E3D Lite Hot End Conversion (Page 2 of 3)

Yes - type 5 works well enough (reading 28 deg).

Thanks Carl for help - appreciated!

Follow up:  Prior to installing e3d_lite, my prints were dimensionally excellent.  After e3d install and getting things close to finished, my prints started coming out non-dimensioally correct in the Y-axis.

After reviewing gcode and repetier config and s3D for offset/bias and finding none, I took another look at the printer and found:
The Y-axis belt loose (previously tight and it has metal motor mount).  I tightened it up then discovered the plastic rod holders are cracked (one nearly completely broken).  Even more shocking is the one for the y-axis drive - though not cracked/broken the bearing on the rod is smaller than the one on left side (perhaps by design??) - but, that leaves a large gap between bearing and  plastic holder (photo attached).

Logic suggests as long as it is loaded (pulled toward front) and not moving around, print is correct. And, in fact, snugging things up and holding the rod produced good prints. But, there's enough motion to cause bad parts...

More than anything, it's a testament to poor quality parts in cheap machines...  and, now I truly know why DaVinci deleted the previously advertised/published high speeds the machine can otherwise print at (120mm/s)... Yes, I did print at that speed a few times beginning of the year.   I have a CNC mill and will put it to use this winter...

Yes - go to E3d site to review products...

FYI - read previous posts about the thermistor that comes with it.   It works now but not accurate at all - I'm replacing it with one like DaVinci stock (though I may wind up cutting out the resistor on the board...)

So, do the stock thermistor and heater cartridge both work with the Lite without any adjustment to Repetier ?

I removed the rod brackets, machined new one's.

I cut R29 and used table 8 - However, I have to set the temp to 265 and that's not high enough to print well so, something's awry...  It's not the filament.

It reads the programmed temps and they hold steady but acts is if it's really 180 (I'm using ABS).

Anyone ??

Stock da Vinci thermistor and heater cartridge work fine on the E3D hotend. Not sure why go through the hassle of switching them out also.

It's worked fine so far. I don't print with PLA too much but I haven't had any issues with it the few times that I did.  I have this setup on 3 da Vinci's and they've all been very consistent.

Following up after many hours of tinkering after printing many test parts with the e3d nozzle:

Comparison of Stock DaVinci extruder and e3D extruder using external thermistor (clamped to nozzle by heat cartridge) to measure nozzle temps with the same Repetier configuration.h setup.

In all tests, the e3D never got as hot as original DaVinci nozzle.
I cut the 10k ohm Resistor from motherboard - this brought down the temps even further (significantly) as expected.

I removed temp limits from Repeter and measured Thermistor voltages for temps 20º to 280º and made a calibrated table.  Results compared well enough with Table 5, so I’m using Table 5 as-is.

Having permanently removed the resistor, I tested 40 resistances across the thermistor leads (with fixed resistors) to verify the circuit is equivalent to that with the 10k SMT resistor on motherboard (that I cut out).  Note: I chose to use fixed resistors because the trimpot I used instead took too much dialing in time…  call me lazy.

When finished, the R value that produced similar results as before cutting it from board, is 10k ohms.

Because of Repetiers extruder PID, both the DaVinci and e3D temps were lower than stock DaVinci firmware.  (Note: Repetiers autotune not done on either nozzle for testing.)

I decided to trick Repetier/thermistor by increasing the 10k to 11k, thus enabling me to pump up the temps. This causes false lower temp readings until nozzle is hot. (Meaning, at 20º room temp, it reports around 0º and increases accuracy when hot).  I used a trimpot for the final implementation (just in case I want to trim a bit..)

All is well and working.  But, if there is a ‘Next Step’ it will be to install a resistor or trimpot with on/off switch on the motherboard using the exposed SMT tabs and short lead-wire - I’ll use conductive epoxy and, while at it, I’ll add a micro button switch to reset contacts.  Will mount them near power switch.  Heck, I may even refine the table...
Note - I use the word thermocouple and thermistor interchangeably.

I don't need your resume, I made the comment because too many engineers around here forget that there are average Joes that have no degree and maybe not even a diploma who still buy these printers and still mod them by coming here and following other users progress to do their own mods. It is just helpful for them to be clear and concise on terms to avoid confusion or worse.

ABS 235-245
PLA 15-20 cooler

ABS with the e3d I print around 225 to 245
PLA 200 to 220