Replacing extruder feed with Greg Wade's version

I've had a good deal of trouble getting long prints from my 3DP02 3D from Heacent (http://heacent.com/en/index.htm).

The nozzle would clog and just stop extruding. It appears the filament would get stuck and I'd end up with shavings around the drive gear. I couldn't figure out if this was due to the filament crossing on the spool and getting stuck there or if the hot end would just clog up.

After I played with it for a bit and fiddled around it was mostly just the hot end, but I don't know if it got clogged because it wasn't feeding correctly from the spool and had gotten clogged from my prior issues. In any case after much fiddling the spring arm broke. I epoxied it once, and printed another. But it just broke again. I replaced it with the printed one and that one broke too.

I'm inclined to replace it with the Greg Wade version which seems much sturdier. I've looked about a bit and I don't have solid answers for some questions I have.

1) Would I need to update the firmware on the Melzi board to accommodate the Greg Wade feeder mechanism? It looks like I would only need to update the firmware if I changed the stepper motor model. Is this a correct assumption?
2) Should I also update the hot end since it seems like some of the problem exists there?

In any case, thank you for your attention to this and let me know if I should provide any further clarification (pictures or whatnot).

James

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1) Would I need to update the firmware on the Melzi board to accommodate the Greg Wade feeder mechanism? It looks like I would only need to update the firmware if I changed the stepper motor model. Is this a correct assumption?

yea you have to tweak the E steps,a good hobbed bolt like RAPTOR be handy to have around.

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2) Should I also update the hot end since it seems like some of the problem exists there?

there's some good all metal ones I changed to all metal never looked back.

I've seen some images 3DP02 3D from Heacent installed hotend " j head clone". what's striking firstly is the position of the fan just dam right dreadful for either cooling the print or removing heat of the peek of the HE. Secondly more concerning is the over use of Kapton tape wrapped around the peek of the hotend, and if that's the norm then they are wrong because all its doing is trapping heat in the peek,"heat creep" causes the fila to swell and jam, this is well known

[www.stlfinder.com])- thats a better solution for prints but you want a 30 mm fan on the peek for those 4 hour prints " google "hotend active cooling"

have you looked at a bowden set [www.thingiverse.com] [www.thingiverse.com] am having a ball with it, and it takes the weight of the carriage.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2016 05:23AM by jinx.

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you have to tweak the E steps

Does this only apply if the stepper motor model is changed?

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the over use of Kapton tape wrapped around the peek of the hotend

I wondered about that. If I removed the Kapton and secured the wires differently, would it be worthwhile to clean it? Right now, plastic has gotten all around the inside of the Kapton and near the nozzle and it's a mess.

Thank you for your help and references.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2016 09:10AM by jimbolaya.

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Does this only apply if the stepper motor model is changed?

its early in the day to be changing steppers I think. reason the E steps may change is the gear ratio between the old and new." there's a little maths involved calibration well worth a read or two. if you do change motors then you may have to tweak the pot on the stepper drivers

for the Kapton tape remove it from the peek, but remember that's the only thing holding the thermistor in place so ensure that the tape wrapped round the heater block , is rock solid and tight. " you not be the first to have a melt down if the tape came lose.