Changing SeeMeCNC's Orion Delta Heating Resistor Element

Created By: Joshua Bryant

     As an avid user of my printer it was only a matter of time before maintenance becomes a factor. Although I have to say this printer has required little to no maintenance since I've owned it, so this is the first real part change that has had to be done.

     Changing the heating element in your 'Hotend' is a very easy task and can be done with a few essentials including replacement parts. My method uses a blade connector instead of a permanent butt connector. I used this method so that future maintenance will be much easier (and possible).

Equipment and Supplies

1.   Permatex RTV Ultra Copper High Temp Silicone – This is used for sealing the element inside of the hotend. When applying, remember to be generous. It’s used as a heat sink compound to conduct heat from the resistor to the aluminum, so any air bubbles will diminish the effect. Air gaps will shorten the life of your heating elements by making them work harder to achieve temperature.

3.   Kapton Tape – This is for protecting the wires from contacting the element.

4.   Heating Resistor – These are the heating elements we will be replacing. Remember to buy two of them; they essentially have about the same life span, so don’t go through all of this work twice and replace both at once.

2.   Blade connector and receptacle – Using a disconnectable connector will make future maintenance more of a ‘Plug-n-Play’ experience.

Disassembly & Repair

     A majority of this part of the guide is covered by a video made by SeeMeCNC. Please review the video below for details on removing the old elements.

Personal Tip: Ensure that the leads from your resistors are straight and in line with the resistor. If they are angled or curved they may end up touching the aluminum when putting them into the hotend (which may cause a short).

Personal Tip: To ensure that there wouldn’t be any air bubbles I first filled the hole will silicone before passing the silicone covered resistor through. It was a bit messier, but I think it gave me a better installation.

Personal Tip: When installing this I gave the element silicone 48hrs to cure and the thermistor silicone 24 hrs to cure. Installation Method

1.     Remove hotend, old resistor elements, & pulled out thermistor.

2.     Installed new resistors

3.     Waited 24hrs to cure

4.     Shaped the resistor leads, attached the connectors.

5.     Installed thermistor with fresh silicon.

6.     Waited 24hrs to cure.

7.     Reassembled and began printing

Installation Modification: When you get to the part where you connect the butt connector switch this out to a blade connector & receptacle (connecting the blade part the wires). This modification will allow you to easily change the element in the future. If I hadn’t done this method I would have been left with no wire to change this out a next time.

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3D Printing Filament: Basic Review

Created By: Joshua Bryant

     As you know there are plenty of filament suppliers out there and when hunting down the best deal you can run into some really crappy filament. This review will be continually updated as I use more filament throughout time.

General Tips

1. Stay away from eBay - This is one of those sites where your going to be taking a huge gamble on the quality. With one bad roll you'll toss any savings right out the window. Choose a reputable supplier for your filament
2. Not all colors print the same - When switching between colors from the same filament supplier you may have to adjust print settings. This is normal because the chemical makeup of the filament changes with the different dyes, levels, and types.
3. Use a controlled environment - This is more of a printing tip than a filament tip, but make sure you enclose your printing environment. I have my printer in a mildly ventilated enclosure made from hanging plastic in a tent like fashion over my printer. This helps prevent lifting on corners and uneven cooling which can cause warping.

Completed Experiences

Supplier: SeeMeCNC

Type    : PLA

Size    : 1.75mm

Color   : Blue

Weight  : 1kg

Cost    : $39.00 +Shipping

Roundness     : ~5-15% deviation

Size Dev.     : 1.73-1.76mm

Consistency   : Roll was good from start to finish

Melt Viscosity: Thicker

Cool Viscosity: Rigid

Overall Opinion:

     I really liked this filament, it printed very well. It liked printing at medium speeds (40-60mm/s). I used temps between 205C-210C on the extruder and 55C on the bed. It bridged ok, but like to lift a little on overhang edges. I had no clogs or breaks throughout the entire roll, but I found it a little pricey for the quality.

Buy Again?: I probably wouldn't buy this again because it prints slower than I would like and its a little pricey.

