Need suggestions and opinions regarding our classroom Makerbot Rep2

[CP13]

Good morning all, 

I am excited to be part of this group and learn more. I am a middle school teacher and about 6 years ago, I was awarded a Makerbot Rep2 from a grant. 

We have been using it tirelessly and my students are just as amazed as I am when we see our final designs come to life. 

Recently, I noticed that the side duct cooling fan is not turning on. Upon further investigation and web searching, I was fortunate to find this group. So it appears that the cooling fan MOSFET (Q7 on my RevH board) could be the culprit. Since we do have a Rep2 and a single extruder setup, I thought to use the MOSFET from Q9 of the B-side extruder and swap it to the assumed blown MOSFET on Q7. Prior to me doing the swap, I did notice that the cooling fan LED would be lit up the moment the printer is powered on suggesting that the MOSFET is staying open. 

Upon successfully transplanting the MOSFET from Q9 (I did not connect the cooling fan yet), I powered the unit back up, and looked at the LED... this time, the light was off which gave me some hope that the issue has been fixed... I did measure the voltage on the line by connecting my MM's probe to the negative side of the fan line, and the other probe on the ground location marking on the board and it did show a 24v... so I connected a new generic fan I bought online. I made sure it is a 24v fan with 0.17A rating. However, after doing a test print, I am disappointed to say that the fan duct never spun...

Also, my LCD screen will go blank whenever I insert a known working SD card, and what's odd is that if I insert a bad/non-working SD cad, or an SD card adapter without the micro-SD inserted, the screen will stay lit... it also appears that the SD card reader would no longer function as it gives me that beeping error sound... 

I could probably live with just print off using the USB connection... and maybe power the fan duct from an external source, however, I really don't' know if this is ideal. 

Knowing that something is not functioning the way it was designed is somewhat a pet-peeve of mine... should my class continue using the printer the way it is, or better to have it fixed before more damage is done? 

I would like to think I am capable of doing simple DIY fixes which includes soldering so I am also open to trying in fixing this myself if I know the exact parts and procedures I need to take.. although if anyone here on the group can help us out, we would greatly appreciate your time. 

Sorry for the long post, I do hope someone will respond to this... I recognize that the Rep2 is an ancient model and not many people are probably still using it... 

[TobyCWood]

Replacing surface mount components takes a fairly high skill level. I won't do it. Unfortunately the rep2 is no longer supported which means there's not much out there as far as replacements. A few years back I was able to find a replacement board (for a trashed  Rep2 I was given) on eBay, but thats going to be trickier to find these days... and... the cost is not at all worth it considering you can buy a Duet board for a heckalot less... There are a couple of examples of the Rep2 mod to a duet board on thingiverse if you take the time to hunt for it.  BUT....

For about the same price you can buy a Creality Ender3 or even better for a little more a CR6. Larger build area, heated build plate, Tons-o-support including gobs of mods.

True my 3 Rep2s easily outprint my Ender 3, but if their controllers died I doubt I'd bother and simply move on.

[Joseph Chiu (Toybuilder)]

I'd be happy to do the repair for you at no charge. Ask others here. They can vouch for me...

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[Carroll Perez]

Hi Joseph,

 

Thank you for the response. I really do appreciate the offer and I am highly considering sending it your way… If you don’t mind me asking, what do you think happened to the fix I attempted to do? Should I have used a different MOSFET instead of transplanting the one I found on Q9 of the B-side board? Could it be the cheap fan I bought from Amazon? Do I need to re-solder another MOSFET on Q9, because right now, I left it blank…

 

What do you think happened with the SD card reader? Did I blow another component? I even opened the LCD board and SD slot to clean but it still goes dark if I insert a known SD card… but if I insert a broken SD card, the screen remains lit…

 

Granted the printer still works (one of my student successfully printed some animal figures for his diorama last Friday), it’s probably best that we fix these problems before it further damage other components… I thought of rigging an external filament cooling source but it might not be as conducive as having it incorporated in the 3d printer itself…

 

If it won’t cause you any trouble, any help is greatly appreciated… I also wanted to learn how to troubleshoot so I am also willing to try and do a DIY fix if you are willing to walk me through and maybe provide info on where I can get the exact component I need to replace… and also a fan the is known to be a good replacement? However, if the fix is too complex, I think sending it to you to tinker with is a better idea?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks much!

 

 

Carroll Nino M. Perez, M.Ed.

Seneca Ridge Middle School

Loudoun County, VA

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[Joseph Chiu (aka Toybuilder)]

I have much less hands-on experience with the later revision H boards, but based on what you're describing, I would double check the 3.3V and 5V regulators on the board as well as making sure the 24V side powering the fans are ok.  When an SD card is running, it draws far more current than when it is idle (or if there are no cards at all).  

Does the LCD go dark immediately when you put the card in, and then go back to normal as soon as the card is ejected?

[Carroll Perez]

Joseph,

Thank you for taking the time to respond. To answer your question about the SD card; yes, the screen goes immediately blank when a known working SD card is inserted but comes back up right away upon ejecting the card. 

As for the 3.3v and 5v voltage regulators, I dont really have a clue where I can find it or what it looks like, let alone test it for functionality. I do know that the front extruder fan turns on as it should when the heater block reaches 50deg. and powers off when cooled, but I think that fan is getting power from another source other than the filament cooling fan? 

I think even if you dont have much experience with RevH board, you are still an expert compared to what I know about boards, chips and electronics in general. 

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

-------- Original message --------

From: Joseph Chiu <joe...@joechiu.com>

Date: 3/14/21 8:13 PM (GMT-05:00)

To: Carroll Perez <Carrol...@lcps.org>

Cc: Makerbot Users <makerbo...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: [makerbot-users] Re: Need suggestions and opinions regarding our classroom Makerbot Rep2

I have much less hands-on experience with the later revision H boards, but based on what you're describing, I would double check the 3.3V and 5V regulators on the board as well as making sure the 24V side powering the fans are ok.  When an SD card is running, it draws far more current than when it is idle (or if there are no cards at all).  

Does the LCD go dark immediately when you put the card in, and then go back to normal as soon as the card is ejected?

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[CP13]

Hi Joseph, 

Will you let me know when it will be the best time to send you the board? Thanks!