Dedicated to upgrading, modifying and fixing 3d printers. We hack printers, filament and anything to do with 3D printing! Come see more at www.hacking3d.com.
I provide a unique view of the whole experience, usually first time and unrehearsed. I've found that rehearsed videos don't show you pitfalls or the process of doing the upgrade, just a perfect world perspective. The videos tend to be a bit longer and I ramble on but hopefully you enjoy the extra detail in joining me for the discovery process.
After 7 years it may be a moot point (except to benefit anyone else watching) but when using linear bearings it's important to align them properly. They have four rows of ball bearings inside and you want to make sure you rotate them in the bearing blocks so that two rows of bearings are sitting (cradling) evenly on the rod rail. Not only will this provide a smoother motion, but will also reduce the wear on the bearings because the load is distributed evenly. The worst case scenario is having all the weight sitting on a single row, which will wear them out a lot faster.
its not so much the power, its the power density ie 2.5 Watts over a 2D area, say at 300 x 300 dpi v 600 x 600 dpi, 4 times the power density. Another way to think about it is how much power output over what area, the smaller the area the higher the focus / power density, then there the dwell time that is more media and outcome based e.g. engraving v cutting v media types. Cheers.
In that cabinet unless you are looking at it directly its unlikely to damage your eyes, unless the materail is highly refecltive / angled, hang a 'curtain' over the front of the cupboard door and stick an eStop button on the machine to kill the entire machine or just the supply for the laser, a nice big red button perhaps again on the inside of the door etc enjoy.
Watched a video on how PEI thin surface can cause bed temp fluctuations. The result can look like Z wobble. I’d like to learn how to convert from bang bang to PID for bed temp. Thanks!
OK I know this was three years ago but what is the software you used to edit the STL file please, I just can not catch the name or read the screen. Thanks
Great video, Jim. I bought a laser module and I couldn't find an easy install video out there until I stumbled upon yours. Not the same printer, not the same module, but same procedure nonetheless. I didn't know what to do with the board that comes with the laser, but I see that it's not necessary if you use the printer's board
Thanks for making this video I found it very useful. For anyone that has the same stepper motors as me these are the values I found: Moon’s C17HD40102-01N - 1.2A Rating (X,Y, & Extruder) 1.2 * 8 * .1 = .96 .96 X .9 = .864 vref Moon’s C17HD6039-06N - 1.3A Rating (Z-Axis) 1.3 * 8 * .1 = 1.04 1.04 X .9 = .936 vref Stepper Motor information source: groups.google.com/g/wanhao-printer-3d/c/HlGk99Hm7e8/m/ImZ3bVN2DgAJ?pli=1
I think you got a value wrong.... It's 1.02 not 1.2 Moon’s C17HD40102-01N - 1.02A Rating (X,Y, & Extruder) 1.02 * 8 * .1 = .816 .816 X .9 = .7344 vref Let me know if you agree? because I'm trying to do mine right now.
Do you need the cooling block or can you stick with your old one Also, does it work with the i3 plus, cause I heard thwe threading is not fitting every MK10 extruder
When you remove the heat block after removing the set screw it does not come out easily for me it seems it is stuck somehow. Any advice on how to fix this?
I think that I fried my stock motor and decided to replace it with what I think is the best option available. I'm going to try to use the MOONS' NEMA17 Stepper Motor 3D Printer 0.33Nm(47oz-in) 1A 2Phase 1.8 Degree Bipolar DC Step Motor 34.3mm(1.35in.) Smooth Silent Stepping Motor (Model MS17HD4P4100) My questions: Are you recommending the tuning of any new motor? The Amperage of my new motor is slightly different from the stock. But will I still seek a 90% full power setting? Thanks, in advance. P.S. I love the clarity of your presentations. Excellent!
Great video!! Just wondering if you know of a 24v version of this laser? It looks like my PSU is 24v, I think this is the change on the i3 plus than the standard i3?