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Supplier: SainSmart

Type    : PLA

Size    : 1.75mm

Color   : Black

Weight  : 1kg

Cost    : $32.99 *Free Shipping

Roundness     : ~18-35% deviation (not so great)

Size Dev.     : 1.72-1.78mm (not so great)

Consistency   : Roll was good at the start, but got brittle towards the end.

Melt Viscosity: Runny/Liquidy

Cool Viscosity: Rigid

Overall Opinion:

     This filament was ok for the price. It liked printing at very fast speeds (65-100mm/s). I used temps between 205C-210C on the extruder and 55C on the bed. It had a tendency to develop little 'goobers' here and there due to the diameter inconsistency. The one bonus was that the roll had quite a bit more length then the normal 330m, I got ~410m out of the roll before cutting my losses on the last 10m or so. It got so brittle at the end that it broke into little segments inside of my guide tube (which was a nightmare to remove).

Buy Again?: I won't buy this again because it prints a little messy and turned into a pain in the ass at the end of roll.

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Supplier: Amazon: RioRand

Type    : PLA

Size    : 1.75mm

Color   : Black

Weight  : 1kg

Cost    : $29.99 *Free Shipping when you buy 2+ rolls

Roundness     : ~10-15% deviation

Size Dev.     : 1.74-1.76mm

Consistency   : Consistent diameter and viscosity all the way through. I had no breaks throughout the entire roll.

Melt Viscosity: Smooth

Cool Viscosity: Rigid

Overall Opinion:

     This filament is great for the price. It likes printing at very fast speeds (65-100mm/s) or medium speeds (40-60mm/s). I used temps between 205C-210C on the extruder and 55C-60C on the bed. It bridges fantastically and leaves very nice finishes.

Buy Again?: This is my primary supplier of PLA.

Ongoing Experiences (haven't finished roll yet)

Supplier: Amazon: RioRand

Type    : PLA

Size    : 1.75mm

Color   : Dark Grey

Weight  : 1kg

Cost    : $29.99 *Free Shipping when you buy 2+ rolls

Roundness     : ~10-17% deviation

Size Dev.     : 1.73-1.76mm

Consistency   : (N/A)

Melt Viscosity: Smooth

Cool Viscosity: Rigid

Overall Opinion:

     This filament is great for the price. It likes printing at very fast speeds (65-100mm/s) or medium speeds (40-60mm/s). I used temps between 205C-210C on the extruder and 55C-60C on the bed. It bridges fantastically and leaves very nice finishes.

Buy Again?: This is my primary supplier of PLA.

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Supplier: MakerGeeks.com

Type    : TPC "Thermoplastic Co-Polyester" (Marketed as Flex EcoPLA)

Size    : 1.75mm

Color   : Black

Weight  : 0.5kg

Cost    : $45.95 +Shipping

Roundness     : ~8-12% deviation

Size Dev.     : 1.76-1.8mm

Consistency   : (N/A)

Melt Viscosity: Thick & Smooth

Cool Viscosity: Flexible

Overall Opinion:

     This filament is very finicky and doesn't like printing outside of its ideal temperature ranges. If you print too cool your layers peel apart easily; too hot and you'll get major warping. Its also hard to keep stuck to the bed, so I always make sure to model a 0.3mm thick flat on the bottom of every job(easy to trim off) to give it more surface area to stick too. I print at 214C at the extruder and 62C-70C on the bed(62C for the first 15 layers and 70C for the rest). Print with 100% infill, so far I've had the worst results with partially infilled parts.

Buy Again?: I will definitely be getting some more of this. It's super expensive, but extraordinarily versatile.

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Supplier: Recreus.com

Type    : FilaFLEX (Thermoplastic Polyurethane)

Size    : 1.75mm

Color   : Purple

Weight  : 0.5kg

Cost    : $16.90EURO +Shipping (I won it free in THIS contest)

Roundness     : (N/A)

Size Dev.     : (N/A)

Consistency   : (N/A)

Melt Viscosity: (N/A)

Cool Viscosity: (N/A)

Overall Opinion:

     (N/A)

Buy Again?: (N/A)

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Improving Arc/Circle/Model Resolution

Created By: Joshua Bryant

     Achieving smooth and consistent arcs/circles is a goal many of us strive to achieve in our prints. As an engineer in the machining world I would simply make sure to utilize G2/G3 movements, but I haven't been able to achieve this in my 3D printing software. I also realize that this wouldn't be feasible using the '.stl' or '.obj' file type because of its faceted structure, which technically would only allow for a calculative arc.

