Makerbot #453 : Test on video....

This is a video of my Makerbot printing a 15mm cube.
It take 3 try before it realy start (first 2, the extrusion stoped at the begining).
Ok, I had a problem with the raft but that dosen't change the way it works.
When carefully looking the process, I see that it pass 2 times at the same place before changing the Z.
Also, as you can see, it stop in the corner, stop the motor, restart it with a big splash of ABS before continuing the printing....

Makerbot #453 : again.....

No success :-(
I never did a single full part with it ...
The new RepG 12 show me an error at start up :

Reset.
Motherboard firmware v1.6
Error: payload not big enough.
Error: payload not big enough.

Extruder board: Null version reported!

Ready to print.

Maybe this show that the board is realy defect....
Will try to contact Makerbot Industries to see if they can change it.....

Makerbot #453 : It Print !!!!

Wow, what a great feeling !
OK, I have some adjustments to do but it works.
I wasn't able to print a full Z-Crank since the layers where "bumpy" and the head knock on it.
Next step : adjust the build area to be more on level.

Makerbot #453 : maybe that can help

OK, I will now check all contacts and re-solder it.
Also, To make the Makerbot working I jumped the power supply pins since the 10k resistor didn't works. Now I change that to a 47 ohms resistor.

Makerbot #453 : dreaming of a good printing...

Again, I'm not able to print :-(
I resolved my last problem of the raft not sticking on the base. It was caused by the thermistor table not changed when updating the firmware from RepG. I pushed the firmware with the table from Arduino and it look better now.
Now I really need to find why I have so much problems with my plastruder board.
- No temp. reported to RepG
- Firmware corruption (need to push firmware again)
- "Payload not big enough" error
- Heater + feed motor stopping when printing

A good news, I reduce the noise on the X axis by gluing (little bit of hot glue ) the shaft on the side of the Makerbot. That eliminates the noise when moving.

Hope to be able to print a single part....not just a small portion of it.

Makerbot #453 : worst then ever...

I did some change to see if I can resolve the "payload" error but without success. O even try the latest version (1.7) of the plastruder firmware.

Strange but now i'm unable to print...The ABS don't stick to the base anymore.

.....

Makerbot #453 : First Print....almost..

I rebuild my Heater from scratch. I always have the problem with the temp not showing in RepG. I started with a Print from RepG directly and it was pausing when printing.
Sending the File to the SD card from RepG took about 15 minutes so i decided to put it on the SD from My computer.

Now it's time to print !

I started with this small men ( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:883 )
and the 15mm cube ( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1498 )

As you can see in pictures and videos, I have a problem : Too much ABS extruded at some place.

Also, when printing the cube, the extrusion stoped after 8 minutes but not the process. I needed to reset the Makerbot Mainboard to be able to make it working again... Strange...

Makerbot #453 : Parts received.

Juste received My parts :
2 PTFE, 1 nozle, 5' nichrome, 1 thermistor, 1 heater barrel and High Temp Tape.
With that I'll be able to make two extruders nozles.
I think I will try to change the Acrylic retainer to something like the metal plate at the bottom...

Makerbot #453 : Explosion of the extruder....

After cleaning and rebuilding my extruder I started a new round of test.
Since I didn't receive the M6 nut, the only way to retain the nozle is by the PTFE.
After maybe 3 minutes of extrusion, the heater barrel goes out of the PTFE :-(
Gush ! The PTFE is now full of ABS with a larger hole on the side of the barrel.
I'll need to buy another. Note to me : Find a M6 nut before next test.

Makerbot #453 : When it go bad ....

First extrusion !!!
But after a minute the feed stoped....
The wheel was not enough pushing on the ABS.
Result : ABS burned in the head. Now it's time to remove the head...not realy a easy part. The Tape was burn around the Nichrome wire making it realy hard to remove.
When completed, Time to heat the barrel with the torch to get the ABS out.

Makerbot #453 : No temp reading in ReplicatorG

My Bot can't report the temp to the ReplicatorG software :-(

But When I set it to 50, I can see the LED turn On and Fading off when reaching the 50....

So, I think it's only a communication betweenThe soft and the controler.

ReplicatorG report a "Payload not big enough" error....