3D Printing 3D printer plunge

gorillamotors said:

No.

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Any evidence in your router that the Pi still has a IP address? Sounds like your Pi may be baked.

Quick question to the Prusa Mk3 owners in this thread. I finally got mine today and am wondering how hard they are to move once built? I'm thinking of building it at home over the holidays and then taking it to the office. Are they sensitive to being moved around a lot? Any special precautions I should know about if I do move it?

Thanks all,

Tony

matthewdlaudato said:

Any evidence in your router that the Pi still has a IP address? Sounds like your Pi may be baked.

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My router stills shows the Pi there but it is 'inactive'. I also think that the Pi may be fried!!

manixFan said:

Quick question to the Prusa Mk3 owners in this thread. I finally got mine today and am wondering how hard they are to move once built? I'm thinking of building it at home over the holidays and then taking it to the office. Are they sensitive to being moved around a lot? Any special precautions I should know about if I do move it?

Thanks all,

Tony

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They are quite sturdy once built and easy to pickup using the Z axis frame itself. I have moved mine around from room to room and although it's not a car ride I would have no issues doing so. Of course YMMV depending on the road conditions but I would say under reasonable road conditions you should be fine. Having said that I would be inclined to place it in the passenger seat beside me and buckle it in, vs. throw it in the trunk.

Besides the only component that could need realigning would be the P.I.N.D.A 2 probe and that is easy to do once you get the hang of it. The rest of the components align themselves.

gorillamotors said:

My router stills shows the Pi there but it is 'inactive'. I also think that the Pi may be fried!!

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That is likely what is called the ARP cache or the assigned IP out of the DHCP pool, which will stay until the lease runs out. Basically what might be a ghost image of the device at this stage. I bet you have tried this but does the device respond to ping?

Leo said:

The 3 B+ comes with an integrated Ethernet port.

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I guess I should have read the specs better.

gorillamotors said:

My router stills shows the Pi there but it is 'inactive'. I also think that the Pi may be fried!!

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That is likely what is called the ARP cache or the assigned IP out of the DHCP pool. Basically what might be a ghost image of the device at this stage, can you ping the IP

cwbullet said:

SILC3R is definitely not the best. Simplify3D has the best quality of the ones I have tested. Second best would be IdeaMaker. Cura is a close third.

Simplify3d is probably not worth $100.

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So I picked up Simplyfy3D and I see what you are talking about Chuck. I have not delved too deeply into any one package, Slic3r, Cura or Simplify3D but have taken more or a wide view and your assessment is inline with my observations. Out of the box Slic3r is the place to start for Prusa users, but it appears to be more limited than both Cura and Simplify3D. Cura seems to create the best results at least with PLA and the Alloy 910 Nylon by Taulman, but the bed adhesion and supports options are limited compared to Simplify3D. Of course once I have a deeper understanding on the different options I fully expect to improve on the print quality of the packages so things may change.

One thing anyone who plays beyond Slic3r will notice is the behaviour of the printer on startup and end. Below is an end script of G-code that I found works well in Simplify3D. If you are not familiar with "uncomment" or ";" which is akin to a "remark" or "rem" from DOS batch files, it simply means anything after that is not a command and should be treated like a comment and not code. So if you wanted to play around with codes you could simply turn them off or on by adding or removing a semicolon in front of each code. The space after or before the semicolon is not required for syntax it is inserted just for easy reading. The comments after the code are typically left in place simply to comment the function of the code.

; End code
M104 S0 ; extruder set to 0° C or off
M140 S0 ; bed set to 0° C or off
G92 Z0 ; relative movements on Z axis
G1 Z10 ; raise Z by 10mm
G28 X Y ; home X & Y axis
M84 ; disable motors
M107 ; turn off fan

Keep in mind when using a relative position on the Z axis that this assumes that you have 10mm left in the Z axis after your print, so it may not work for you or work in every scenario. There are other options like retract etc. that you may want to add to your end code and there are other ways to effectively do the same thing such as M106 S0 sets the fan speed to zero or off. This is all new to me as well so I would love to see examples of what others have tried or used and why.