     The method I use for creating smoother arcs/circles is by enhancing the facet resolution. This increases the number of facets generated on the arc feature making the slicer heighten the number of movement points and thus improving the arc’s circularity. This can be done by adjusting the files export settings.

     There are Pro’s and Con’s to increasing the STL file's resolution. Both high & low resolution files have equal value, determining which resolution you require is dependent on your available hardware and applicable needs.

Higher Resolution

PROS

Tighter dimension tolerance (improved accuracy)
Smoother surfaces
Increased circularity in arc & circles

CONS

Larger file size (takes longer to process)
Increased code generation (requires more memory)
Greater ‘wear-&-tear’ (increased gcode = more line segments = increased stepper motor wear)

Lower Resolution

PROS

Smaller file size (quicker to process)
Minimal code generation (requires less memory)
Less ‘wear-&-tear’ (decreased gcode = less line segments = decreased stepper motor wear)

CONS

Lower dimension tolerance (decreased accuracy)
Increased surface angularity
Decreased circularity in arc & circles

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3D Printing Tips: Strength, Accuracy, & Efficency

Created By Joshua Bryant

Configuring & optimizing the printer

     The first and most important steps to a successful print is making sure your printer is aligned and your settings are optimize to the material being used. 

• Align your print bed and/or level your Z-Axis plane
• Calibrate your print head (this varies per printer manufacturer)
• Know your material!  - I suggest printing a good calibration set to do this (one that I use can be found HERE on Thingiverse) *NOTE: You will need calipers

• + Shrinkage compensation - You will need to understand your materials shrinkage rates so that you can model to accommodate them.
     Example: If you have a 3mm bolt for a printed hole you would want to oversize your modeled hole so that when the part cooled it would measure 3mm after shrinking.

• + Bridging ranges - Some materials can bridge longer distances than others, so its good to know ranges for understanding your model limitations. Bridging quality and distance is greatly affected by the extrusion temperature and print speed settings.
• + Size & Shape - Each material will have a different quality rating, so for the best results always measure by hand in multiple spots along the filament. Make sure you apply the average of your findings to the filament diameter variable. *NOTE: If your filament is a bit oval simply average the major & minor diameters; ie: If it measures 1.77 & 1.75 then use 1.76 as the diameter.
     Example: Below is a measurement from a small segment of Flex EcoPLA, this material tends to run on the bigger side of the 1.75mm standard (short review).

• + Speed, Flow, & Cooling - These variables are crucial for tuning to each material. There are many combinations you can make with these variables, finding the sweet spot is critical. For me a good configuration will give me quick printing speeds, minimal drooping on bridges, smooth walls, & fully filled floors.

• Air Temperature Management - Another key component for a good print is maintaining a constant air temperature with no air drafts. Without good air control you can experience lifting and curling on your print (print-bed temperature also effects this). Air control can be accomplished in a few different ways.
• + Covering Printer - This is the method I use. Some people cover their printers with a cardboard box, but I find this method insulates the heat too much and I don't like that it removes visibility. So for my enclosure I simply used thin painters plastic and draped it over the printer like a tent. It keeps air temperature constant and prevents any air drafts.
• + Printing Room - For those who have the space, time, & money you can construct a printing room to isolate your air temperature.
  
  *Note: With either method make sure to separate your filament from the enclosure. Although you want you air around the part to be constant and warm, this can be hindering to the filament. Warm filament (especially flexible types) will begin to warp and become less ridged under heat, this can cause extruder jamming.
• Model for manufacturing - When designing something always take its 'printability' factor into consideration. An ideal model should be able to be printed without support using as little material as possible to hold design intent. This is not always possible, but the closer you stick to an ideal print the easier & more cost effective it will be to make.

A better design for a better print

     The major factor for a good and accurate print is to have your models designed for printing. As discussed above, the design of your model will have a direct correlation with your material's abilities. 

