Creality CR10-S5 full-size bed heater 

Thanks for your kinds words. I have learned that more detail is better than less, after all, people are watching because they are learning about something new to them.

Glad I could help, I really love the way I can make prints out to the edge of the bed now, and they don't lift up at the corners.

Thanks, I hope to be trying some new prints soon, and will see how they go. I also want to try PETG material.

@@Rako_Studios I recently tried PETG on an older Wanhao machine that I had upgraded to a metal hotend and found it much easier to print with than ABS. although it does struggle with bridging so you tend to use more supports in your prints - If you google PETG printing and bridging issues you should be able to see what I mean

Thanks for the great comment. My printer allowed me to disconnect the original pad and still set the program temp below room temp. I didn't know about the extended cable set, that would be a big help and let me get the control box built with the cable feeder the correct way.

I mounted the pad so that the cord comes out the back left corner. Then I bring in the cord from that corner too. It does not get anywhere near the Y-axis belt, but it does rub on the frame, so I inspect that area of the cord every use. I love your idea of printing some guide blocks, very clever. I will revisit this cord issue and I hope I can avoid these problems. Thanks for the great comment.

Congrats! I have a pal that is trying that carbide glass but it's always good to remove weight from the moving part of the machine. Hope it works out.

@@Rako_Studios have you had to dial down the stock Acceleration and Jerk settings?

The Wham Bam systems are so good. I tried them on an Ender 5 plus system and not only does the system heat much faster than the old thick glass plate, but it also distributes the heat better, holds prints MUCH better and prevents warping, and lays flatter than the glass did even when new. The Wham Bam plate is actually how I came to decide on buying a CR-10S5 bed for my custom machine so it will be just a drop in placement rather than doing something completely custom.

I like your idea of stiffer springs. They would make the bed less sloppy. Adding weight to the bed will always risk missing steps at fast speeds, but I believe you if you say the motor can handle it. I would love a 1/4 bed plate so this interests me a lot. I even looked at specialty flat aluminum sheet like "Cast Aluminum Tool & Jig Plate" from Midwest Steel and Aluminum. This might be a great upgrade. Thanks for the comment.

Oh man, you have the exact setup I dream about. They are widening the road and my power goes out every month. With 5-day prints, that can be devastating, even it it is just a few seconds drop out. I wanted to battery-backup the printer, but like you say, this heater won't run for long. If the heater is powered with AC, you might be able to put a diode in series with it, and cut the power in half. That is a design project in itself. It's dangerous since it is high voltage, and you will need a heat sink for the diode that is sized for the current and voltage. It will make the heater slower to heat, but 1300 Watts is overkill for me. If I put an enclosure around the heater, it will need even less power. Good luck with your setup, and congrats on that UPS.

@@Rako_Studios Thanks for the diode idea. I did some research and saw some other tutorials on it for things like soldering irons and I think it has a lot of potential. I will probably wire it up in a switch in case I want the extra heating power at first and then turn it on low where the PID settings are tuned for. Yeah, UPS systems are great. I bought mine a while ago because I figure it's better to spend $100 at costco now rather than worry about losing a $100+ print due to a power outage even though we have pretty reliable power here. Extra bonus of it cleaning up the signal of the power. I also have one on my resin printers just in case and they could probably go 5-6 hours if the power ever went out. Assuming the little 100 watt enclosure heater I'm making isn't turned on.

Yeah, I am doing a big house project right now, but when it is done, I plan on diving back into the Creality, thanks for your comment.

Your welcome, I figured everyone must worry about getting that stick-on heater aligned right. Good news is I did a test print and that big print is no longer lifting up on the corners-- it is dead flat. I left the washers out of the bed spring setup, and I got a good first layer on the first try. I set the gap to 0.010" = 0.25mm. I got it close cold, did it again with bed heat (75°C). Then turned on the hot end nozzle heat (210°C) and set the gap again. It was tight in the center, but it worked out OK. Hatchbox PLA from Amazon, and it did not get brittle sitting in the machine for 6 months. Bad news is the Creality axis rollers got dented sitting so long, so now the printer goes thunk-thunk-thunk when it moves in X or Y. I hope this gets better over time, otherwise I will have to replace the rollers and maybe not set them so tight.

