Yeah you're definitely going to need an optocoupler for the Tevo's inductive sensor to power it on 12V and interface to 5V. I fell into the same trap and my original z-axis mount snapped, so I reused some scrap 0.5" thick polycarbonate sheet and cut it to shape with my dremel along with the mounting holes. Much stronger than that acrylic mount they provide you with honestly too little meat.
Other things you should keep in mind keep the wheels underneath the bed tightened pretty well so that it doesn't wobble side to side. If you get the chance I'd recommend adding rails as shown here (I've yet to add that mod). For PLA I typically use these printer settings in Repetier-Host / CuraEngine attached. I turned off homing the extruder in the startup G-code as my typical method is:
Heat up bed & extruder head to temp (~230°C extruder, 57°C bed) and verify that they're clog free.
Home X & Y axis.
Get inductive sensor's head somewhat level with the extruder head and home Z axis.
Once Z axis homing is done, disable steppers but keep the bed and extruder hot.
Slide a small metal shim underneath the extruder on the bed (I use a razor blade from a box cutter, it usually has a thickness of ~0.64mm which is pretty good and from this method which also includes updating firmware with Marlin and enabling autobed leveling).
Manually slide down the Z axis until the extruder head barely makes contact with the razor blade or whatever shim you're using.
Then adjust the inductive sensor (Btw I use nylon washers because the included screws just eat into the inductive sensor's housing like butter) until the light barely comes on at that distance.
Screw it tight and run auto bed leveling (G code G29).
Once it's finished auto leveling, loosen the inductive sensor and pull it up away a bit from the extruder head (I've had trouble in the past where my sensor collides with my prints). You won't need it anymore unless you manually adjust it as the offsets are now in the printer's memory.
Print!
My printer settings: Tevo_PLA_LoneWolf_Recon_Setting.rcp
..yeah, I think it was me being an idiot mostly, I always turned those supports off
trying with it and it seems to be fine now
I ended up having to do a few tweaks, but as I can't afford to mount any extra rails to the bed carriage I just have to deal with the wobbles (why the hell does it wobble so much anyway? Don't they know the dimensions of their own extrusions? ).
As for the inductive sensor, I did some testing and it turns out an opto-coupler isn't necessary at all, as even at 30V the "leak voltage" was insignificant (<1V), and testing with a multimeter shows it's literally just a switch on the switching side (unless the cheap Chinesium inside decides to blow and fries something, anyway) so it's perfectly safe to interface with the board when powered at 12V as-is.
I adjusted the Z-Offset by zeroing out the nozzle to the print bed (with paper) and then adjusting the sensor so that it's flat/level but also high enough that it won't collide with any prints, but also close enough to still trigger reliably, then adjusted the Z-axis upwards until it shut off, then back down until it came on, and whatever number was in there I entered as my off-set (about .7mm or so IIRC) from the nozzle. Works a treat, but still have some extruder tweaks to work on. Here's the latest print after I did some better leveling (had to adjust flow-rate to 120% or so, otherwise it still under-extrudes):
https://i.imgur.com/2GdIIMs.png
You an see a few artifacts in some layers, that's where it was under-extruding as I tweaked the flow-rates to compensate. The shitty camera in my phone makes it look much more shit than it appears in person. This was at 200C extruder temp, 60C bed temp.
If you're using Cura, try the experimental tree supports if you start to get unhappy with the performance of the regular supports.
Printed a cute lil Tabby Slime
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1613714
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/619/4f19ae1c-8728-4bc9-ad28-bacc182c0da5/ic-4989.jpg
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/619/69d814cf-426d-4aa7-9c82-41812b718058/ic-2766.jpg
Question for @LoneWolf_Recon :
I've found a fan that I can possibly use for a part-cooling fan, a very small and light-weight (but surprisingly powerful) old laptop fan that I'm currently designing a mounting solution for. Problem is, it's 5V, cuts out at around 11V (didn't fry, but using the 12V fan connector is out of the question it seems). Now I COULD rob 5V from the board's AUX_1 connector easily, as the fan has its on dedicated PWM pin, but I'm torn on how to deliver the PWM signal to the fan (it has a 4-pin connector, so it'll accept a PWM signal easy), so I'm pondering on how best to do it and would like your thoughts. Should I just try rigging up a voltage divider to reduce the 12V signal from the default cooling fan connector so I can send a 5V PWM signal, or would it be better to just hold off and just get a "proper" fan?
Don't try sourcing power from the Aux connector, I haven't looked into the on board regulator, but I'm pretty certain 5V is purely logic so you don't want to put a heavy load on it for risk of glitches.
If you have a random 7805 floating around, just use that with a heatsink. Cool the 7805 with the fan that you're regulating from it.
https://facepunch.com/fp/emotes_std/v.png
And if I'm following you correctly, you're suggesting to use a voltage divider to drop the 12V PWM signal (not 12V power) down to 5V so that the fan's PWM will work. Which yeah that'll work.