• The base - The bottom of your model needs to have enough surface area to keep the model stuck to the print bed. For some materials this isn't an issue to be concerned about, but for others(like Flex EcoPLA) you may have to accommodate. For materials that don't like to stick you can print on a raft or use the skirt settings to help adhesion. The alternative method that I use myself is to model in a custom skirt(one layer thick) to help keep the model adhered.
     Example: This is a rubber boot made for a motor cycle transmission cover. As you can see I modeled on a custom floor that can be easily trimmed away to help keep the part attached throughout the printing process.     

As you can see below, the Flex EcoPLA wanted to curl so bad it started pulling up the tape.

*Personal Tip: I like to coat my painters tape with an Elmers glue stick then pre-heat the bed on 60C for 3min to get it good and tacky. This is one of my most useful tricks for keeping the part good and tacked to the tape.

[Now I just have to figure out how to keep the tape tacked to the bed at these higher temps]

[Using a plastic putty knife I was able to firmly seal the tape to the bed; Success! No lifting]

• Overhangs - When printing overhangs make sure to stay within your bridging limitations. There are several ways to enhance your overhang quality.

• + Add rounds or chamfers to bottom of an overhang to reduce the bridging distance

• + Add cross-section supports

• + Modify your settings - Adjust the print settings; decreasing extrusion temperature, increasing cooling, & raising the print speed. This will allow the strand to setup a bit quicker reducing the drooping effect on the overhang.
• Thin objects - When printing small pegs or posts add rounds or chamfers to the bottom edges. This will add a lot of strength to the design and keep your peg or post from just snapping off.

• Gears & Sprockets- Printing gears is one of the tougher objects to print because a lot of problems can occur in the design process. Whether it be a lack of teeth strength or poor mating between gears, many woes can arise. Printing a successful gear requires a little more engineering & involvement then most prints, but once you figure it out you can create some really cool creations (see rotary powered disk sander). Below are some key factors to take into consideration when creating gear components.
• + Accuracy - Printing gears requires great accuracy. The diameter needs to be just as accurate as the teeth's depth, width, & pitch; otherwise you will get a bad interconnection between gears. If the connection is too tight it can cause unnecessary resistance(and heat) or if there is too much of a gap it will lead to the gears striping out.
     Example: The gear I printed below needed a +/-0.1mm tolerance to function properly as a helicopter gear replacement. As you can see, I had to print many iterations to get it just perfect.

*TIP: A good trick to save material is to print just the first 10 layers of the gear to test the fit of the teeth before printing the full gear.

• + Strength - Designing and printing a strong gear is just as important as the gear's size accuracy. To improve a gear's strength certain print settings must be adjusted. In your slicing software look for the 'wall thickness' variable and change this value to 1/2 the tooth's greatest width. This will ensure that the teeth of the gear are solid & strong, you don't want any infill to occur in the teeth of the gear. This can be checked by reviewing the pathing carefully within your slicing software.
     Example: Below is an image depicting the ideal path you want to see in your teeth.

• ++ Another way to increase a gears strength is to thicken the gear's width, thus giving more surface area for the teeth to grab on to.
     Example: For the sanding tool I created, I designed the gears wide and thick to handle the heavy duty application.

• + Heat Management - Like most all moving parts there is going to be heat generated. This is our greatest enemy when it comes to working with 'plastic' gears. Not all gear systems will need heat management, like actuating gears for levers and channels. For all other gears & sprockets that are constantly turning heat will become a factor. Below are some tips for keeping the heat generation to a minimum.
• ++ Add a bearing to the design - Roller skate bearings are a cheap and effective tool when building gears. Simply design an inset for the bearing to fit into.

• ++ Create a bearing - For those pure DIY projects you can also make a bearing for the gear. Using aluminum or some other smooth strong material you can design your own bearing.
     Example: In the rotary sander project I used the hollow shaft of an arrow to act as a simple bearing between the bolt shaft and the printed hole.

Overview

     As you can see 3D printing can be a great hobby and is a skill that simply just takes some practice to better at. You will find 3D printing really opens up some fun adventures in your life and can even save you some good money as you get better at designing. Below are some examples of things I've built & fixed to save me money.

• Crashed my $200 helicopter; Fixed it with 3D printed parts.

