Hello Fellow RepRappers!
I have just finished building my second Reprap (Lets just say it was a snap to build! LOL) and I thought I would turn my attention back to my first 3d Printer. Its a CheapO printer kit made by Mistake.
Actually, it is a Linear Delta by Anycubic and it really was a mistake. To date I have been unsuccessful in printing anything larger than a small gear (about the size of a half-dollar) and I am considering some "upgrades". My problem is every time I start to make plans, I get closer to a new machine than I do to an upgrade of what I already have. I would love to hear from the community on what you would do in this situation. BUT FIRST, here are some of the issues I have to contend with.
1. The "Y" Axis stops moving entirely after about 10 minutes and I can only guess why.
There is little to no airflow where the control board is so I tend to believe that the stepper driver is overheating. Why then is it just the Y axis that is affected? I have swapped drivers around but it's always the Y axis that stops moving!?!?
2. The printer is kind of a jerk. Seriously, it's not smooth at all. From the start It will go for 2-5 seconds then stop for a moment, then go and stop, and go go go and stop. It doesn't make any difference if I am connected via USB or if I save the job on the local SD card.
I have read that Delta printers require a bit more than an 8 bit processor. The control board that came with the kit is a "Trigorilla" which they don't even make anymore and I wouldn't buy in the first place anyway. After reading on all the popular types of boards I almost want to get a DuetWifi. Aside from going all out and getting what appears to be the creme of the crop, what other boards have you had success with in a Delta?
3. The Hotend drools, a lot.
When I first start a print and it is heating up, I will get a mess of plastic out on the print bed before the printing even starts. By the time the effector starts moving there is nothing coming out of the hotend for almost 30 seconds. I have played with the temperature a bit but the results are always similar. The cold end appears to still be extruding so I don't think that is the issue. I was thinking of getting a E3d v6 Full or Lite. Thoughts?
4. Bed leveling is controlled by some screws on top of the carriages. The screws hit the limit switches during the homing process so leveling is supposedly achieved by adjusting the screws.
I find this method to be very unreliable. Using a probe seems much more better, but I have no experience with them. Any thoughts from Delta owners on this?
So my plan is to
Replace the board with a DuetWifi
While I am at it, I will Replace the motors with .9° motors to take full advantage of the 256 micro stepping
Replace the hotend with an E3D V6
Replace the extruder just to be sure of quality
Replace the Effector with a Smart Effector also from Duet3D
Replace the glass bed with an aluminum heat bed so I can use ABS
And then... I will have a brand new machine for only 3 times the price I originally paid for it. Or, I can just get a new control board, add some air flow and go from there. But if I do that I might as well get a new hot end; and if I do that then it wouldn't be much more to get the new.....
So how far would you go?
Discuss