Posts made by McAdam

@dc42:

I've just had notification that the prototype PCBs for the laser filament sensor are on their way to me from HK! I only ordered them last Sunday.

Great news!
Is there still space on the Beta List?

@DeltaCon:

@McAdam:

…The idea I've had so far is to use a digital tire gauge caliper, it's inexpensive, fairly accurate, and has a built-in serial output.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Digital-Tyre-Tire-Tread-Brakes-Shoe-Pad-Wear-Depth-Gauge-Caliper-0-25mm-/321762696307
Reading the output with a small microcontroller (ESP8266) I can then adjust the flowrate.

Nice idea, but would you press the gauge against the filament using a spring or something? I guess when a whole spool of filament passed this plastic toy, there would be a huge abraded hole in it.

Idea was to have a small pulley attached to the end of the guage, (similar to pulleys found in extruders) so there will be no friction.

@fma:

Does the section of your filament vary that much?

You need to measure the diameter in both directions, as the filament can be oval, and the section remaining the same…

Over a whole 2.5kg spool, it can vary quite a lot.

Yes, checking for OVALness will be very difficult, I have not thought of a solution to it yet

For a while I've been toying with the idea of a filament thickness detector.
I often do 20 hour prints on 2.5kg spools, so the thickness of filament can vary a bit within a single print.
Supplier states 1.75mm +/- 0.05mm but I have found it to be closer to 0.08mm

The idea I've had so far is to use a digital tire gauge caliper, it's inexpensive, fairly accurate, and has a built-in serial output.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Digital-Tyre-Tire-Tread-Brakes-Shoe-Pad-Wear-Depth-Gauge-Caliper-0-25mm-/321762696307

Reading the output with a small microcontroller (ESP8266) I can then adjust the flowrate.

For actual filament movement; A 16 bit resolution rotary encoder with a extruder gear on it.

I know these solutions are more mechanical than the current suggestions, but maybe they can inspire some new thoughts.

@Zerogee
I have the system set up without setting the probe as a Z Endstop and without a mechanical Z Endswitch.

My homez and homeall config files jsut contain the following:

G91
G1 Z5 F6000
G90
G1 Y10 X10 F6000
G30
G1 Z2
G1 Y0 X0 F6000
G1 Z0.05

In my start gcode I tell the printer to heat the nozzle to 130c then home the axis, then heat the nozzle to the desired temp:
M572 D0 S0.01
M190 S[bed0_temperature];
M109 S130;
G28 ; home axes
M109 S[extruder0_temperature];

This works perfectly for me, as the G30 will set the Z to 0 when its triggered.

@deckingman:

Don't know if it's a clue but in the OP, the layer count is out as well. Almost as if the print was terminated early.

I just had grabbed the text from whatever was printing. The print completed successfully

@T3P3Tony:

S3d might be configured with the wrong filament diameter?

Nope, Double checked and its set correctly ar 1.75mm

Might be because I did a Dirty Upgrade from V3 to V4…

Thanks,
I'm using FW v1.19 & S3D V4 using relative coordinates.

I'll try to upgrade to the v1.2 fw and see if the same issue exists.
I guess if I had the filament monitor it would be easy to tell which one is off

It's sliced in S3D
End Gcode is:

G28 X0 ; home x axis
M106 S0 ; turn off cooling fan
M104 S0 ; turn off extruder
M140 S0 ; turn off bed
M84 ; disable motors

@DC42

I just checked some gCODE files and S3D does indeed append the following (taken same model with slight settings tweaks).

; Build Summary
;   Build time: 12 hours 47 minutes
;   Filament length: 105026.7 mm (105.03 m)
;   Plastic volume: 252618.79 mm^3 (252.62 cc)
;   Plastic weight: 315.77 g (0.70 lb)
;   Material cost: 14.53

So then it seems that for some odd reason either S3D is miscalculating or the printer is reporting an incorrect amount.

Since nobody else has reported this I will assume its S3D - Any idea what could cause this?

So I've been working through some final issues I've been experiencing with my duet board.
One that is not really a problem but just bugs me is Filament Usage.

This is what is reported in the Duet Web Control:
Layer: 346 of 351, Filament Usage: 67405.3mm of 106177.4mm (38772.1mm remaining)

So it seems that the calculated total filament usage is off by at least 30%
Any ideas where to start to look into this?
I assume it goes through the Gcode file and just adds up all the E distances - so how can I make it more accurate?

