Author Topic: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!  (Read 9096 times)

geoff.sim

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #45 on: October 06, 2015, 08:01:32 am »
Mine is all done now. Just need to tune it.
Here is a pic of the finished item.

I damaged the nozzle after reaming it out after a bad blockage, and so replaced it with a HEX extruder.
I also managed to get it to fit in the original location, and with minor modification, the extruder cover also fits.

The PSU is the original one. I am using all 24v, with the exception of the extruder fan (original) and arduino.
these are run off a 12V BUCK convertor).

Very quiet when not in use (and I don't mean off). The case fan is on when motors are running, and 2 mins after.
Extruder fan is on when temp is >35 degrees.

Oh, and it all Bluetooth or SD card printing. No USB in sight!

I have yet to complete the tuning of speed and velocities for good printing, but I am happy with the results.

ssstraub

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #46 on: November 02, 2015, 02:34:55 pm »
Wow that is awesome! Do you have any idea how much the parts cost together?

geoff.sim

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #47 on: November 05, 2015, 06:15:45 am »
I will post my build on a separate thread, shortly.

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #48 on: January 24, 2016, 10:01:58 am »
Last week i stumbled on this forum and started reading about hacks for Cube 2, which i own. So now i'm printing stuff sliced with Kisslicer, bough my first non-Cube filament (not tried yet) and opened my Cube up to fit two cartridge chips behind a switch (jumpers), so i really don't need Cube cartridges anymore. Thanks for the these, my printer just seems so much better now  :).

I stripped all plastic covers off my Cube and i might leave it naked, as it seems that those covers were amplifying to noise. I don't mind about the aesthetics, only the functionality :)

I noticed a mention about lowering the power fed to the steppers using ports on mainboard, to make the printer more quiet. However, i don't have any potentiometers on the mb of my Cube. I did some measurements and one line to stepper was reading about 2.0V, so apparently there's room to lower (if that was the proper voltage anyways...), but just need to figure out how. There are 4 a3979slpt stepper drivers which i believe to be responsible of the current fed to the steppers. Looking at the datasheet, there are two Sense pins which probably control this, so changing those resistors might do the trick. Need to do some measurements. Also, if someone has pots on their Cube motherboard and can send me a picture of the, that might be help.

Also there was a mention about using a Zener diode to block the writes to the cartridge chip. If i'll find a Zener diode, i'll see what it does now that the machine is taken apart.

HittinBottom

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #49 on: February 09, 2016, 11:03:01 am »
I would like to know if you are able to get this thing to print bulk filament.  I never could mine to print with it.  I tried adjusting the gears but it always seemed to not be able to push it through.

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #50 on: February 09, 2016, 11:33:49 am »
I've been printing with bulk filament for a week now. I did need to adjust the gears, because the slightly bigger bulk filament was squished too much be the default gear setting and didn't fit the nozzle. I've had only one failed print out of 20 or so, the filament jammed in the middle of the print. I think that it was caused by me testing some extrusion settings in Kisslicer, because since then no problems.

I've tried two brands of filament, Cel Robox white PLA and Esun black PLA. I also have a roll of black Filaflex, but haven't tested it yet.

Adjusting the gear: on my printer, it was impossible to adjust the gear because the way it's machined. The backside of the gear has the gear's axle protruding and this protrusion then fits a hole in the frame and thus cannot move backwards from it's original position. I needed to file away a bit from the axle so now the gear can be moved backwards more.

HittinBottom

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #51 on: February 09, 2016, 11:37:03 am »
Ok.  Thanks for the quick reply.  If you have the cover off, could you post a pic of which part you did the grinding?  I too have been using the kisslicer software and it works really well.  The only problem I have with this thing is buying their filament.  It makes me not want to even use it.

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #52 on: February 09, 2016, 11:50:28 am »
I'll see if i can get a picture later when the printer is not printing. I need to remove the gear to a picture.

HittinBottom

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #53 on: February 09, 2016, 12:08:01 pm »
I stole the pic from youtube.  Does it show the part you altered?

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #54 on: February 09, 2016, 12:25:09 pm »
Yes, on the right of the box you drew, behind the green PCB (on the pic), is a nut that you must open to remove the part where the gear (or it might be a wheel, i'm not native english speaking person ;) ) is attached to. After you remove it, on the back there's the axle protrusion that needs to be filed.

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #55 on: February 11, 2016, 02:21:42 pm »
Stepper current definitely effects how low loud or 'fluid' it's operation is. I tested this today by altering Vref (which affects the current). I actually had to raise to voltage, which in turn raises the current (if i've understood the chip datasheet correctly).

On my printer, only really loud axis seems to be the Y (the arm where the bed is attached to). I was actually wondering if there's something loose on the arm, especially during the fast moves. After rising the Vref from 0.3V to 0.35V the situation improved considerably, the machine doesn't sound like it's breaking apart :). I've only done this to the Y axis stepper driver, but it might be that that's the only one i need to alter as other steppers don't sound bad.

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #56 on: February 20, 2016, 04:52:25 am »
After further testing, stepper current doesn't have much effect after the 0.3V mark. It does smooth to worst 'jaggedness' a bit, but doesn't fix the problem. I wonder if the Y axis of my printer just is fitted with not-so-good stepper, or if the whole plate attachment system resonates too much, causing the loud noise.

I've been thinking about printing dampeners for the steppers with Filaflex, but i need to plan that as it affects the stepper attachment to frame.

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #57 on: February 27, 2016, 12:51:46 pm »
Printed a dampener with FilaFlex for Y-axis and it works better that expected: Y-axis is by far the most silent of all now. Now to design similar setup for X-axis, i need to do it bit differently due to the differences how the steppers are attached to the frame.

FilaFlex: hard to get printing right, but when succesfully printed, it's very tough material, flexible, but tough. To get it printing properly with Cube 2, spped must be kept low. I had success with max 10mm/s printing speed set in Kisslicer. Faster speed just made the filament bend before the nozzle opening and jam.

Also PETG works fine, bough REAL transparent red. Seem to be getting more warping than with PLA even though PETG should be better in that regards...

Some assorted 3DPrinting pictures: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyosfww7zud15l4/AAAp6i1h_ljRp9sGNML-bRyya?dl=0

soso2

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #58 on: May 26, 2016, 03:39:53 pm »
Thanks for the write up,   
It looks like there's 4 endstops installed?  is this right? from the picture
« Last Edit: May 27, 2016, 06:49:29 am by soso2 »

spegelius

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Re: FrankenCube v0.1 Its ALIVE!!!
« Reply #59 on: June 01, 2016, 01:50:10 pm »
To my understanding, there's only 3 end stops.

Seems that i'm taking the plunge, too. Ordered RAMPS 1.4 and other stuff for other printer that i'm printing (Dollo3d, http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.php?12856-Dollo-3D-Printable-3D-Printer). However, as Cube 2 can be a PITA to operate and quality is bit of a mix of good and bad, even with good slicers, i thought that why not install RAMPS to it and finish the Dollo print with it. So now i'll need to start figuring out Arduino etc., never had the pleasure of using it.

I'm thinking that i'll leave the original cables and connectors as they are, so i can return to Cube 2 mobo (if i ever want to, that is...). I'll make some additional cables that plug in to Cube cables and other ends got to RAMPS. I already have J-Head on my Cube 2 and using bowden extruder so the hw setup shouldn't be a problem. Actually, as i currently need 24V -> 12V conversion the get J-Head working safely, i can forget that bit of electronics.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2016, 04:44:58 am by spegelius »