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Topic: Bowden attempt

Had some down time to muck around with the printer, and figured on the next clog I would try to cobble something up using much of the supplied parts from other solidoodlers. I don't know much about these setups, but figured any decrease in weight on the printer head would be good to decrease the over-shoot and flex as mentioned by IanJohnson in the speed improvement thread here http://www.soliforum.com/topic/495/speed-improvement/ .

I was surprised to find that the extruder motor is only secured to the platform through the use of the extruder parts and 2 long bolts. So I wouldn't be surprised if the nozzle is being tilted forward and back during quick movements.

The tube I'm using is 1/4" as it was the only size I had handy, but it seems like I will need to get something smaller as the filament tends to compress and bind up in the tube. The extruder motor didn't seem to have any problem though pushing the filament a longer way to the extruder nozzle.

Figured I would post now even though it's not done just to get some talk going. Would be interesting to hear or see other peoples attempts, and maybe just get a thread going to increase the knowledge for myself and others.

Do you think there's value to the mod, or would it be better to just secure the extruder motor more fully to the rest of the printer head assembly?

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/vince7c95/SD2Bowden_zps2e966a6a.jpg

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Re: Bowden attempt

There would definitely be value... I've been anxiously waiting to get to this mod. Can you show some more pictures. Like how do you have the hot end mounted?  How is the motor mounted?  Looks like you are using Lawsy/Jeffery's design?  Nice to see someone get the ball rolling on it.

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Re: Bowden attempt

That is really clever, using the existing designs for that.  You could even use the original acrylic extruder completely as-is, and only take off the nozzle and heat core.  Then make a clamp for the tube that threads onto the brass barrel.  It would mean getting a new hot end for the carriage of course, but some people already have dead ones lying around.

Mounting on the back is preferable of course.  Maybe with a clip that grabs motor from the side.  If you have RAMPS or an Azteeg, is would be pretty easy to go from here to a dual extruder.

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Re: Bowden attempt

What material is the tube? Did you have to change slic3r/skein forge settings?

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Re: Bowden attempt

The tube is usually PTFE, and Bowdens require longer retraction distances and higher speeds since the filament flexes a little when it gets pulled back.   As we start playing with Bowdendoodles I suspect the biggest problem will be oozing.

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Re: Bowden attempt

How's it print? I really like that you've gone ahead to just try it.

I also am part of the many solidoodlers who have been contemplating it, but you just went ahead and did it big_smile.

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Re: Bowden attempt

I like that if I contemplate a mod long enough, it gets done.  I wonder how long I'll have to contemplate adding a second extruder.

8 (edited by timp610 2013-01-06 00:56:37)

Re: Bowden attempt

Id like to try a remote motor with a flex shaft driving the gear on the carriage. There are a few low backlash possibilities

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Re: Bowden attempt

or a hydraulic drive using midrange pressures similar to model RC heavy equipment that would keep thing pretty light and small Like this--> http://www.rctruckandconstruction.com/s … php?t=5826 it can be made fairly small and light most parts out of aluminum or some even out of poly or similar material. Both pump and motor can be made similar for ease of manufacturing and with a closed loop system reversing is simple also smile

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Re: Bowden attempt

hahah this looks cool! keep us all updated

11 (edited by vince7c95 2013-01-09 13:29:44)

Re: Bowden attempt

Jooshs, I am using Lawsy's extruder parts on the motor, and Tek's for the hot end. The motor is mounted using a camera mount that was designed for the solidoodle that I found on thingiverse. The only parts that I had to make myself was the fake peek part which was used for securing the ends of the tubing.

Elmoret, the tube I had originally used I think was made of polyetholene. I have not changed anything in the settings yet as I have been having trouble to get it working still.

I was unsuccessful at finding a 1/8" I.D. tube that was not made of vinyl in my area. What I did find was a throttle cable meant for a lawn mower I think. The sheath from the throttle cable is what I'm using right now; it's basically a long spring. I was able to put the 1/4" tubing that I originally had onto the ends of the throttle cable sheath to make it fit without having to change everything to fit a smaller tube.

I am able to extrude now, sort of. It'll extrude up to a point, but then the motor starts to skip or something. If I put my finger on the end of the extruder motor shaft I can feel it turning and then snapping back. Does this mean I would need to add gearing to the extruder motor so that it has enough torque to continue pushing the filament through?

I am hoping to make this work without having to change anything in the firmware as that is outside my realm of knowledge. Do you guys think it would be possible to just add another extruder motor inline with the current one? I know I would have to upgrade the power supply, and sense I have seen posts of others upgrading the power I figured that shouldn't be too big of an issue. I figure adding another identical motor inline would make splicing up easier and allow me to not have to change anything in the firmware due to gearing.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/vince7c95/SD2bowdenmetalcable1_zpsc0ea0426.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/vince7c95/SD2bowdenmetalcable2_zpscfe63b46.jpg

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Re: Bowden attempt

There's a lot of headroom to run higher current on the extruder stepper motor. You could try bumping that up a notch.

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Re: Bowden attempt

Elmoret, I am unfamiliar with how I would go about doing that. Are the instructions for that sort of thing? Thanks

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Re: Bowden attempt

vince7c95 wrote:

Elmoret, I am unfamiliar with how I would go about doing that. Are the instructions for that sort of thing? Thanks

http://www.solidoodle.com/how-to-2/troubleshooting/

About halfway down.

I'd say you could take the extruder motor to 0.3v without thinking twice about it. Beyond that, I'd start wondering if there was a better way. Beyond 0.45v, you may begin to overheat the motor/windings.

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Re: Bowden attempt

Thanks Elmoret, I'll check it out now and see what happens.

