But considering I've already done this, and I'm probably the only one to have done so, I think I'm in a position to comment on the pros and cons of doing a copper bed:

On the plus side, because it conducts heat better than any other metal (except for silver), it heats up fairly fast, and heat dispersal is more even, much more so than Aluminum. 

While it can be scratched, with a knife, it 's not nearly soft enough to bend or warp.  In fact it would be impossible for me to bend that piece without some kind of tools.   Since we're on the subject of hardness, Copper is harder than aluminum.  Not by much, but on Mohs hardness scale, Aluminum rates somewhere between 2.5 and 3, while Copper is a 3.0.

I've had it for over a year, and it has yet to tarnish.  It still looks just as pretty as the day I installed it.

On the cons side, there's the cost.  At $50 for a 8" x 8" x 1/8", it's pretty expensive.  The other problem is the weight.  Unlike the aluminum bed which weighs about 9-10 oz, this beast weighs almost 3 pounds.

And then there's the fact that while it's still installed on my SD3, it's no longer being used in the heating solution.  I'm currently using a PCB heater that sits on top of, and offset from the bed, so it's no longer a factor.

its used in Batterys and thermo limits heat activated etc. sometimes in conjunction with other alloys/metals

In order to be a bimetallic strip, it by definition *must* be combined with another metal.

Copper alone does not exhibit bimetallic strip behavior.

copper is a bi-metal which means its more prone to warping when heated/cooled also.

I think you're thinking of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimetallic_strip

Had pirvan stuck a copper plate to an aluminium plate, then yes he would have a warping problem, as the thermal expansion of the two metals (hence "bimetallic") is different.

As it stands, being solid copper only, not an issue.

copper is a bi-metal which means its more prone to warping when heated/cooled also.

Nope.

copper is a bi-metal which means its more prone to warping when heated/cooled also.

Copper is an element, not a bimetal in how I understand a bimetal. Not sure what you meant though?

great stuff - I'll get the rest of the stuff together next day or so for the wider audience...

But at least for the moment you're up and running with the new firmware   Thanks for testing that

No problem, thanks for all your help.

But at least for the moment you're up and running with the new firmware   Thanks for testing that

Ok - now - silly question too btw - You don't have RH connected to the printer when you try and upload? If you do - arduino won't be able to open the comport - I often make this error

Now - I haven't finished my greater wide community solution - but I have put something together that I'd be keen for you to test. I'll PM you the details.

NO, I did try it once just to see what kind of error I'd get and I got "COM port in use".

Anyway, check you PM.  I tried the app you sent me and it worked perfectly.

Now - I haven't finished my greater wide community solution - but I have put something together that I'd be keen for you to test. I'll PM you the details.

BTW, thanks for all the help.

I had to go back through my posts, and it looks like I got the printer back on 4/9/2013.

I believe the problem was solved by then - so cool.

This more or less says you have a bootloader - so this is good (the bootloader that 'waits' for a few seconds to see if it needs to load new firmware every time you reset the board. Connecting via serial causes a board reset... QED, the pause means the bootloader is running)...

This means its fixable without need for a programmer. Stay tuned!

There's a 3-4 second delay when I connect.