1 Topic by Ski52

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Topic: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

on a SD2?  My heat bed is intermittent, and I want to replace/repair it.  I can buy a 6 x 6 heat element from numerous places for ~20.00 and up, but none have the mounting holes.  Unless someone has a better solution, I am going to try to solder/weld tabs on each corner of a couple of pieces of 6" x 6" x ~5mm aluminum (the bottom piece having the mounting holes) so I can bolt them together.  I will machine room for the wire connections. 
I can't figure out any other way. 

Suggestions greatly appreciated....

Thanx
Ski

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2 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

Ski52 wrote:

on a SD2?  My heat bed is intermittent, and I want to replace/repair it.  I can buy a 6 x 6 heat element from numerous places for ~20.00 and up, but none have the mounting holes.  Unless someone has a better solution, I am going to try to solder/weld tabs on each corner of a couple of pieces of 6" x 6" x ~5mm aluminum (the bottom piece having the mounting holes) so I can bolt them together.  I will machine room for the wire connections. 
I can't figure out any other way. 

Suggestions greatly appreciated....

Thanx
Ski

They make high temp RTV sold at automotive stores that have copper suspended in to transfer heat. You could also use thermal epoxy. The kind that is used to permanently attach heat sinks. That is also designed to transfer heat.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
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3 Reply by wardjr

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

You could go with a silicone heater that just fits between the screws.  Then add a few layers of fiberglass mat.  Then a thinner piece of sheet metal under that and drilled to match your stock aluminum sheet.  Basically build a sandwich and use the existing 3 bolts and springs to hold it all together.  This is how I configured my 500 watt AC silicone heater on my SD3.  There's enough mass that the heat spreads to the edges fairly well.  And with that kind of power, heat up times are remarkable.  Under 3 minutes from 25 to 105.

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4 Reply by Ski52 (edited by Ski52 2017-04-05 01:37:01)

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

I'm not worried about attaching the heat pad to the aluminum bed.  The Solidoodle heat plate has 3 holes that pass through the heat pad and are used for leveling the bed.  No one seems to make heat pad with the holes.  So, the only way I see is to 'sandwich' the pad between 2 pieces of aluminum.  Will have to sacrifice a couple of mm in build height, but...
http://soliforum.com/i/?SEzYIn6.jpg


Ward - didn't see your post. That's essentially what I plan on doing.

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5 Reply by wardjr

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

Do it underneath and you'll loose zero height.  The heater would need to be narrow enough to fit between the screws.  But if you go with enough wattage and enough mass, the heat will distribute out to the edges just fine.

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6 Reply by pirvan

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

I installed a MK2 PCB heater on my SD3.  I installed it directly on top of the print bed with VHB tape.  VHB tape is designed to withstand very high temperatures, so it won't come off. 

It also provides about 1mm clearance between the aluminum surface and the PCB, which is desirable, as you really don't want the 2 touching because the heater will otherwise end up heating itself as well as the aluminum below which is a waste of energy.

I've had this setup for over 2 years and it's been trouble free.

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/6728/mk2 … -settings/

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7 Reply by Ski52

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

Pirvan I like your set-up, but I can't find a 150 x 150 PCB type heater anywhere, they are all silicone.

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8 Reply by widespreaddeadhead (edited by widespreaddeadhead 2017-04-10 16:31:48)

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

I'm in the same boat, looking to replace the stock heater on my SD2. I found a 150mm PCB heater with standard mounting holes here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-034-X-6-034-H … 1131700535

I noticed that the seller offers to make custom beds for popular printers. I figured it would be a long shot, but I emailed the seller and asked about getting some made for SD2. Will report back with the reply.


Also, while I was looking around I saw geeetech has a 152x152mm PCB heated bed with the mounting screws POSSIBLY in the correct place http://www.ebay.com/itm/Geeetech-Mini-s … 1547243735

Does anyone have their SD2 sitting nearby and can confirm the screws locations match? Mine is at home and I can't check until tonight.

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9 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

widespreaddeadhead wrote:

I'm in the same boat, looking to replace the stock heater on my SD2. I found a 150mm PCB heater with standard mounting holes here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-034-X-6-034-H … 1131700535

I noticed that the seller offers to make custom beds for popular printers. I figured it would be a long shot, but I emailed the seller and asked about getting some made for SD2. Will report back with the reply.


Also, while I was looking around I saw geeetech has a 152x152mm PCB heated bed with the mounting screws POSSIBLY in the correct place http://www.ebay.com/itm/Geeetech-Mini-s … 1547243735

Does anyone have their SD2 sitting nearby and can confirm the screws locations match? Mine is at home and I can't check until tonight.


I would not touch geeeeeeetech with my worst enemies 10 foot pole. They are very cheap and take dangerous short cuts to cut cost.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

10 Reply by widespreaddeadhead

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

carl_m1968 wrote:

I would not touch geeeeeeetech with my worst enemies 10 foot pole. They are very cheap and take dangerous short cuts to cut cost.

Noted and thanks for the heads up! Will continue the search!

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11 Reply by Ski52

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

Dug out my original SD heat bed.  After looking, SD used a 120mm sq silicone pad - no holes, never noticed before.....   Anyway, the measurements, or real close...
The 3 holes are located 10mm off their respective edge.  The spacing between the two is 95mm and they are located 30 mm off the edge (47.5mm from center).  The single hole is centered @ 75mm  I did not take into account the hole width. 
The measurements of the pad you referenced are just about on.  The between the holes measurement of 152mm is wrong.  I will now go look for a 120MM sq pad.
My original SD2 pad - still has some of the fiberglass stuck to it...
http://soliforum.com/i/?NksCjKE.jpg

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12 Reply by Tin Falcon

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

EBay seller 3dheatbeds sells them 6x6 usa made. $15.50




www.ebay.com/itm/6-X-6-Heatbed-PCB-Heated-Bed-for-3D-Printing-/251131700535?hash=item3a789da537:m:mBby8Wr4lsr5b5iLXlxStww

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13 Reply by Ski52

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Re: Has anyone successfully installed a non-drilled heat bed...

Thanx Tin.   Gonna order one.

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