For those who want to dive deeper into G-code a good place to start is here https://www.reprap.org/wiki/G-code or for a higher basic level here https://www.simplify3d.com/support/articles/3d-printing-gcode-tutorial/

I finally got my printer back up with a Meanwell power supply. I am waiting for Prusa to send me a replacement. It appears that there is a quality issues with some power supplies and 110V power.

mpitfield said:

That is likely what is called the ARP cache or the assigned IP out of the DHCP pool, which will stay until the lease runs out. Basically what might be a ghost image of the device at this stage. I bet you have tried this but does the device respond to ping?

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No it doesn't. It shows 'Destination host unreachable'. My new one is due to arrive Monday and I will see what happens. I can't believe that the Pi 3B+ is good for only 2-3 weeks. Is there a warranty on it? I haven't checked yet.

gorillamotors said:

I can't believe that the Pi 3B+ is good for only 2-3 weeks. Is there a warranty on it? I haven't checked yet.

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I agree that would not seem right. I am dealing with my first Pi, the Zero so I do no know anything about the warranty except I found the following, so there is a warranty. At least you may end up with a spare, which is not bad.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/troubleshooting-guide/faulty-pi/
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.c...-i-find-out-if-my-pis-warranty-is-voided#8894

BTW, have you looked into the pi.org forums, there is a lot of talk of no booting issues with this Pi but lots of ideas why.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1303254

I ordered mine through ADAFruit. It is my third. I have had one fail prior to using on for Octoprint. It died at about 45 days. They replaced it.

In regards to R-Pi's failing. It sounds like the CPUs are getting cooked.

I would strongly recommend installing a heat sink onto the CPU like Adafruit's version (Here).

And if want max heat transfer to the heat sink, I recommend a 2-part thermal adhesive instead of the thermal tape that comes pre-applied on most heatsinks. I have used Arctic Silver's ASTA-7G (Link) with great success on several GPU repairs/upgrades during my BOINC years.

Arctic Silver also produces non conductive version of their adhesive made with aluminum oxide and boron nitride (Link).

As always, shop around for the items listed above. Prices very significantly between vendors/eTailers.

Edit: I forgot to mention that stock R-Pi cases will need a cutout over the CPU for clearance of the heat sink and/or venting.

If you determine it is overheating and if you do not want a heat sink, I addeded an enclosure with a fan.

cwbullet said:

If you determine it is overheating and if you do not want a heat sink, I addeded an enclosure with a fan.

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Hey CW,
I'm not being argumentative but a fan as an alternative to a heat sink has drawbacks, especially in regards to small packages like the ARM Cortex series SoCs.

SoCs:
They have a very small surface area, hence very little thermal mass. this makes them harder to cool.
The external package material is plastic which alone does not transfer heat well.
Relative to their size/surface area, they can generate a lot of heat.

As to fans, the most critical issue when used to cool small SoCs is the fan's hub. This hub creates a vortex, and if placed directly over a SoC, can actually allow it to get hotter. If you really want to use a fan then it should be mounted off-center so the fan blades pass over the SoC.

Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk here. Just want to help others get the most out of their hard earned cash.

P.S. Fan + heat sink = ultimate cooling performance.

Understood. I actually agree with you. I did not have room for a heat sink. I would have preferred one.

My first case has less than ideal air flow and not room for a fan. I replaced the case with one with better ventilation holes and a fan. I brought my temp down 10-15 degrees with just this change.

Tobor said:

Hey CW,
I'm not being argumentative but a fan as an alternative to a heat sink has drawbacks, especially in regards to small packages like the ARM Cortex series SoCs.

SoCs:
They have a very small surface area, hence very little thermal mass. this makes them harder to cool.
The external package material is plastic which alone does not transfer heat well.
Relative to their size/surface area, they can generate a lot of heat.

As to fans, the most critical issue when used to cool small SoCs is the fan's hub. This hub creates a vortex, and if placed directly over a SoC, can actually allow it to get hotter. If you really want to use a fan then it should be mounted off-center so the fan blades pass over the SoC.

Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk here. Just want to help others get the most out of their hard earned cash.

P.S. Fan + heat sink = ultimate cooling performance.

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Hmm I am starting to rethink mounting my Pi internally and may go with the external mount option. Either that or modify the existing case design to open the back up and properly mount a 50mm fan over the Pi with a heat sink on the CPU.

I have had mine operating for 4 months now and the fan has never failed me. I have a 40mm noctura.

cwbullet said:

I have had mine operating for 4 months now and the fan has never failed me. I have a 40mm noctura.

