Kraken thread

[Eaglezsoar]

That Video was good for one reason, you get to see how he routed the tubes he
did a good job.

[enggmaug]

how are you guys doing with the kraken ?

Any success ?

Does it print nicely ?

Is it worth buying the Kraken, and using just one or 2 nozzles untill I have more money to change the controller and buy more motors / extruders ?

[mhackney]

I don't know that any of us have completed the conversion yet. I am very close though. Will report here as I progress.

[mhackney]

Well, at least on one tentacle! I finally got ambitious and pushed some other projects aside to get the Kraken installed and working. I'm starting with a single extruder and then I'll add the second using RAMBo. Then I'll swap out electronics for the Azteeg X3 Pro that can handle 5 extruders and hot ends and add extruders 3 and 4. A picture is worth a 1000 words, so here's a million word video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI11RKB28po[/youtube]

I was very impressed with how quite and effective the water cooling is. Frankly, the hoses could be a lot smaller, there is a lot of water flowing through there. The water jacket is dead cold, that's got to be good! No questions about whether the cold end is cold. Wiring is going to be the challenge for this beast but doable. A special "Tri-Kraken" for the Rostock with 3 hot ends would be perfect! But I'll live with 4.

This might be the first Rostock Kraken print, anyone else got there's going?

[mhackney]

and here it is, the completed first part (actually 2 printed parts snapped together):

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v1 ... 5118-3.jpg[/img]

I literally did nothing different - used the same gcode I used with my E3D v5 and simply printed it. I think this print is noticeably nicer. It just flowed out of the nozzle and formed perfection!

[Eaglezsoar]

Congratulations on getting your Kraken working!

[mhackney]

1 down, 3 to go!

[bubbasnow]

are you going to be able to drop that to z=0 and just let the nozzles touch the plate and tighten the retaining screw? Assuming your delta radius is already calibrated

[DavidF]

Good looking print, like that color too....

[mhackney]

bubbasnow, yes, that is the beauty of the Kraken - it is dead simple to zero all of the nozzles by loosening the retaining screws on each and letting them zero to the bed. It's a very good design.

DavidF, the color is nice, a very transparent aqua blue green.

[McSlappy]

Where did you get your M3 studded thermistors? I got mine from RP labs on ebay, is there another supplier?

[enggmaug]

That is a very good looking print !

What material did you use for this is it Nylon ?

About the controller, I see there are some motor extensions on the Rambo, have you guys heard of anyone actually using them ?
There are 3 of them, 2 are enough to drive the kaken... it's just missing one thermistor input.

[mhackney]

RP labs is the only supplier I'm aware of. I've bought 7 from them. Great items.

That is PLA, a translucent aquamarine.

I've not heard of anyone using the breakouts on RAMBo and I googled it multiple times the last few months. At the end of the day, the Azteeg X3 Pro is short money contrasted to the many hours of work it would take to build out the RAMBo (and buy the extra drivers and parts). Time is a premium for me, so I've got the X3 Pro.

The RAMBo can drive 3 extruders and has 4 thermistor inputs so you could use 3 out of 4 Kraken hot ends.

[mhackney]

I'm working on wiring and came up with this solution:

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v97 ... 5952-4.jpg[/img]

I'm wiring each side in pairs with a connector for the heater element wires and separate connectors for the thermistors (the screw in thermistors come with these pre-installed so I figured I'd use them).

The wires are shaped the way they are so they will route up between the pair of delta arms. The right side goes between the Y arms and the left side the X arms. Here's a photo:

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v3 ... 7168-3.jpg[/img]

These wires will then collect at the Bowden tubes and be routed up with them. I am waiting for some red spiral wire wrap to hold everything together.

The silicone water cooling tubes require a backbone to keep them from collapsing. I will probably route them up one of the Bowden tubes too. Lots of plumbing and wiring on a Kraken!

[Eaglezsoar]

Your solution seems to be a good one. Good enough for me to copy.
The connectors seem to be JST terminating at a 4 pin connector. Do you know which 4 pin connector you are using?

[mhackney]

Yes, I have been using these connectors for years from AllElectronics: http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-st ... ads/1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They may be a little underrated for hot ends but I've never had a problem with them and even after running all day, they never feel warm or measure warm with my IR thermometer. They lock, which is why I like them. I'd love to find 2 or 4 conductor locking connectors in 18 gauge so if anyone has a source, point me to them!

[enggmaug]

I'm trying to list the BOM for upgrading to a Kraken.

So far, I've listed :
- Kraken
- 3 Extruders
- 3 Steppers
- A water Tank
- New Controller Card ( Azteeg X3 Pro seems to be the best choice so far)
- Wires and connectors for 4 hot ends, 4 thermistors, 2 layer fans
- A handful of E3D nozzles (optionnal)
- New effector plate (printed)

Is there anything else ?
Would I need a new Power Supply Unit ? Would I need Termocouples if I want to print Nylon, or thermistors are fine ?

And last but not least, would the Magnetic arms upgrade be able to carry so much weight ?
I understand the kraken is not too heavy, but once filled with water, I'm not sure how much it would weight ?

[mhackney]

The Kraken comes with 4 .4mm nozzles. You might want to get some different sizes.

You don't need the new effector if you print my Kraken Konnector. It is very easy to attach with it. Add a few screws if you do, they are listed in the instructions on Thingiverse.

