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Converting C2 into the FT-5

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by colton81, Jun 5, 2017.

  1. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

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    Since we're talking about boards, I'd like to get a Photon Elephant when they're past the kickstarter phase and adopt a leftover printer frame that looks like the FT-5 over at Fab Lab here in San Diego.
     
  2. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    I dont thibk those ever shipped at least from what i read cant really find any other information on it. I think the duet wifi is the way to go( which is what im going to do) i ended up having to put the orignal mks board back in the C2 mainboard just wasnt going to cut it for the heat bed if i decide to get an ssr and plug it directly to ac power then i might put it back in but at this point i didnt want to run the risk of damaging the mainboard. Might look into using the board for a laser cutter later down the road.

    The c2 board did work great though other then the fact a heated bed couldnt be connected
     
  3. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    By the way i noticed the R2 uses the same board but it has a heated bed im curious if anyone knows what power supply they are using?
     
  4. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I dont think anyone can say for certain they are using the same board? There is no documentation, they may look the same but be vastly different.
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I would bet you a box of doughnuts that they are the exact same board.
    They are not going to use two custom boards :) Not when one will do.
     
  6. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    :D I wouldn't put it past em ;)
     
  7. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    proprietary seems king
     
  8. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Ok so from another user he posted this image of the r2 mainboard
     

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  9. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Then you have the c2 courtesy of Mark and the second image is of the r2 again from robos support page. The one that another user posted is v2.1.5 and the c2 is v2.1.4 but the robo page says the same as the c2
     

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  10. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Just found this is the R2 config.h on github looks like its running 24v?
     

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  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You would need someone to read what the brick says (or use a voltmeter)
     
  12. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Yea i asked in the R2 forum hopefully someone can because if they are the same board and it will take 24v on the c2 well then now im back in the game of keeping my c2 board in my ft-5
     
  13. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Just got conformation on my post in the r2 section and it is 24v at 9.2 amps
     
  14. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    So the reason the PID numbers are different is because they are likely under-volting the heater element in the C2. I think everyone is making too big a deal that the C2 runs at 19v and the R2 runs at 24v. If you really wanted to, you could simply replace the 12v power supply in the R1 and just drop in a 24v supply, the RAMPS can handle it the steppers can handle it, even the heaters as a purely resistive load would work at the increased voltage.

    I am pretty sure 19v for the C2 is just a means to maximize margins.
     
  15. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Thats what i was trying to figure out from Robo support i took it as i couldnt increase the voltage at all but homestly they are just frist line support i doubt they really know if you can or cant or they just dont want everyone knowing for some odd reason. Either way i bought a 24v psu from amazon ABI 24V 500W Power Supply Indoor Outdoor LED Driver Rainproof Weatherproof 21A https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IU8QBCO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_3wVqzbQZHZHEZ
    And will try it out. Now there is mixed reactions to using a 12v rated pcb heater on 24v some people seem to think it doesnt matter because the voltage isnt constant but in burst. I believe the one i have is 12v have to find out what wattage it uses because i only got a 500w psu. I did buy an external mosfet TriGorilla 3D Printer Heating Controller MKS MOSFET for Heatbed Extruder MOS Module https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HCVJ3K2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wzVqzbS2QMTEQ to help relieve the board from the load.
     
  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well, Jerry told me that the heater core matters. That is not a 12v core in the C2, it might be a 24v core (that is what I used on my second extruder and it is fine) but they explicitly stated not to use the 12v core or it will pull too much current.
     
  17. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    It is much easier to use 24v parts and undervolt to 19v that the other way around. I undervolt a lot of stuff, mostly PC stuff. Example, if you have an Intel Core processor and a motherboard that allows CPU settings, you can probably undervolt or overvolt. Most stock CPUs running at stock speeds can be undervolted and still maintain 100% stability. The benefits are longer chip life, lower power consumption and less heat that needs to be dissipated. It is not entirely out of the realm of possibility that every part used in the C2 can run at 24v and they just chose 19v because it was cheaper. Since Robo is in the retail space and retailers will not carry an item that has no margins (meat on the bone as Shark Tank likes to put it) in it, they won't sell it. That means that Robo has to sell these printers to people like BestBuy or the Microsoft Store at some margin close to 30 points or more. They still need to make money on those sales, they are not a charity after all. So every dollar you save on production costs are important.
     
  18. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    That makes sense i knew you could under volt a pc but getting in to 3d printing you really want to be careful because now you have a bigger chance of something blowing or catching fire. I didnt realize until mark mentioned that the heater core is rated for 24v then realizing the r2 is the same board i started putting 2 and 2 together and it makes since that it can take 24v. Which sucks it took this long for me to realize this because i started havking the hotend carriage to make it work with my mks board and now im having to put it back together lol.

    Speaking of the hot end carriage i cut the ends off the heater core to extend them but now im needing to put them back. Does the hater core connector need to be a special one or will the regular white connectors work?
     
  19. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    I thought the heater core connector was a JST-SM, isn't it?
     
  20. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Thats what it looks like just want to make sure it is and not something that is high temp or anything


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

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