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  • Author Author: tariq.ahmad
  • Date Created: Date Created
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Mendel 3D Printer Upgrade and Maintenance -- Episode 473

 

By now a lot of you might have an old cheap 3D printer around. Clem upgrades his old cheap fire hazard of a 3D printer with a genuine Arduino Mega running Marlin 2.0 and a Custom made PCB to give it quick access buttons for functions  like Filament loading and Unloading and increase its security features with independent measurement of temperatures and Heater voltage and current. While upgrading his own machine he walks you through the settings you need to properly configure your machine should you choose to upgrade it.

Supplemental Material:

Bill of Material:

Product Name Manufacturer Quantity Buy Kit
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS Current Sense Amplifier, 1 Amplifier, SOIC, 8 Pins, -40 °C, 125 °C TI 2 Buy Now
BOURNS SMD Current Sense Resistor, 0.1 ohm, CR Series, 2512 [6432 Metric], 3 W, ± 1%, Metal Film BOURNS 2 Buy Now
MIDAS Graphic OLED, 64 x 32 Pixels, White on Black, 3V, I2C, 14.85mm x 16.6mm, -40 °C MIDAS 1 Buy Now
SAMTEC PCB Receptacle, Board-to-Board, 2.54 mm, 1 Rows, 8 Contacts, Through Hole Mount, SSQ Series SAMTEC 1 Buy Now
SAMTEC PCB Receptacle, Elevated Strip, Board-to-Board, 2.54 mm, 2 Rows, 40 Contacts, Through Hole Mount SAMTEC 1 Buy Now
ARDUINO Development Board, Arduino Mega 2560, ATmega2560 MCU, 54 5V I/O, 16 Analogue Inputs, 4 UARTs ARDUINO 1 Buy Now
OMEGA PCC-SMD-20 Connector OMEGA 4 Buy Now
TMC2208 SILENTSTEPSTICK Trinamic 4 Buy Now

 

Additional Parts:

 

Product Name

Ramps 1.4

old junky 3d printer

Printastick (aprintapro.com)
Attachments:
Mendel3DPrinter_Resources.zip
element14 presents
Mendel 3D Printer Upgrade and Maintenance

element14 Presents  |  About Clem  |  Project Videos

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  • in reply to aspork42

    yes, that addon board exactly aims for such failures, that would not trigger the firmware, like fatigue or a general drift.

    Also if you want you can use the code and blueprint of the addon to make a jogg controller similar to what DJ did to his shapeoko in a previous episode. its basically the same thing from the harware perspective.

    that might come in handy when calibrating your setup and levelling it.

    if you can add a serial output that gives the current (in code values) for thermistors to the addon mcu and compare it to the measurements (giving that both have been calibrated prior to the same resistor)

    you wiould be able to see fatigue in wires and connectors or even predict failures.

    for now I do it by "brain".

    meaning I compare the values I read over octoprint with the values measured by the board..but it sjust a matter of putting the time into  the code.

  • in reply to DAB

    thanks, DAB

    always a good feeling to have earned your Stars!

  • in reply to airbornesurfer

    In general that approach works with any CNC type machine, also marlin is prett ymuch suitable for non 3d printers such as cnc machinses , so you can use it as a drop in replacement.

  • in reply to mfetting

    thanks for these topics!

     

    • Improvements for ease of use

                   thats partially covered with octoprint anmd the addon, but sure that could make ageneral workflow episode.

    • Ways to increase my print accuracy
      • yes that is a very deep divey topic! Noted!
    • How to improve printer speed
      • I combine that with the accuracy topic as these goe hand in hand.
    • Ways to increase my printers build envelope
      • do you mean Material? or size wise? or something else?
    • Overall reliability (head, fans, filament feed, etc.)
      • that will also be suitable for combination with the other tiopics!
        thank you very much fo the nudge to these aspects!

  • Dang that is cool!

    I think I own the same "cheap printer"... I picked it up a couple years back right when I did the Smart Range Hood project on E14.

     

    About two weeks ago I started doing a new custom build to create a 400 mm ^3 build volume printer which uses Core XY movement. I'll have to start blogging about it. I've been taking in all the different 3D printer tips and tricks and build notes that I can find. I really like the idea of a custom PCB to monitor current consumption and how you can "man-in-the-middle" from your board to send custom GCode. I may follow that route!

     

    Both Octoprint and Marlin can detect thermistor errors which is great. I was always curious if there was a way to detect issues when stranded-core wire starts to fatigue and do something before the cable melts itself and catches fire...

  • Very good project Clem.

     

    Great job of providing useful tips for new and old 3D printers.

     

    DAB

  • I may have to try this on my old Robo3D. It's seen MUCH better days!

     

    Also: I have the skeleton of a mini milling machine sitting in the corner, and I'm wondering if I couldn't apply this to get that up and running....

  • The five areas that I will be interested in learning:

     

    • Improvements for ease of use
    • Ways to increase my print accuracy
    • How to improve printer speed
    • Ways to increase my printers build envelope
    • Overall reliability (head, fans, filament feed, etc.)

  • just now I realized that I said "it is always besser to"...little german slipup there.