Filament cooling Fan

[Scott Goldthwaite]

When is the filament cooling fan supposed to come on?  I'm using RepG 0040r17 sailfish 7.4.  I haven't paid much attention to this fan in the past, but it seems to be off all the time. 

[DHeadrick]

When the nozzle temperature passes 50C

[Eighty]

If you're talking about the active (lower) cooling fan, then it comes on in the start.gcode.  If yours isn't coming on, then you may not have the correct start.gcode.  Did you choose a "Replicator 2 Sailfish" machine? 

[Dan Newman]

It is hardcoded to turn on when the extruder temp reads 50C or higher.
If it's not going on then either it's not connected or the FET driving
it has gone bad. Or the fan is bad.

1. Fan has a connection within the extruder assembly on the Rep 2. You
can see it by removing the blower fan.

2. Wiring has a connection at the motherboard -- could be loose there.

3. FET for the fan is known to go bad -- there's been at least one report
in the past of that. That would prevent the fan from operating at all.

Dan

[Scott Goldthwaite]

It's the squirrel cage fan on the left with the duct going down to the nozzle.  The fan works because I can turn it on from the LCD menu.  But it's not coming on by itself.  My Machine type is set to Replicator 2 (sailfish).

[Jetguy]

Ok, so the machine type is correct but that's one part of the
toolchain. Now you need to ensure when you create gocde it uses the
correct profile and appends the correct start.gcode to the final gcode
product. That gcode (human readable machine instructions) is then
passed through a coversion process based on machine type to create a
machine specific *x3g file.

There is more than one place you must choose the "correct" machine.

[Dan Newman]

Your gcode is likely not turning it on. This is a setting in your slicing
profile; however, off the top of my head I don't recall which. (I believe
the Cool Plugin and a setting down at the bottom -- something like "turn
fan on at beginning" and "turn fan off at end".) It's
actually not part of the start.gcode. It's a M126 which will be tossed
in by a SF plugin.

Dan

[Scott Goldthwaite]

Here are my current settings

[Dan Newman]

On 13 May 2013 , at 9:55 AM, Scott Goldthwaite wrote:

> Here are my current settings

If you activate the Cool plugin then you should see a M126 command appear in the
gcode. Also a M127 near the end to turn the fan off again. However, you will
also have the gcode "slow" down possibly near the end of the print. Part of that
plugin is set to ensure that each layer takes AT LEAST one second to print. So,
if you're printing a cone, for example, the printing will slow down a little near
the end (tip) of the cone. That may be okay, it may not be. Depends upon the temp
you print at and if you're using PLA or ABS. Sometimes you want that and sometimes
you don't. With a setting of 1.0 second, it's should be mostly harmless.

Dan

[Carl]

If all else fails... you can activate/deactivate the active cooling fan whilst printing by pressing the left button on your machine and scrolling to the 'Set Cooling Fan' option...

[Scott Goldthwaite]

That's good info.  I'm trying to print a topo map, so the whole thing is cones, but only one cone would be at the top.  Normally the 1 second thing shouldn't matter.

What is min orbital radius?

Should the fan be on all the time.  I'm using wing commander's profile, so I'd be surprised if he had this turned off when it should be on.

[Jetguy]

In Print-O-Matic settings, there is the checkbox to "use default
start/ end gcode"
When checked, it uses the code found in the nested folders of the
machine folder inside the rep-g folder.
When unchecked, it uses the individual start and end codes found in
the profile alterations folder.

Just a tip but you likely need to go one way or the other, or edit
both locations wiht "correct" gcodes.

[Scott Goldthwaite]

I modified the start gcode in the replicatorG package contents folder.  I used wingcommander's modifications that also change the anchor blob:
http://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/makerbot/QjMJLN6z_Pg/X38OQO-9y2oJ

[Dan Newman]

On 13 May 2013 , at 7:43 PM, fud wrote:

> I assume you are referring to the blower(radial) fan that cools the
> extruded plastic and NOT the axial fan which automatically turns on at 50c
> and cools the heatsink.
> I noticed using Dr. Henry Thomas's profiles in repG 40r16 for sailfish that
> if you check the "use default start/end gcode" box the blower fan doesn't
> turn on and you get a melted blob of plastic.

Keep in mind that Skeinforge's way of turning that fan on/off is by
using the Cool plugin and checking the box to turn it on at the start
of the print and off again at the end. That's why the M126 is not in
the start.gcode you get when you use P-o-M and select "use default start/end gcode".

> Uncheck that box and in the
> gcode right after the slow wipe and lift,

That then gives you a more-or-less minimal start.gcode from the alteration
directory of the profile. Actually, it may be an oversight that the supplied
sample profiles have M126 in the alteration's start/end gcode files. That's
going to require a little thinking as to whether it should be left in or not.

Mind you, if you are using Wingcommander's profiles then you are NOT using
the sample profile nor it's alteration/start.gcode file.

Dan