• Hard to find rubber transmission cover for a motor cycle; Cheapest I found if for was $70, printed it for $15 (*note: this was a two piece assembly)

• Old XMOD car was always chewing up batteries; Printed a new body and added a LiPo battery to power it for over 6hrs non-stop. It drives better then ever and even has LED headlights now.
• GoPro Mounts and Accessories; Retail $20-$50, I print for $5-$10
• Chip Clips
• Fasteners
• Stackable Storage
• Tent bracket; My grandfather's hunting blind broke a small plastic bracket that held the coupler together, he called the company and they said he'd have to by the whole coupler assembly for $49.99 +Shipping. I printed the bracket for less then $2 and repaired the coupler in less than 20min.
• Spools, holders, & wraps for wire, filament, hose, tubing, rope, cord, & meshing.
• Pegboard accessories; Dispensers, brackets, and other tool holders

And so much more, its all up to imagination and ingenuity to drive the next creation :-)

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Multimeter base station w/ storage

Multimeter Base Station w/ Storage   Created By Joshua Bryant

     This is another of my more highly used projects. When using a multimeter I find myself having to prop it up so that I can see the display. I also never like just laying the testing leads on the table (especially when testing amps), so I've created this handy little multimeter station. Please note that I made this station for my GB Instruments GDT-11 meter that I got from Walmart, you may need to modify the design of the stand to fit your specific meter (as always I've included IGES files). I kept these goals in mind during designing.

• Design for NO support (to save material)
• Convenient lead and alligator clip holder
• Storage for my extra lead
• Needs to be propped up at a nice readable angle

     This print doesn't require any other supplies other than a 3D printer and the print files (IGES & STL files HERE [*Change orientation of parts appropriately; CSYS is not correct since this project was in an assembly]). I did glue a pad of that tacky drawer liner you'd get from the dollar store to the bottom to keep it from sliding around. Like most of my prints that I do without support I print at lower temperatures, higher speeds, and the cooling turned up a bit. This helps the material set up a little faster preventing some of the 'drooping' effect on the overhangs.

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Wire spools & dispenser

Wire Spools & Dispenser  Created By Joshua Bryant

     This was a project that I've always wanted to do since getting my first network cabling box and seeing it dispense wire without having to hassle with the spool. So I've created a spool and wire guide system to consolidate my messy box of wires. Most of which were just wrapped up with rubber bands and half tangled within themselves (we all know wire loves to mysteriously tie itself into knots). With this project I kept the following goals in mind.

• Low material usage (PLA)
• Easy assembly
• Use as little space as possible

     The original design had a clip-in system to assemble the two half's, but I found some engineering flaws that had me revert my design back to the "glue-&-assemble" method. The following resources are required for building and mounting this on a pegboard.

• IGES & STL files HERE [*Change orientation of parts appropriately; CSYS is not correct since this project was in an assembly]
• 3D Printer
• Hot glue gun
• Peg board hanger (a long one to hang the spools on)
• Small diameter clear plastic air hose (the ones you'ed use for a fish tank)
• Washers that fit on the peg board hanger

*NOTE: Qty & lengths depend on how many spools you print and how long the peg board holder is. See instructions below to get an understanding of how much material you will need.

     After printing the spools simply use a little hot glue to assemble the two half's together. Then just stick the wire in the stopper hole and begin winding up the spool with wire. It fits a little over 25' of 18AWG

     After your spools have been assembled and wound with wire its time to prepare the hanger for the spools. For each spool you have to cut a piece of air hose to a length slightly wider than the spool (~2mm wider [~1mm each side]). Then cut the segment down the length of the hose. The air hose will be wrapped over the hanger and it serves as a resistance to the inertia caused by pulling wire through the dispenser. Without it the spool would keep spinning thus unraveling on the holder.

     Now its time to assemble the spools on the hanger. The assembly will utilize the washers as separators for the spools. This keeps the spools from touching each other and prevents them from unwinding one another.

     Assembly Instructions: Place the hanger on the pegboard in the desired location; make sure to leave enough room for the wire dispenser below it

1. Wrap hose segment on the hanger
2. Slide the spool onto the hanger
3. Slide washer on
4. Continue this process until you can't fit anymore spools

     Once the hanger is completed simply mount the dispenser below the spools with either zip ties or fasteners. Then just feed the wire through and enjoy tangle free wire consolidation.

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