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Installed E3D

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by mark tomlinson, Jan 10, 2014.

  1. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Will test printing tomorrow. The firmware was updated (flaky USB cable complicated that) tested thermistor. So far so good (did the burn in as well)

    That was an amazing PITA to do, even for a technical kinda dude. A lot of the assembly of the hot end should (or COULD) be done before you see it, but nah. Why take the FUN out of it. I can see why people have issue with it. We need a thread with pictures (and no, I did not take any either--shame on me).

    Thanks to the FAQ (thanks Melody) and a lot of other hints scattered hither and yon, we did get the majority of it done (I think). (and yes those #$%^M3 screws want to strip--or at least one did) but it is far enough in for it to work until the kit from McMaster get here (which will include the upgraded metric rods and nuts along with the correct screws).

    Remembered the silly X axis limit screw at the last minute but found one that would work in my scrap screw drawer.
     
  2. Chas

    Chas Member

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    Installing mine tomorrow. Any tips or tricks or things I should know or prepare before I start based on your experience? How long did it take from start to your first print with it (or when you potentially COULD have made your first print rather)?
     
  3. Melody Bliss

    Melody Bliss New Member

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  4. Chas

    Chas Member

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    Yep! And I remember your comment about the tape the other evening. I guess I should have specified that I was looking for any info with his experience that he may have come across during his personal installation that might not necessarily be documented :p
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The FAQ is terrific, here are spots I stumbled on. (and those M3 bolts Melody referred to are nasty and will likely strip so GO get new ones before you start).

    1) The E3D assembly docs show two different thermistor wires (you will only have ONE of them) that they direct you to strip.
    2) Make sure you have everything layed out ahead of time, including any parts you need to print (like a new PARTS FAN mount--there are a number to chose from). I actually printed out three different ones and just picked the one that looked easiest when the time came. Have all the tools (a small metric socket set, wire strippers, wire cutters, screw drivers, an exacto knife or something similar and a small crescent wrench at a minimum)
    3) It is clear where the new thermistor goes, but not so much how to route the wires. Probably too printer specific for E3D to document. Just route it so that it works for you. You have plenty of extra Kapton tape.
    4) Set the max temp of the hot end in the firmware to 330 or so. You have to burn in at 300 and while that max be the suggested max, the hot end itself can do much more and if you set the limit to 300 you can't burn in at 300 (it just E-stops the heat when it gets there--it is the limit after all). The hot end is good well beyond 300 anyway.
    5) Take off and re-use the wire bundle wrap that is with the unit, it could be replaced by a wad of zip-ties, but that is a nicer solution so spend the time to unwrap and re-wrap it.

    Took me 3-4 hours, I was in no rush and had too look up a few parts. You do NOT have to disassemble the X axis rig/belts/assembly to do this (although it will make it easier to get to some things). I left mine largely assembled to ease resetting it all back up. Your Mileage May Vary.
     
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    P.S. and I hope at some point someone does an video of this. I should have thought about that and drug a webcam over to watch.
     
  7. Chas

    Chas Member

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    Thanks! I'm going to swing by radio shak tomorrow AM to grab some supplies then I should be good to go. Currently printing one of the fan mounts, which one did you find easiest to work with? The wiring is the thing that worries me the most as I have never really wired anything before, thus, probably wouldn't be a good candidate for a video tutorial hah.
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, it will be more difficult then. It is not super-technical, but it does require some finesse. Just read the instructions carefully and take your time. The only soldering I had to do was the wires from thermistor where is comes out of the new hot end to the existing wiring to the RAMPS board. Saved me running a new wire back there. It was heat-shrinked in a small bundle with the original hot end wires (which you do not want to re-use) so I just removed the heat-shrink from the two pairs and re-used the thermistor ones.

    The rest is mostly cutting/replacing zip ties and landing wires on terminals :) The actual replacement of the hot-end is mostly mechanical. Just take great care with the thermistor as it is the most sensitive part. You have to splice to it (they provide special crimp ferrules) and wrap it in the kapton tape and finally insert it into head. Not complicated, but touchy since the thermistor is small and easily damaged.
     