Hi Jim, many thanks for your video, very good. I have a question: What happen if (using the laser driver board) I connect ttl port with out fan on mother board and give power by power supply?
Great video! One question I have is regarding the scavenging of fumes from any cutting process. I presume it's mandatory to have some kind of fume extraction system running whenever you're using the laser would that be correct?
Your rather lucky. I have had nothing but problems with mine. Upgraded to the micro swiss all metal to get rid of my clogging and warping issues with the original extruder. Now if it extrudes it will curl wack the nozzle pop the print off and warp regardless of the leveling.
Jim I'm in the middle of this process...nice video for all the upgrades by the way, the only trouble I'm having is actually exporting the stl for the mount. Is there some way you can publish it other than at OnShape? Like thingiverse or something? Thanks for sharing the tutorials and nice camera work too.
Hi Jim, thanks for posting this tutorial. I will be adding a laser module to my printer but my question is, since you've connected the laser module to the fan connector, how is the software able to understand the path? Meaning, if i were to engrave or cut a donut shape, is the beam able to shut while moving from the inner path to the outer path?
Hi Jim, would you be able to help me out? I have a Maker Select Plus, but my board is slightly different then yours. My board doesn't have an E - motor connector on the board, instead it's powered by a daughter board that the E Motor is connected too. The daughter board itself is powered by a ribbon cable connected to the main board (Marked HotEnd on the main board). I'm trying to tweak the voltage on the E-motor output as my titan aero uses a slimmer less powerful stepper, the slim stepper wont rotate and just vibrates leading me to believe it's an issues with the voltage. Any non wanhao or moon stepper seems to have the same issue.
Mine was a bit off too, Though do remember that when using the hotbed and extruder your values also change, So I did it twice to get it about right when the bed is hot and extruder is heating up. it's pretty quiet now. Thanks for the guide,.
Can you do vector cutting as well as raster sketching? Let's say I want to cut acrylic sheets with etched designs on them. Is this possible with your laser?
Hi Jim, I want to get your laser. Can you confirm me if these steps are right? -You change the power connector of the laser to the white connector. -You connect the laser to the 12v blower fan port -You control the power of the laser throught the commands And you are ready? Did you install something extra or you are using the same motherboard of your wanhao? tks!
Just wanted to drop a line in here to say that doing this made my machine a lot better. Much quieter, much more stable temps, and best of all my extruder isn't running ridiculously hot! The heat creep issues I had are all but a thing of the past. Thanks for the great demo and clear explanations.
a good way to measure how far the heat break sticks up from the cooling block is to use the depth measurer on the end of your digital caliper by placing the end edge flush to the top of the heat break, and let the depth guage go past it to hit the cooling block.
I'm using a flexible material, X60. The problem I faced is that its unable to constantly extrude the filament which I deduced that the extruder did not grip on the filament properly even though I use dial 1. not only that, it also leaked out at the gears. Any ideas to fix it?
I am not sure how it could "leak" because it shouldn't be that hot there. Do you mean the solid filament is going off course and getting jammed in the gears? Make sure the screw is set to tightly grip PLA at 4 if using the later finned version, and those instructions probably work fine for earlier models as well: flexionextruder.com/support/dual-extruder-installation/. Also, I use both v-shaped short PTFE tubes, for the input and output. That may prevent TPU from going off course.
Hi Jim, I have the same crimp gear, the same connector box, but the pins are to short to fit into the crimp gear, how did you do that? Secondly, I have a 2.5W 12DC laser as well, with a little baord insite. If I control the laser via Mosfet over a Servo Pin, it works (5V?) but if I take the 12V FAN0, I get a permanent on. Is there something I have to consider? But the Servo Pin is not free for this, I like to use the FAN0 connector. Forgotten to say, that a direct connection to the killed my transistor on the port.... Because the laser has a current of 0.9A as meassured Thanks in advance Frank
