1 Topic by Don9mm

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Topic: What board is best for DYI printers?

I'm working on building an OrdBot and was going to use an Ultimaker 1.5.7 board. I started with a SainSmart board that was defective, then bought a board from China that arrived in used condition and has the wrong size power jack.

I give up. These boards don't appear to be popular enough to be in great supply and I don't want to pay 200 Euros plus shipping and import fees to buy one from the price gougers at Ultimaker.

I liked that the board came stock with LCD jack plug ins. I plan to use Cura and was sort of figuring using a board designed by the folks who put Cura together made sense. So much for that.

I don't have enough experience with these things to be considered as anything other than a tyro, but have soaked up at least a little bit of information through some fairly intense research.

Is the Ramps 1.4 a good choice? And, if so, what manufacturers make the best products? (SainSmart is NOT on my lest of possibilities).

I'm thinking Ardino Mega 2560 compatibility is important, but am not sure is that's pretty much standard on all boards, or if it's something I should look at on those that aren't.

As close as I can tell, the Ramps board requires an adaptor for a LCD. Is that likely to be a problem?

Are there other good choices? I realize the question is somewhat subjective as folks tend to love or hate things for a variety of reasons, but I'd appreciate any opinions anyone has to offer to see if anything in the way of a consensus seems to show up. Pros and cons are appreciated. Thanks.

2 Reply by wardjr

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Re: What board is best for DYI printers?

I am a big fan of the Rumba. It costs more but it is loaded with features and multiple connectors (screw terminals and pins).  The board itself is very robust and simple to flash firmware.
It supports multiple (3) extruders and has headers for 2 fans that can be controlled in various ways.  The heated bed circuits is separate so you can run another PSU just for that if you'd like.
Over all I'm very satisfied with the Rumba.
They can be found at RepRapdiscount.

Printit Industries Model 8.10 fully enclosed CoreXY, Chamber heat
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3 Reply by Don9mm

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Re: What board is best for DYI printers?

wardjr wrote:

I am a big fan of the Rumba. It costs more but it is loaded with features and multiple connectors (screw terminals and pins).  The board itself is very robust and simple to flash firmware.
It supports multiple (3) extruders and has headers for 2 fans that can be controlled in various ways.  The heated bed circuits is separate so you can run another PSU just for that if you'd like.
Over all I'm very satisfied with the Rumba.
They can be found at RepRapdiscount.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'd have a hard time buying anything from RepRapDiscount, though. There isn't anything they sell that you can't find the same thing elsewhere for anywhere from 20-80% less, plus I've seen way too many negative comments about the quality of their service. For example, I paid $409 for the OrdBot kit I'm working on where RRD charges $500. I couldn't find any Rumba boards on Amazon, but you can find Ramps 1.4 boards there for as low as twelve bucks.

IMO, 3D printers are about where personal computers were 20 years ago. I paid a grand for my first PC, with its whopping 1.7 gig hard drive. The last one I bought had a 500 gig drive and I think I paid $249.

Oh well.

4 Reply by wardjr

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Re: What board is best for DYI printers?

How about the Azteeg X3?  I've heard good things about those as well and it supports 4 extruders.  Unfortunately RepRapdiscount is the only place to get the Rumba that I am aware of.

Printit Industries Model 8.10 fully enclosed CoreXY, Chamber heat
3-SD3's & a Workbench all fully enclosed, RH-Slic3r Win7pro, E3D V6, Volcano & Cyclops Hot End
SSR/500W AC Heated Glass Bed, Linear bearings on SS rods. Direct Drive Y-axis, BulldogXL
Thanks to all for your contributions

wardjr's Website

5 Reply by dubbsd

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Re: What board is best for DYI printers?

I have used the Azteeg x3 it is easy to set up and runs great.
below is the link.

http://www.panucatt.com/Azteeg_X3_repra … ax33dp.htm

Ultimaker S3.

6 Reply by Don9mm

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Re: What board is best for DYI printers?

dubbsd wrote:

I have used the Azteeg x3 it is easy to set up and runs great.
below is the link.

http://www.panucatt.com/Azteeg_X3_repra … ax33dp.htm

Thanks for the tip. That's one I hadn't looked at.

Part of what I'm up against is I'm not familiar enough with the technology to get my head wrapped around the differences that would make one board different or better than another.

I gather most boards are more or less some kind of Ramps variant, and most (but not all) either piggy back on the Mega 2560 or have it built in.

I'm going with a single extruder as that's all I really need and I'm already out where I don't belong, so simple is better. I'll be using a 12 volt power supply. i can see where a board that's beefed up to handle more would be a plus no matter what one uses, but it's not essential on this round. I'll be using a LCD with a card reader, so being able to plug that in is a biggie. I liked that the Ulitmaker board has that part built in, but I can get an adapter for Ramps.

I looked at Rambo boards, but kind of got lost on the technical side of it. It all gets blurred together after awhile, but if I remember correctly, that was a board that doesn't use the Mega 2560.

In any case, I appreciate the feedback. I might sort of rephrase the question if anyone wants to toss in their two cents worth. Is there anything a Ramps board doesn't do with the above in mind that is likely to make it less suitible than something else?