should pursue would be really appreciated! Thanks all!