Believe it or not, this think is not that heavy even fully loaded. Mag arms will have no problems. The thermistors - both the stock and screw ins I used are fine for Nylon.

You also need mounts for the extruders. I used the shorter EZStruder mount on Thingiverse. They are nice.

That should do it.

[enggmaug]

Thank you MHackney. I knew you already designed and shared a way to mount the kraken but did not realize it is a adapting plate, not a full effector plate.
I forgot the extruders mounts, and yes, I need to print them before I strip my machine.

About extruders, I am happy with the seemecnc extruder, but before I order from them, is there any more relevent alternative ?
They sell the steppers 24USD if you buy it along with the extruder, isn't it expensive ? I saw many steppers on ebay for less than 15 USD. Are they equivalent ?

I wish I had the money to buy a Rostock Max V2 wood Kit only, and adapt the kraken and new electronics to it... that would be terrific...

You didn't say anything about the power Supply... I guess it means the stock one is just fine.

Thank you !!! I'll check the money side of things, now... and that's when it becomes painful....

[enggmaug]

I estimate that the modification as it is earlier described for putting the Kraken on Rostock Max costs nearly 600 EUR, that is to say 800 USD++.

Now, I have been studying the Rambo card, it's expansions capabilities and Repetier firmware. I believe I can manage to plug the required hardware to Rambo card... Just need time, and a handful of components.

In that case, if I can save the Azteeg, It will be 400 EUR (550 USD).

I estimate that adding one E3D v5 hot end will cost around 160EUR (220 USD). But 2 hot ends, is less than 4....


So my options are :
- either I don't do anything, and I print things like I used to until now
- either I add one hot end for 160USD, and if I want to upgrade later on I'll need to spend more
- OR I take the Kraken now, spend a lot of money, have an argument with my wife, BUT, I'll have a lot of fun upgrading the Rambo, and if I manage to do it, I'll be able to print things I cannot think of yet, with transparent perimeter, color filling, flexible joints, and soluble supports, all in the same print... If I don't manage to upgrade the Rambo, I'll spend more money on the Azteeg, and use the rambo for a small Dremel CNC router... And have more arguments with my wife.

What's the winner ?

Yeah, Right.... I shall remember to buy flowers to my wife ...

[mhackney]

Not sure about the stock supply as I use an external 12 volt and a separate 24 volt supply for the Onyx.

The Azteeg X3 Pro with 8 stepper drivers is $135 USD, I am not sure how you derived saving $550 USD? Seriously, the cost for the components to add 2 more extruder drivers would cost about $16 for the two driver chips plus a few other parts. The several forays I've made into modifying the RAMBo have resulted in blown boards. The RAMBo is great as-is but from my experience, a bit fragile for tinkering. I am an experienced hardware tinkerer so take my experience for what it's worth. There is also the time involved. I started down the path of adding extra drivers to the Azteeg X3 and it already has the interface for these drives built in. I estimated about 4 hours of labor to complete that work. For me, my time is worth a lot more than $25/hour.

I also might recommend printing the extra extruders and picking up eBay steppers. This would save enough to cover the X3 Pro. As much as I love the EZStruder, I think RichRap's simple geared drive extruder is a very nice unit. I've got 4 EZStruders but I'm printing 2 RichRaps to experiment with.

Cheers and good luck with your wife! I learned that it is better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission!

Michael

[Eaglezsoar]

Not sure about the stock supply as I use an external 12 volt and a separate 24 volt supply for the Onyx.

The Azteeg X3 Pro with 8 stepper drivers is $135 USD, I am not sure how you derived saving $550 USD? Seriously, the cost for the components to add 2 more extruder drivers would cost about $16 for the two driver chips plus a few other parts. The several forays I've made into modifying the RAMBo have resulted in blown boards. The RAMBo is great as-is but from my experience, a bit fragile for tinkering. I am an experienced hardware tinkerer so take my experience for what it's worth. There is also the time involved. I started down the path of adding extra drivers to the Azteeg X3 and it already has the interface for these drives built in. I estimated about 4 hours of labor to complete that work. For me, my time is worth a lot more than $25/hour.

I also might recommend printing the extra extruders and picking up eBay steppers. This would save enough to cover the X3 Pro. As much as I love the EZStruder, I think RichRap's simple geared drive extruder is a very nice unit. I've got 4 EZStruders but I'm printing 2 RichRaps to experiment with.

Cheers and good luck with your wife! I learned that it is better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission!

Michael

Are the Richrap extruders on Thingiverse?

[enggmaug]

You misunderstood me. What I meant is :
About the Azteeg, I saw the price is 135USD + 64USD for 8 steppers drivers + Delivery to France + Change from USD to EUR. I estimate it to 250USD.

I then don't save 550 USD, but 250USD.

My Estimate with Azteeg is 800, if I save 250, then I still need to pay 550USD.

Thank you for sharing your experience with Rambo.... But I think I'll still give it a try. I mean, I don't give a price to my time. I do all that for fun, because I like it. And anyway, I just bought some fuses for the board... hahaha.

I probably will end up buying the Azteeg... but at least I would have tried, or tried to try.

[pyrophreek]

If you do manage to get quad extruders or even 3 extruders on a Rambo, a tutorial would be much appreciated.

[mhackney]

Ahh, you are correct, there is a $64 extra charge for 8 drivers. Because they are out of stock now, the calculator is not adding up the price correctly so I had set "8 drivers" and the price remained the same at $135.

cheers,
Michael