Right now there are no other upgrades I can vouch for since I have not installed them myself. There is one setup where you put pulleys on the top of the Z ball-screws, and a belt between them. This keeps the X-axis flat and saves having to tram it out every time you turn on the machine. I also think about getting auto bed leveling, but from what I can tell, it is still important to have the bed almost level rather then trying to comp things out in software.

When the military applications used countersunk screws on thin panels, the screws were not hard-threaded into the frame, but rather, there was a little nut that floats in a captive cage. The nut could align to the countersunk screw perfectly, so the screw would not back out under vibration.

@@Rako_Studios thanks a lot for the explanation, will check for more info on the matter. Also, please try to build an enclosure for your S5. I just did with mine and I am still with the first big print on an enclosure, but I am 20 hours in and no adhesion problem so far, and I still need to install a new bed heater like yours.

I used the same file I did for printing with the internal heater control. I set the bed temperature on the external box and waited the few minutes for it to stabilize. Then I went into the control menu of the Creality control box and changed the bed temperature to under 25 degrees C, ie room temperature. That fools the Creality software and the print will start, as long as the set nozzle temperature is reached.

The heater pad I bought comes with it's own temperature control box. You plug it into the wall and set the temperature on the box. They warn you to not turn on the heater until after you attach it to the bed, I guess the silicone pad might overheat if it is not stuck to an aluminum plate. So then you have to "fool" the Creality control box so that it prints even though it's old heater and thermistor is no longer connected. I do this in the Creality control panel, by overriding the bed temperature setting that got set in the slicer software. I set the temp to under room temperature, maybe 20 degrees C. That way the Creality control box will start the print since it has satisfied the bed heat criteria. Of course, before you do this, you make sure the new external heater is up to temperature. That only takes a few minutes, so it is pretty easy to do.

I used the same Simplify 3D file that set a 75-degree bed temperature, but natch, it won't start printing since the control box well never see an external heater. My trick was to go into settings, after the file was loaded, and change the bed temperature to under 20 degrees. Then the software thinks that that the bed is at set temperature, and off the print goes. For my particular box, I power it on and I get the info screen. Then press the control dial once, rotate the dial to "Control" and press again. Rotate the dial down to "Temperature" and press the dial again. Rotate down to "Bed" and one more press. Then you can dial in some low temperate that is under what the temp is on the info screen. On my box in an air-conditioned room, the info screen shows the bed at 21 degrees. If you do the Info>Control>Temperature>Bed menu and set it to under 21, the software thinks the bed is at temperature, and the print will start.

Motors clicking sound like they might be skipping steps. Make sure the cords that go to the new heater are clear and free to move without snagging, and the old heater being disconnected has no effect on my motors, sorry I can't be more help.

@@Rako_Studios Thank you so much for the reply! This is the conclusion that I came to as well, but am still unable to explain why it was happening as there was no snagging and it was happening on all the steppers for all of movement axis - very strange! After a couple of days of troubleshooting, I installed new firmware and totally disabled the stock bed and thankfully this has solved the problem.

@@3dprintit4me Don't you hate when things "heal" on their own, and we can't be sure what was causing the problem? So glad you got past this, and congrats on the firmware upgrade, I should do the same.

@@Rako_Studios While frustrating to not know the exact cause I am mostly just relieved that now I can get back to printing on the machine! I can only assume that in the older versions of the firmware there was some kind of safety check that needed the bed to be plugged in. Would highly reccomend doing the update as I'm now getting better quality prints too!

Oh, that is a great observation, I can see those extrusions pulling heat out, especially as the bed moves back and forth. The silicone heater is a kind of insulator, at least it separates the aluminum bed from the extrusions, but an insulator under the rails would be even better, and maybe even some insulation around the extrusions. Good idea!

I tried insulation and while it did reduce the time it took for the bed to reach temp, it definitely did not result in evenly distributed heat to the edges. FLIR imaging showed the heat distribution was still centered under the stock heater. I just installed the 510x510mm AC heater in this video (and insulated it) and it is FANTASTIC. No comparison with the stock heater. PLUS, it heats up to 80C in literally 60 seconds! 👍 😎

Dude, I remember you and had tried to think where we worked together. I remember you saying a house costs and extra 1000 a month with garage doors and roof leaks. I think of you every month. Didn't your wife work at GE Atomic? Get ahold of me on LinkedIn and we can reminisce.