Many thanks

Start Gcode:

M572 D0 S0.01
M190 S[bed0_temperature]; 
M109 S130;
G28 ; home axes
G1 Z5
M84 S0 ; Disable Stepper Timeout
G1 X0 Y0 F9000 ; go to front of bed
G1 Z0.05; use the bed to block the nozzle to prevent ooze 
M109 S[extruder0_temperature];
G1 Z0.2
G1 X85 E9 F4000 ; wipe along the edge of the bed
G1 Y20 F4000 ; wipe along the edge of the bed
G1 X290 F4000 ; wipe along the edge of the bed
G1 Z0.5     ; lift before move to center
M83 ;

I made an IR Probe mount for the updated E3D v6 because most of the ones currently available will not fit, or have some design element to them that I did not like.

This one is designed to mount and give a Y offset of 16mm with 0 X axis offset.

Printed, and tested.

Hope it helps someone.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2598767

@DjDemonD

Thanks for the guide. I will be installing my kit this week - would you recommend config in digital or analog?
I'm unaware of the benefits of each so wondering what you use since you're one of the minds behind this all…

Ok, So I made an assumption that my PEI sheet was working ok with the IR Probe
You are correct, the underside of the PEI is not painted - but the surface is very dull and matt looking as opposed to the usual transparent PEI.
You are correct again, The tape measures only 0.15mm thick so the difference should not be that big. So I guess the IR probe is somehow going through the PEI Sheet (which is about 1.3mm thick)….

Damn - I read that there was a chance sanded PEI would work with the IR Probe - I guess not in my case.
The issue is these PEI sheets come with the 3m Adhesive already attached - and none of the other PEI sheets I have tried have worked well for me.

I guess its time to look for another probe then

So I spent the best part of 3 hours yesterday converting my manual adjustment bed to use the IR Probe instead.
Firstly, there's a lot of documentation that's in lots of different places, so every time I came across an issue I would have to Google and try to find a solution. David (DC42) Maybe I'll write up a list of what would be good to change in the wiki and your blog post.

The Repeatability Test
I decided to run a repeatability test, to see why my mesh seemed very odd, and have come up with results that vary a bit - but might be within tolerances - that's where I need your help

This is all done on a PEI Sheet that has been used heavily over the last few months and sanded to a dull matt finish (Its supplied by Lulzbot).

Probing Script added as a Macro:

[[Gcode]]
;Probe 1
G1 Z30
G30 S-1

;Probe 2
G1 Z30
G30 S-1

;Probe 3
G1 Z30
G30 S-1

Etc....

;Probe 15
G1 Z30
G30 S-1

Results

Just Bed:
Average: 0.609
High: 0.620
Low: 0.600
Difference 0.020

Bed with Tape on top:
Average: 2.193
High: 2.197
Low: 2.188
Difference 0.009

Is a Difference of 0.020 acceptable?

Results of Auto 4 Point Bed Compensation

Homing z Axis then adjusting "Fixed" adjustment screws

Re-homing then checking again

Setting home point to same as one of the 4 probe points

What I can tell by doing these tests is that my Z Home point was significantly higher that any of the other points… Which shows in the:

Mesh Bed Compensation results
So after all the really fine tuning to get the 4 point compensation as level as possible, here are the results of the Mesh Bed Compensation

So…

Is this all acceptable?
Is this within "reasonable" tollerances?
I haven't managed to print anything with the mesh on, because during testing I snagged my Extruder Motor Wires, so need to do some soldering to repair it.

When I look at the images above a part of me feels that its time to replace the PEI Sheet… But what do you guys think??

Thanks for all the help!

Edit: Fixed image links

@MontyFlange - I am currently filming a video about converting a CR-10, and will also do a live stream installation. If you need any help just let me know.

Interesting, Thanks for the link.

@LePaul
I have a working set up if you are interested.

I just set up my duet and I'm planning on setting up a Duet Push Notification system.
So far my plan is to handle everything externally by using unused duet pins connected to an ESP8266 or ESP32 board which will send the push notifications via SimplePush service ($5 one time fee)

If anyone else is interested in this setup let me know and I will post back once things are up and running well.

My aim is to push the following notifications: Job End, Errors (still working this one out) and possibly job percentage in 10% increments. Also I'll see if its possible to add M117 commands as push notifications.

New Here, I had a search on the forum but didnt really find any clear answers.

I am upgrading my current machine which runs on 12V. I will be adding a 2nd extruder and so need to upgrade the PSU anyway.

My plan is to go with 24V for all of the benefits, but my bed is only a 12v unit.

I read about some people limiting the power through a bed PWM value, but I don't think that's a good way to go for a couple of reasons I've seen on here.

So what would the best way be?

The current plan is 2 PSU's, one 12v for the bed and a 24v for everything else.
So just send the Bed output of the board through an SSR?
Is there another way I'm not realizing?

Thanks for the input!