Did I buy a clone from Ali?

[NinetySix]

Is it safe to say that there are no genuine duet wifi boards for sale on AliExpress? The board is marked as being a genuine V1.02, and even made in the UK. In hindsight, that last part is pretty hard to believe.

Any way if it's not genuine I won't bother anybody here with a few little issues I'm having with it after my heat bed suddenly became a 0.7 ohm load (24vdc) on the day I switched out an 8 bit mega/ramps style board for this alleged duet wifi. Unless of course anybody has a morbid fascination with such things

And just incase seeking support for a clone is an instant ban, I should mention that after the heat bed incident I ordered a genuine duet wifi from filastruder.

Cheers

Ian

[dc42]

There are at least 2 clone Duet boards on AliExpress. One follows our open-source licensing rules and says it is a copy. The other does not, but it can be identified by a small difference on the PCB. If you provide photos of both sides then we may be able to tell.

What we don't know is whether these clones use 2oz copper top and bottom as we do, instead of the usual 1oz. If they don't then the rating of the bed heater circuit would be compromised, and the stepper driver chips won't be cooled as effectively.

[denke]

As to my knowledge they put a sticker on the main cpu with some numbers ... probably some sort of serial on the genuine ones.

As of the bed problem, the switching FET is VERY robust:
If the psu could maintain the 24V under such load, then you subjected your duet to ~35A of current.
to be able to hold the 24V it would have to be rated to at least 830W which would make a crazy powerful 24V psu! So it would probably decrease the voltage, or shut down alltogether...
Bur regardless, the bed heater fet is rated much more than 35A, so if you have a problem with your board, and its a genuine one, then it's probably a burnt wire on the pcb or something like that, if so, you could find it and could bridge it with an external wire.

[NinetySix]

@dc42

thanks for the prompt reply, I've uploaded front and rear photos to my google photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rTncJGAr0uT0z7oV2

I'm fairly sure my bed heater is knackered, I don't know what it was originally rated for but its 400x400mm and I could get it to 120c during a print with a little headroom to spare, no enclosure and used indoors. The shop I bought it from no longer sell this model, but they have a listing for a 500x500 build plate and suggest it should offer a 1.8ohm load when cold.

Power supply is fairly chunky, 24VDC rated to 42A/1000W... although it too is an Ali special. Its certainly not lacking grunt though.

so the printer is essentially a locally produced Haribo prusa clone? 400x400x400 build volume, BLtouch, 3030 frame, volcano & titan extruder

So the way it went down was that I was seemingly just about ready for the Duet's first print, all axes were driving and homing nicely and I'd had a bit of a play with the bed leveling. I had run the hotend heater for a while without issue, and ran the bed heater for about 20 seconds just till I saw the temperature go up a little the previous night. Then I figured it best to create a mesh with the bed at 60 degrees, fired up the bed, looked to be heating normally... then about a minute later I thought I could see smoke which I assumed was my mind playing tricks on me at 1AM on a work night, then pop! loud bang and bright flash from C92. Yanked the PSU cord and found C92 was basically about to fall off, C91 had fallen off entirely and what was left of it crumbled when I tried to pick it up. I replaced C92 with an identical cap taken from a drv8825 shield, although I figured the bed wont be going any time soon.

Can't really see any other damage as such, I've got 3 LEDs on the board and all axes still work, hot end still works. I'll probably try to print a test cube on a cold bed, and it looks like the replacement board is on the runway in Miami

Cheers guys

[elmoret]

Tim here from Filastruder. Thanks for your business!

I can confirm the original board is not genuine, I can spot at least 1 definitive sign of this but will not reveal the quantity or details, in case cloners are listening.

If you're in the US, I'd be interested in buying the board from you. Feel free to get in touch via the Filastruder contact form.

[dc42]

We use 50V electrolytic capacitors, whereas the ones in the photo are marked 35V. Nevertheless, with a 24V supply I would not expect C92 to fail even if it was a 35V capacitor, unless it was fitted the wrong way round.

[NinetySix]

@elmoret said in Did I buy a clone from Ali?:

Tim here from Filastruder. Thanks for your business!

I can confirm the original board is not genuine, I can spot at least 1 definitive sign of this but will not reveal the quantity or details, in case cloners are listening.

If you're in the US, I'd be interested in buying the board from you. Feel free to get in touch via the Filastruder contact form.

Hi, thanks for the offer but I'm in Melbourne, Australia so the shipping might be prohibitive.

[NinetySix]

@dc42 said in Did I buy a clone from Ali?:

We use 50V electrolytic capacitors, whereas the ones in the photo are marked 35V. Nevertheless, with a 24V supply I would not expect C92 to fail even if it was a 35V capacitor, unless it was fitted the wrong way round.

Hmmm, it looks a little like TR2 drooped a little, VIN terminals were orientated up at the time of the "smoke test" so it may have desoldered from the board if I gave it a little longer before pulling the power.

My real duet left Miami about 5 hours ago so with a bit of luck I should have it Monday (it's Saturday afternoon here now). I did manage to print a test cube so it's not a total loss, but this one will likely become my chicken coop automation system

Interestingly, since buying this clone the seller has changed the listing to v1.03 boards, and it looks like they have ditched C92 altogether. I mustn't be the only one to have had this problem, but maybe the only one brave enough to admit it.

I never knew there was an official reprap store.... I guess there isn't

[A Former User]

Hi Guys

I purchased a clone purely for comparison purposes.

@DC42 I am home from work in a few weeks, and i would be more than happy to donate and ship the clone board to you F.O.C. for investigative purposes.

drop me a private message with some details and i will get it boxed up. i have included a picture of the clone and genuine below.!