For whatever reason, we had 2 components on our 3D printer fail at or around the same time. The first was the RUMBA board, which is what controls the stepper motors that drive the X, Y and Z axes as well as the extruder. The second was the hot end, which stopped heating up due to a failed resistor.
The first thing I dealt with was the RUMBA board. Our printer is under warranty, so they sent us a new board, and it was a relatively easy switch. There are quite a few connections to the RUMBA, so I took a picture before removing the old one.
Replacement RUMBA board before install. Not that the new board does not come with motor drivers, of which there are 4. (one for each motor) They are easy to remove and plug right into the new RUMBA |
Multimeter showing 14.5 volts going to the hot end |
Since now I know where the problem lies, I had to figure out how these extruders work, being that this is all new to me. It turns out they are very simple devices. A hollow nozzle made of brass, with a milled aluminum block to conduct heat, and a 6.8 ohm resistor that does the actual heating. A 100k ohm thermistor provides the temperature measurement. It's all held together with some sort of high temperature putty and kapton tape.
Measuring the current across the resistor revealed that no current was passing through, so there was the problem. I did a bit of research, and found out that the resistor used is this one right here:
http://www.newark.com/vishay-sfernice/rwm04106r80jr15e1/resistor-wirewound-6-8-ohm-3w/dp/73M8369
6.8 ohms, 3W, They were cents apiece. We bought 10. A few other things we bought were some high temperature wire, PTFE insulation, and some new connectors. I chose not to try to salvage the old connectors or wiring, since it was quite easy to reconstruct that whole setup. Keep in mind when working with these, that everything needs to withstand some pretty high temperature. The putty that used was muffler putty used on car exhaust systems, it's good up to 500ยบ C
Re-assembled hot end ready for testing |
3D Printer interface with temperature graph, showing that everything is working as it should. |
So now that I've finally got the last 2 arms printed, I can go ahead with the final assembly of the drone.
Back to business! |
I realize there isn't a whole lot of actual "drone" news to speak of in this entry, but this is all part of what it takes to get us where we want to go. But we are pretty much finished printing now, so we are getting very close to assembly and test flight.
Did you stop the build? I realy want to see the rest of it!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely didn't stop the build. I got too busy to work on it for a bit, but in a couple weeks or so that will calm down a great deal. I have been working on it some though, I actually tried to test fly the thing. (Didn't get off the ground just yet) I'll do an update soon. Thanks!
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