  9. Dime333

    Dime333 New Member

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    One thing you need is a tube of the copper gasket material found at auto parts stores, it says sensor safe on it. Also you should have a E3d version 5 if you bought it recently so the stock thermistor from the Robo should work provided it is capable of reaching the higher temps, it fit in my thermistor hole on the E3d anyway and that will save you a TON of time!:D On a side note the reason I know it will save a lot of time is because I removed my stock one because the guide says to use the one it comes with and broke one of the wires that goes to the bulb, no problem just use the stock one right, nope that one came apart too after almost having it installed.Tessaract showed me some replacement ones on Amazon and had to wait for shipping then reinstall the new one, quite experienced at that now.;) Still trying to figure out where to route the damn massive red wires from the nozzle, they keep bashing into the bracket when trying to home out the X axis, but I read above there is a longer screw or something to be used, is this correct Mark Tomlinson?

    Sorry I didn't get any pics either and video would have been rated R for language lol, cause it is a pain but certainly do-able. Don't let the wiring scare you I was at first too but it's really easy just do one at a time and trace the stock wires from the Robo nozzle, disconnect at solder joint, re-solder new and that's it. As far as the fan it comes with run them up through the loom and down towards the board there's a slot the loom goes down into under the Robo. When you tilt the Robo up look at the top of the boards and you will see an upper connector on the boards ( to make this easier unscrew the 3 screws that hold the board in) on that connector you will see 4 wires, use the 2 on the bottom, just twist the wires from the fan into these wires from the connector(also if you have an Abs printer and don't have a fan installed for the bed shutting down, install a computer fan at the same time using the same connection save more time doing it now;)) , the Red goes with Red and the Black goes to the Yellow, there is also a positive and negative sign where the wires go in.
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, you need to replace the screw used for the X axis limit switch trigger with a longer one (it only needs to be roughly a 1/4 inch longer).

    Rewrapping everything into the wire loom helps tighten it up and then judicious use of zip ties took care of the rest.

    I do not know exactly what size that was as I forgot to prep that ahead of time and just dug around in my magic jar of screw holding (where all the odd-ball screws, nuts, bolts get tossed) until I found one that would work. Someone documented it (I think) so it is probably in the FAQ.
     
  11. Dime333

    Dime333 New Member

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    Ok cool thanks, those damn wires really poke out there lol, was even considering rotating the nozzle but the loom has the motor wires and everything else and that's just too much damn work lol.
     
  12. cosber

    cosber Active Member

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    I get a kick out of this! The various forums on the E3D install all start with it not being too difficult, just follow the directions. Then as time goes on, it gets more and more involved. I wanted to give it a shot but not anymore. Anyone in the San Diego area want to do mine? I'll pay of course.
     
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It is not hard if you have some basic electrical/electronic skills, but it is not a trivial job either. I would rather not have had to do it myself as well :) From what I had read here I expected it to be a little more straightforward than it was. Had to go back this morning and play with wire loom as the thermistor was reading incorrectly. Got that sorted (probably got knocked around putting the loom back in place around the wire bundle).

    Yea removing and reinstalling the loom is a PITA.
     
  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If you do not need it for exotic filament or problems with the original hot end, it is probably not worth it.
     
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well, the test results for the .4 mm nozzle with a .1 mm layer height are in. I did a 3 layer bed calibration/.level test print and good lord is it sweet. The resolution is astoundingly good. That almost makes up for the hassle of installing it ;)
     
  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Added a couple of web cams to keep an eye on the print in progress (because I am too lazy to keep running to the other end of the house to check on it). One from above and one from the side. Best 14 bucks ever.

    Sweetness.

    So far no complaints about the new extruder, works well (does what is says on the tin).
     
  17. Thor

    Thor Member

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    So... can I use the stock thermistor?
    Does anyone know part number for the thermistor (I want to have semi-interchangeable heads for if one gets clogged, and I don't want to diddle with the firmware constantly)?
     
  18. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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  19. Melody Bliss

    Melody Bliss New Member

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  20. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    SO, after a chat with tesseract and more experimenting today, it is finally working as intended.

    The replacement head/thermistor meant all of the recorded sweet spot temps were now garbage and I have to retest. Now that I realize I am going to need to run things hotter I can get it working (the clear PLA roll I got working needed about 5 degrees more than before).

    It was frustration until I realized it was simply stopping extruding at points (because it was not hot enough) thus failing the print. In many cases it would *almost* finish, but not quite :( That is now sorted.

    When it works, the quality is simply awesome. Even at higher speeds.
     

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