Note the extrusion for the bed support has a notch in it so it clears the Y-axis stepper. Be sure to look at all four pieces to find the one that is carved out to clear the stepper and make sure that is in the right place at the back of the bed. It's close, but it does clear. Everything cleared for me, but I also feel the cable is heavy and you have to make sure it can slide over the frame with no interference. Adding the pad does not lower the clearance to the frame or stepper as much as it raises the bed a bit higher. You may have to fiddle with your Z -axis stop switch so the Z axis stops with the nozzle just touching the bed, so you can then adjust it for level. Good luck! I am glad I did the upgrade, no more warped prints.

@@Rako_Studios the spings still rest against the bed, so it didn't raise my bed at all. All it did was lowered the aluminum frame a couple mm. Got it all setup and working. Was a piece of cake.

Yeah, it was a cost-saving measure to be sure. I guess once they go to a big heater, then they need more power, and then everything costs way more. This heater plugs into the wall and is not in direct control of the Creality control box, but it works so much better than the stock little heater.

Sorry, now that it is working OK, I need to hang onto it. All I did was add the large bed heater, so that is not too hard an upgrade. Thanks for the comment.

Sorry, I can't really provide free instruction on a one-by one basis. If you have a specific question I can try to help, but there is a big learning curve with 3D printing. I, and everybody else, have watched hundred of hours of videos and read manuals and played with the slicer software until we get a print. I had to struggle with a loose pulley and other problems before I could get a print. Then I had to install the big bed heater to stop some warping problems.

@@Rako_Studios yeah I got it figured out and watching your videos helped drastically thank you

It might be DOA (dead on arrival). Mine turns on the display the second it is plugged in, I don't see a power switch anywhere. You might be able to pull the rubber boot back and check to see the AC connections are OK, but only if you know what you are doing so you don't get shocked or killed.

Wow, sorry you are having problems. The manual with all the abbreviation setting stuff is here: www.keenovo.com/Keenovo-Digital-Controller-Manual.pdf I was lucky, mine just worked out of the box, but only for a little PLA. I bought some PETG to try, and will report any heater problems with that. The heater did solve my main problem, the lifting of large prints at the corners. Thanks so much for the comment, I will try to learn about these problems and will report on them as they come up.

I just adjusted the cord so it would slide along the frame with a big loop so very little pressure against the bed. So far so good, I hope my luck holds out.

Well the stock Creality has no thermal runaway protection so I feel I will just have to trust the controller. You are right to be concerned, since this heater is much more powerful and can really overheat the bed. My thinking is that if the output transistors shorted on this controller, or even in the stock controller built into the Creality, I would smell the plastic getting hot, even if I was in the next room. No matter what, the print would be ruined, since turning off the heat usually releases the print from the glass. I guess you could buy one of those thermal cut-out switches and mount it maybe to the aluminum undercarriage of the bed, and route ac power or the output of the control box through it, but thousands of people are using these controllers with success with no thermal runaway protection. Thanks for the comment.

Sounds like a short or an open circuit in the thermistor connection to the box. Those are the smaller stiff wires that measure the temperature at the pad. Let's hope that the screws that attach the wires to the control box are just loose, that would be a simple fix. If not an obvious wire attachment, maybe the thermistor itself came apart at the pad. I don't think you could fix that, you would have to send it back for another unit. Most of these Chinese heater bed makers are pretty good about sending replacements. Sometimes they just send you one for asking, without needing you to return it. Good luck, I hope it's a simple fix.

I use Simplify 3D so that lets me set the bed temperature under 25 C so that the print starts as soon as the nozzle temp is reached. Still, I have been leaving the bed temp at 75 C in Simplify. I don't mind having to reset it with the control box every time, since that reminds me to make sure the external heater box is up to the temperature I want.

Oh, I love necroposting. It reminds me to do some more videos with the printer, thanks for the comment.