16 (edited by vince7c95 2013-01-07 10:40:18)

Re: Bowden attempt

Well I finally got to a point where I was able to print something out. With Elmoret's suggestion to turn up the trimpot the extruder motor is now turning well and not skipping. I ended up having to turn up the current to (.358); hopefully that's an okay number. I have not messed with anything in the firmware. All the parts are from existing solidoodlers' designs with exception to the fake peek which I'll post mine when I can get around to making the changes needed to the part design as I had modified the part with sawing and drilling after it had been printed. Unless you guys would prefer the unmodified part so that you can manually modify it yourself as needed for your own materials that you have on hand.

Now I can finally get back to printing and seeing if there are other issues I have not come across yet.

(update: After attempting to print another part the motor started to skip again. Back to playing with the trimpot).

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/vince7c95/SD2bowdenworking_zps4e26e1ac.jpg

17 (edited by jefferysanders 2013-01-07 14:09:20)

Re: Bowden attempt

The non-acrylic tensioner (you were trying to print) gave superior grip when compared to the factory part...especially the one I have marked for provoking extra bite into the filament...it might be a perfect for this where you need to make sure you have control of the filament over longer distances.  I also think this if you can get it working will be the best approach to adding more extruders for the SD2.

18 (edited by vince7c95 2013-01-09 07:47:06)

Re: Bowden attempt

Well I turned the trimpot for the extruder up to .417 which is the highest I'm comfortable with leaving it at until I hear back from the solidoodle guys. I was hoping they could tell me what the highest setting I could safely turn it up to. I know Elmoret said .45 would risk burning the windings, but I'm just hoping solidoodle will tell me that higher is okay. I would have thought that since the extruder motor is physically bigger than the x and y motors that the extruder motor should be able to go as high as those, but that's an assumption based on no knowledge of these things. I can't look up the info for the motor either as there is no sticker or markings on it for me to look up.

I have been playing around with the skeinforge setting and have gotten to print some test parts with out much issues. The only problem that still exists is the extruder motor still skips or gives out during the first initial layers it puts down with same results whether I use a raft or not. I have been trying to turn down the flow and feed rates so that the extruder isn't trying to push the filament through so fast as some other folks from another forum were saying the slower speed could help prevent the motor from giving out.

Jefferysanders tensioner arm seems to have helped a little, at least at first, but still having issues with the motor skipping or cutting out.

I also tried repositioning the extruder motor placement to decrease the amount of bends the filament has to take before reaching the hot end but still no luck.

I read that others have increased the nozzle temp to alleviate this issue, but I am reluctant to go any higher than 205 since solidoodle says not to go over 210. Has anyone attempted higher temps with the factory hot end and peek? Is 205 the highest I should take it to?

And while we're on the topic, I may as well ask as this has been bugging me... what is the purpose of the peek? Is it just to hold the brass barrel? Does it act as an insulator to prevent heat from spreading to the rest of the parts? Is there any reason why I can't just use something else that won't melt so that I can print at a higher temp?


Thanks

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Re: Bowden attempt

There might still be too much friction in the tube.   The standard for these is PTFE.   You could also have a look at Airtripper's Bowden extruder on Thingiverse. There may be some subtleties to this that the standard extruder isn't suited for.

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Re: Bowden attempt

Thanks Ian. Ya I suppose I'll have to go ahead and order some of the proper tubing. This was suppose to be just a test I guess anyway to see if it was worth ordering the actual materials.

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Re: Bowden attempt

Well good news finally. Just printed the first part to not have any extruder problems. I ended up moving the extruder up to about the same height as the xy carriage whereas before I had it a bit lower down. Now I'll just back track through the settings and start resetting things back to default to make sure I don't have anything changed that doesn't need to be. After all that's been reset I'll do a print using one of those "test your settings" test prints to show you guys the results. Hopefully this has fully resolved the extruder problem of cutting out on me.

The extruder is on the upper left side mounted using erector set parts
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/vince7c95/SD2bowdenworking1_zps362d0911.jpg

The test part I had been using is a camera mount for the SD2 frame, but I'll do a better print test file later on
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/vince7c95/PICT0142_zpsc9db0452.jpg

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Re: Bowden attempt

Thanks for pushing this forward!

23 (edited by elmoret 2013-01-09 16:42:39)

Re: Bowden attempt

Is there a model number on the stepper? I can't see one on mine, but I also can't see the bottom.

Do you have an IR thermometer? How hot does it get not moving? If the casing is under 45C or so, you can keep pushing it.

24 (edited by vince7c95 2013-01-09 18:05:41)

Re: Bowden attempt

No problem cmetzel, it's been fun trying to get this thing working; plus now I have a better understanding of what the settings do in skeinforge.

Elmoret, unfortunately there is no model number or sticker that I can see on the motor, but the motor doesn't seem to be getting too hot. I can keep my finger on the motor when it's running, and when it's not moving it feels like it's at room temp, like if I place the back of my finger on my wooden desk and then to the side of the motor casing they feel like the same temp, (I don't have an IR thermometer).

When you say, "keep pushing it," are you referring to the trimpot adjustment?

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Re: Bowden attempt

vince7c95 wrote:

When you say, "keep pushing it," are you referring to the trimpot adjustment?

Yes.

Touch the x-stepper motor. This one is being pushed beyond mfgr max spec by about 30%. Solidoodle support doesn't see a problem with it, an I don't know of any failures yet.

Touch the y-stepper motor. This one is right at max spec, from Solidoodle.

I'd say as long as your extruder motor is cooler than your y-stepper, you're doing alright. It helps that there's heatsink and fan on it. 0.45v or 0.5v should be fine, as long as the temperatures stay down. I'd guess manufacturer max spec is ~.50v on that motor, specified without additional cooling.

Have you thought of switching to a wade's extruder sort of setup, with 3:1 gears?