So the last couple of weeks have been a handful to say the least. I spent quite a bit of time getting the new setup for the Ender done. The cloned duet board is really nice but I’ve had a few issues getting everything to work properly. The main thing that fooled me with this board was the motor pin-outs. On most other controller boards the pin-out for the motor connectors is somewhat standardized.
Generally the pin-out is as follows, A+, A-, B+, B-. With the big dipper it is A+, A-, B-, B+. So that sent me for a loop, but everything else was pretty straight forward.
I’m currently using three of the four fan outputs, two fans are running directly off the power supply(something I intend to change in the near future). There are four steppers being used, two for X&Y movement, one for the extruder and one for the z-axis. I am using a inductive proximity switch for bed probing and there are two micro-switches and an optical end stop for the x-axis. I have reinstalled boothys corexy carrier to retry some high temperature printing.
So with all that out of the way I can get back into finishing off this printer. I recently spent some time modifying a cloned V6 into a water cooled version. I really want to use this on my current setup, just because I really think I can push this to 400c easily. I would really like to do the same with the hotend I currently have installed(BMO Dragonfly) but I’m a little worried that I might ruin it. The overall goal is to be able to print ultem and peek without issues. I have plans to redo the interior of the enclosure with sheet metal.
With the sheet metal I plan to create a barrier between the printer and the current enclosure. Also with the sheet metal in place I could basically have a chamber inside of another chamber. This could facilitate higher temperatures in the “printing” chamber while keeping the steppers and other components cool.
One other thing I’m thinking about is the part cooling, a month or two ago I talked about using a pond pump to push air to the hotend for part cooling. Seems like an okay idea, but I’d really like to try and re-use this old ps3 blower fan I had laying around. The fan is 12v, 1.38a and it also has a moulding around it to form a scoop that feeds air through a radiator.
Part 2
So I did the unthinkable… I did the same thing that I did with the V6 to the BMO Dragonfly. Everything seems t be working fine. The only real way to tell is to put the printer through its paces.
Looking at the printers positioning in the cabinet compared to the the intake and exhaust I think the air flow through the cabinet will be fine and be able to maintain a stable temperature. Again the idea for the cabinet is to have a hot side and a cold side, but I haven’t fully implemented it yet due to my free time being limited from work.
So moving forward with this build I really want to complete the “firewall” and start thinking about how the cabinet can preform if I put some type of chamber heater in there.
The cabinet as it stands is fairly large and has a lot of extra components, and right now those components aren’t operating in sync with each other to create a controlled environment(which is my goal).
As for the firewall its self it’ll be made from a sheet metal from a chemical cabinet(trying to save a few dollars here) and will be measured, cut then mounted with small sheet metal screws. Also the overall shape of the wall will be in a “L” to cover the back wall with enough space for the printer to slide under(so the mounted steppers on the back of the printer will be behind the firewall).
To the right of the printer will be a solid firewall that will block the exhaust port to the right and house 1-2 rolls of filament for printing. Overall it will be a very tight fit but I think I can make this work to my advantage for heating the camber.
The wiring on this project has also been a challenge because of all the different independent components that had to be integrated into one seem-less machine. There are two SSR’s on the back of the machine with one 24v industrial power supply(meanwell) and one 12v computer power supply. Then there is the Fysetc Big Dipper Duet Clone(amazing board) with a raspberry pi.
Now I also have a 4 channel relay board mounted on there for future use but to be honest I don’t really know if I’ll need it. We’ll see but for now I’m just going to button up the wiring and make it sound and finish the firewall and see where it takes me from here.