MUST HAVE MODS - Cupcake is Working Perfectly !! Thankyou Makerbot Support

[COMPNETDOC]

Its been a long road, but thanks to the folks at makerbot support, my
machine is finally doing what i expect it to.
I had to do alot of work, and alot of reading, and will be trying to
post a detailed step by step "how to make your cupcake rock n Roll"

Please Note this this is my opinion - This is what I did to make it
purr.

First let me say that the Extruder Motor issues were a real toughie
all arround.
I finally caught my motor at 2 Ohms, and finally had the source of the
issue and a solution. (And i didnt need a MK5 Extruder, though im
lovin it over the MK4)
It took us 6 months to find and solve THAT one. Not for effort either!

And THANKYOU to whoever took the suggestion to let you swap in
replicatorG arround Hbridge 1+2 and ABC Drives, as this saved my butt
this weekend when my A chan wouldnt work. - Was able to cross circut
to B (Thankyou Scotty)

The inital drive electronics extruder 2.2 -Was designed more with
flexability in mind, and the design was not aware of the places we
would send it. As a result, it needs some help to work perfectly.
These mods make the thing into a workhorse.

Mods you MUST do:
Z Axis - 3 or my 4 rods are bent and im getting perfect prints BUT had
to use 2 different fixes. (Dewobblizers) and still plan on fixing the
rod to berring angle issue i believe is causing the rod issues in
part.
Heated Build Platform - Note that you probably want to mod the build
for this
Flathead screws are a must... as is connectors and using silver
solder.
Also - Dont waste money on Mylar - Use Blue Tape, works MUCH better
Relay mod for Heated Build
Relay mod for Extruder DC motor MK4 MK5 type
Relay Mod for Extruder Heater MK4 MK5 type (Use same digikey relays
for best results or all relay boards

Mods I Added: (Details will be posted - Contact me if you need it
faster
drdave at compnetdoc dot com is EMAIL)
End Stops - Mechnical, not optical, all 3 axis. Used 4 cond Phone
cable to make replaceable modular assys easily mounted and adjusted.
Modified build for MK5 and for Heated Build Platform - Basicly i
modded each of these for connectors, matching the ABP needs,
connectors vs wires, Enhanced wiring, and drilled a hole in the
extruder for the therm sensor on the MK5
Much effort on Z axis (Isolated by using the one straight rod captive
and the rest de-woblizered, using the Thingiverse Z float #3057 (1)
and #3091 (2)
the 3057 is diagonal to the"good straight" rod.
Note that im not done with the Z Axis - I have special washers, teflon
washers, thrust washers and std lockwashers which may correct the rod
wobble (tho its printing perfectly so may not touch it anytime soon
unless have to)

TUNING:
You think you got it done, you try and print. it aint perfect....
Heres some tuning fixes:
Use TRIFLOW or some decent teflon lube on Z Rods, X and Y rails,
Berings and Motors. To test X and Y, use replicator G control panel.
Set XY speed to MAX
set distance to 50. Move stage back and forth, and if skipping adjust
the little pot on the stepper driver board. (Be Gentle, do not just
max out effects stepper motor heating)
If you print and it gets ofset (messing up the print) you need to
adjust that pot on the stepper board for the correct axis..
In my case X was messing up 30 min into a big print, and the triflow
and pot adjust fixed it. (End stops make this much more fun) - Now if
it just auto homed XYZ...
LEVEL YOUR STAGE with respect to the extruder nozzle.
Also - Set extruder to just above the build platform - I used to use a
sheet of laser printer paper to set the gap, this is a good starting
point to try - Also handy is the Z axis crank on thingiverse #975 as
this lets you exactly adjust the gap, and acts as a flag for z axis
movement.
I use ABS so far, and my last print looked PERFECT - MK5 brackett
#5169


I STRONGLY reccomend you add the relay mods FIRST to protect your
extruder controller 2.2 !! also - this fixes the intermittant extruder
stop and prevents your H bridge from blowing up when the DC motor
shorts to 2 Ohms (With the relay it just powers through it), And
issues with HBP and Extruder Heater.
Works fine with MK4 or MK5 (Though with #5169 you can have a MK5 using
your MK4 parts with just a couple addl parts)
BTW - the relays are cheep from digikey - RELAY - 255-1240-ND Conn
Block - 281-1437-ND - You need 4 relays and the terminal strips are
the same makerbot uses.(Get like 6 term strips, more is handy)
This gives you Relays for Extruder heater and Build platform, and Fwd
and Back for Extruder motor. I used LEDS and ignored the snubber
diodes on the motor leads.
Its a cheep fix to make your cupcake SING !!

Blue Tape is a MUST HAVE - prolly more important than HBP
(I did NOT go with the ABP as i wanted to see it work with the HBP
FIRST)

Using Firmware 2.5 for Relays and MK5 on extruder controler,
Replicator G23 works great on XP =

PLEASE POST WHEN YOU GET YOURS RUNNING WHAT WORKED FOR YOU - I see
many folks with issues, and figure once you get it running folks
forget to say ITS WORKING - and we need folks to know that it WORKS,
not just the folks with problem posts! - POST WHAT WORKED FOR YOU

CNDdrdave

[Sergio Alvarez]

Excellent advices.

Thanks

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