It's Alive! Black V2

[jckrieger]

[img]http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/jckrieger/20141207_162912_zps6c44fb9f.jpg[/img]

It's together and ready to print when I get home. Overall the assembly went quite well. I installed the screws on the wrong side of the lower uprights so I had to remove them and re-install them on the correct side. I also installed a pulley on one of the stepper motors backwards. I think even with those problems and replacement of the power supply the whole build and initial calibration was under 20 hours (one day after work and about 8 hours each on Saturday and Sunday).

The lower panels are removed because I was troubleshooting a power supply issue. It turns out cooling wasn't the issue, so I'll be installing the panels and measuring some temps with the new power supply. If I need more ventilation, I'll print out some vented covers as one of my first projects. It should be a good test to see if I'm going to have any first layer problems.

[jckrieger]

Should I tie strap the harness to one of the delta arms to help support it when the printer is operating at the top of the chamber? I feel like there should be a better way to hold the harness/tube as the hot end moves around. I might try to print something...

[Mac The Knife]

The harness works fine just as is.

[BenTheRighteous]

Yeah I think strapping the harness is just asking for trouble. If there's one thing I've learned while messing around with this 3d print stuff, it's "don't try and solve problems you haven't encountered yet!"

[jckrieger]

It's hard to leave stuff alone since I'm an engineer. However, I do think it's best to evaluate the performance of the printer before I start messing with it too much. It's just hard to imagine some of this stuff really lasts for months worth of printing time.

[BenTheRighteous]

I know how you feel, and after all it's your printer, do what you want with it!

I just know from personal experience what it is to say "hmm, I wonder if this little tweak would make things better!" and then "crap I broke it! Now I have to order a replacement part" and then finally "ugh I'm really itching to print something but the printer is in pieces!"

Maybe you're more patient than I am...

But, the Max has stood the test of time pretty well. My advice would be to print with the stock setup for awhile, before you decide what needs fixed/upgraded and what is already sufficient.

[jckrieger]

My first (and second) prints!

[img]http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/jckrieger/20141209_084810_zps70b8fa0e.jpg[/img]

I intentionally tried to make my first print on bare glass. As you can see, it worked for about 2/3rds of the print. For the second print I mixed up some ABS juice and the part stuck fine. I definitely want to spend some time tweaking the extruder to help with some of the small defects.

I also noticed the extruder's stepper motor gets quite hot, maybe 50C. Does anyone know what the operating temperature limit of this motor is?

[maxpineapple]

is that extruder motor mounted backwards?

[Neptune]

is that extruder motor mounted backwards?

you can't mount it backwards, and if you could the extruder wouldn't work... Can you explain what backwards means in your mind, I want to try to understand where you're coming from on this...

[KAS]

The stepper motor it's self is mounted backwards. It should line up with a hole for the filament to pass through. Unless the second to last plate is mounted upside down. Page 143 in the manual should give you an idea.

I wouldn't bother with changing it unless the hole doesn't line up, that would be a pain to rewire everything.




edit: typo

[Neptune]

I just saw what he meant by "backwards"...Listen to KAS... maybe drill another hole above the extruder just to make the filament line up.

[Eaglezsoar]

Most of the Nema 17 motors can stand 80C above ambient without trouble but if you feel that it is too hot, you can reduce the amperage going to it with the setting in Configuration.H