I've got a dozen or so 7805's floating around so no problems there. It only draws about 200mA tested under load so it should be fine with a passive heat-sink I'd say.
I also wasn't sure if the 5V pins were for supplying 5V to various peripherals or not. There's servo headers on here so I figured those could provide enough juice, as well...
My FlashForge Finder was becoming sort of noisy, in that it would make screechy noises when moving the bed along the Z axis (up/down)
Then, eventually, it started actually skipping steps. I had to increase voltage on the Z-axis motor to make sure it didn't do that.
Not sure what took me so fucking long, but today I WD40'd it up - works perfectly fine again
So yeah, remember to lubricate your bushings or linear bearings or whatever.
WD-40 isn't recommended as a long-term lubricant, but it does work in a pinch. I've been using silicone/teflon-based dry lubricants with moderate success, though. (dry lubricants are a plus 'cause we sandy as fuck up in here, grease would become oily mud after a while)
My radial fan broke today as well and I almost wound up inventing a dual 120mm fan mount.
Unfortunately I don't really know how fans work bc I wired the VCC and GND pins in series between the two 12 volt fans on the 24 volt connector and they barely budge. One 12 volt fan definitely reached full speed by itself but that definitely can't be safe to keep running at 24 volts.
You'd be surprised, but it depends entirely on the fan. I've ran 12V fans on 24V before (ATX connections +12 and -12V), but again, it depends on the fan.
Amazon accidentally sent me two printers.
They've told me I can keep the second one. I think its because they don't want to pay all the money to have a 55lb object shipped back to them.
Holy shit, that's incredible. Which printer?
Qidi Tech 1. ABS/PLA Dual extruder.
Have a shitty phone picture.
https://i.imgur.com/A0fS2YX.jpg
Is there a reason most commercially available printers don't seem to have larger than like 8x5x5 print bays? I've been (not thoroughly) shopping around and trying to find a printer with both a decently large print bay and a better resolution than the one I have access to right now and frustratingly I'm finding neither, even though I know the one I can use isn't like... top of the line.
Money.
Larger machines will weigh more, costing more in shipping/packaging.
What are you looking for? The main issue is frame rigidity. As you get bigger you have much more flex in your frame so it needs to be reinforced, which adds more weight, makes other parts flex etc etc.
Big printers are available but the engineering requirement goes up and so too does the price.
My Ender-3 still hasn't arrived!
Unbelievable. I buy a cheap Chinese kit because I'm confident they'll keep me on at a temp/seasonal job, and I get fired.
You buy one printer, get two, and you're just told "whoopsie, keep them both I guess lol"
I'd cut off my left hand to have your luck.
I'd honestly sell it to someone here for super cheap if the printer wasn't so heavy. Its 55lb, and shipping it three hours up the road runs about 60 bucks in bog-stand package-it-yourself shipping.
...I don't suppose you live in/around Eastern New Mexico/West Texas?
Not that it matters, still in-between jobs ATM. :/
I got my ender 2, it's a nice printer this:
https://imgur.com/a/SsLyYKH
What have I done...
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/132319/6e4413df-61af-4e7c-b51f-550ff47682a1/20180418_213440.png
Yes it's ghastly, but sheet-metal was more readily available and easier to work with than designing a custom printed mount for this fan without knowing the best means of mounting it/angling it, and with it being easy to bend I can easily adjust the bend to determine the best angle before I commit to designing a printed mount for it, plus it should work in the mean-time for better prints.
So I had an old chipset fan from some old motherboard that was designed to be mounted inside of its heat-sink, so there's no real shroud around the blades. I figured since I finally got rid of the wobble in my print-bed, I should give a shot at designing a sort of extension. Even with 0.5mm gaps (by design, blades measured roughly 40mm across, I sized the hole to 41mm in Fusion360) between the blades and this shroud, the final result spins perfectly.
https://i.imgur.com/EMzN40W.jpg
Tolerances are tight enough that unless you grip it by the corners, the walls flex inward and get scraped by the blades. Though honestly I was more tickled that the screw holes actually lined up where I needed them to.
Does anyone here have a Monoprice Select Mini V2? I'm close to ordering one but want to know if it's good as a first printer.
What scale of figurines are we talking? Gaming minis or action figures?
Both if it's possible. I figured with the smaller printing area (120mmx120mmx120mm) for larger models I would print them in parts.
Wish there was somewhere local I could try a printer out to see if they work for me.
Check to see if you have any Maker Spaces, they'll usually have SOME sort of 3D printer.
Makerspace | Fab Labs UK
This is really useful, thanks! They're all pretty far from me but i'll keep an eye on it.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
3D printer thread - what have you been printing?