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Chuck which Pi are you running?

3B+. Until recently, I could nto find a case that would allow me to add a heat sink. I have a 3.5 inch display, thermometer, and fan in the case.

cwbullet said:

I finally got my printer back up with a Meanwell power supply. I am waiting for Prusa to send me a replacement. It appears that there is a quality issues with some power supplies and 110V power.

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I've had good luck with several of those type power supplies. However, in two out of three that I've opened up, the heatsink was loose. The FET's are clamped to the inside of the case and that's the heatsink. It's just the sort of thing that would allow it to pass factory testing, then fail a few weeks later in use. Tightened up, I've had none fail.

cwbullet said:

I have had mine operating for 4 months now and the fan has never failed me. I have a 40mm noctura.

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Good choice there. Noctua is hands down one of the best fan makers out there.

cwbullet said:

3B+. Until recently, I could nto find a case that would allow me to add a heat sink. I have a 3.5 inch display, thermometer, and fan in the case.

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What case did you get? Photo?

Seems as though this is where we are posting 3D printed rocket stuff so I'll leave this here. Should it be in the EX forum? It is a casting rack.

If anyone is interested in the .stl you are welcome to them. I have not used this yet so I cannot comment on its overall usability but I cannot see why it wouldn't. Its very robust feeling and holds the casting tubes and mandrels very good. I should note that I have casting tubes in ODs of 1.252" for 38mm and 1.821" for 54mm. It can handle both 38mm (with 3/8", 1/2" and 5/8" cores) and 54mm in (5/8" cores). I can make accessory caps for other size mandrels as well per request. The design consists of top and bottom rack pieces, bottom accessory centering caps, top accessory centering caps, 38/54mm adapter and a tamper head that fits onto standard 1/2" PVC for 38mm casting tubes. I'll be adding one for 54mm tubes as well. I'm not real sure how this tamper will work with propellant at this point. I hope to test it out soon. Currently I'm using hollow aluminum coring rods from lowes. I have some solid ones from Granger that I need to cut to size. I have two different style bottom caps, one for the hollow tubes and one for the solid ones. So far, the hollow ones seem to be very sturdy with the bottom cap design. I'm open to improving suggestions.

I printed it on an MK3 in blue Hatchbox PLA 0.15mm ht, 215 nozzle, 65 bed temps. 10 solid layers top and bottom, 3 perimeters, 40% grid infill. It's very solid for sure. You can print both the top and bottom of the rack on a single bed and then all the accessory items on another. You can make almost 3 of these from one $17 roll of PLA. The mandrels were $8 for a 3' section that I cut into 3 pieces with a simple copper tube cutter. As mentioned, the handle for the tamper is standard 1/2" PVC.

Those ate pretty awesome

Here is the link for the casting rack

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3298856

BryRocket said:

Here is the link for the casting rack

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3298856

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very Nice and usable ...

I'm running a Raspberry PI 3 B+ with one of my printers as well. Designed my own light weight case for use with an Ender 3. The PI has small heat-sinks mounted and a PI fan powered by 3.3V (to keep it silent) yet cool. It's working great so far.

Nice design, Leo.

to deviate a bit.. and as a public service message...

Take care when you remove support material. I've had one co-worker cut himself with an X-Acto knife, and a few others destroy a print as removing the material broke the model (We design sheet metal parts, and use the printer to prototype parts; brackets, plates, boxes, etc.. so they can be easily broken when manhandled or "wedged' apart..)

And I'm removing my support material from a print, and I thought.. how many others have injured themselves while trying to remove the supports..

take care!

And on that note, a flat blade screwdriver is usually a better/ safer tool to remove the supports!

cwbullet said:

If printing PETG, avoid SLIC3R. I use primarily Cura and IdeaMaker unless I want supports. For supports, I usually use Simplify3D.

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So I received my Prusa PETG and I really like this material. The results are more impressive than PLA and Taulman Alloy 910, although each has it's purpose and I will use them accordingly.

Attached is an optimized PETG S3D "fff" profile that you can import into Simplify3D (S3D). It likely works just as well with other brands of PETG, however I have only used it with the Prusa brand. With this profile I don't even have to do anything to get the model to stick to the bed, and once it cools down it simply pops off with no effort. Kind of crazy how well it prints.

Please download and try, and if you like or improve it then please let me know.

Enjoy!