I used the same Simplify 3D file that set a 75-degree bed temperature, but natch, it won't start printing since the control box well never see an external heater. My trick was to go into settings, after the file was loaded, and change the bed temperature to under 25 0r 20 degrees. Then the software things that that the bed is at set temperature, off the print goes. For my particular box, I power it on and I get the info screen. Then press the control dial once, rotate the dial to "Control" and press again. Rotate the dial down to "Temperature" and press the dial again. Rotate down to "Bed" and one more press. Then you can dial in some low temperate that is under what the temp is on the info screen. On my box in an air-conditioned room, the info screen shows the bed at 21 degrees. If you do the Info>Control>Temperature>Bed menu and set it to under 21, the software thinks the bed is at temperature, and the print will start. So very sorry, I should have made a video of this-- I did some test prints months ago, and never did the follow-on video to show the good results.

Not sure what you mean Seth. If you are saying you bought a used printer that has a full-bed external heater like this, well what you are seeing makes sense. This external heater has it's own box and plugs into the wall separately. When you remove the "old heater" that was originally with the printer, the control box can no longer read the temperature, that is done by the external control box for the big bed heater. What I do is make sure the bed heat is stable and where I want using the little external box. Then I go into the Creatlity control program where it lets you over-ride the temperature settings for bed and nozzle. If it lets you set it below -14, that should "fool" the Creality control box into thinking the bed is up to temperature, and the print will start. Otherwise, you might connect a resistor between the pins on the socket on the Creality control box, so that the control box will see a positive temperature. If you pick the resistor so that the box thinks the bed is hot enough, the print will start as long as the nozzle temperature gets high enough. Otherwise, any temperature that you can over-ride by hand, so maybe the box thinks it is 28 degrees, you go into the setting and make the print bed temperature 25 degrees. The big deal is that the real bed temperature is set with the little box that comes with the full-sized bed heater, and you plugged it in and waited for the little box to show the bed is at the temperature that you set it. I hope this helps. Adding a separate bed heater is a bit of a hack, and you have to hack some other things to get the print started.

@@Rako_Studios That makes sense, I knew the orange box was controlling the heat of the bed, I just couldn't figure out how to get the control box to not read -14. I plugged in the old bed and it fixed it obviously, but the moment I took it off again, it went right back to -14. I'll try and see if I can fool the box into thinking -14 is right, but I want to say when I tried last time, it only let me get to 0 and wont let me go under that temp.

Yeah, it always seems like there will be some suffering when we dig into these cheap 3D printers.

Sorry not to follow up. I did print the first quarter-inch of the engine case and it did not pull up at all, though I did have a small 3-pass skirt still around the periphery. Problem is, the engine case where I had the problem was a 4-day print, and the first print taught me I had to do a lot of design changes, so I did not want to waste two rolls of filament on something that had design errors in it. I did not reprogram the part, where you can just say to print at room temperature. Instead, I went into the Creality setup and just changed the bed temperature to below room temperature or whatever the reading was with no factory bed heater hooked up. One thing I like about this separate heater is that when the printer runs out of filament, the heater stays on, unlike the way they program the controller with the factory bed heater. Same for a short power fail. The bed comes right back to heat, before the part cools down and separates from the glass. Nothing you can do with a long power failure. On these big parts, the shrinkage is usually enough so the part just comes off the glass and you can't keep printing. I would like a UPS for the heater and printer, but that would cost a ton for such a high-current heater. Since my county is widening the road by my house, the power has been going out a lot, so I have not been anxious to start any more 4-day prints. When I fix the design errors and get a good print, I will be sure to do a follow-up video.

@@Rako_Studios - I just ordered a 10-5S and the heating pad as well as stabilizer bars. I like your channel because I am doing something very similar to you (large auto parts) so I need adequate tolerances.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Gp9Q7WQyLEg.html We are both from Cleveland Ohio, so it might be our Midwestern accent more than looks.

The heat swings 20 degrees causing prints to peel off the bed

I agree the instructions are really useless. Mine was set up OK, it holds to within a couple degrees, but that is something you can set, but sorry, I sure can't figure out how, so I didn't even try to change that. Try finding other instructions on the web maybe, or hopefully someone has done a video.