Hey I figured I would start a conversation about the Gigabot’s bed level and setup we have currently.
The aluminum plate is likely warped as leveling has been an issue. We have a glass plate to fix that but the Inductive sensor we have does not work with that as its made to pick up metal, even the aluminum is hard to pick up with the sensor.
We have aluminum tape on it, to help with that, but that ruins the smoothness of the glass plate and same kind of issues happen with leveling (not as severe, but similar). Basically it defeats a benefit of a glass bed. There is a fairly easy fix to this, and thats to switch out the current sensor for a probe sensor such as the BL touch. https://www.antclabs.com/bltouch
$50ish shipped? warden budget?
do you have time to spearhead the change if the parts show up? Be great to get that thing more useful.
-D
Yea I will be happy to get it installed. Its the first of a few modifications I want to recommended. Not all of them but this one can be handled on the warden budget, but Before i recommended it I wanted to make sure that noone had any other recommendations or ideas.
You say that the smoothness is ruined. What if the tape was on the bottom of the glass plate? Of course the tape has to be smooth on the bottom, but no cost other than time.
If the tape is on the bottom the sensor doesnt register it and the head crashes.
which them motors have enough force behind them to rip off the Gantry. I rather have something more reliable than some aluminum tape
I havent heard anything from the fablab warden nor leadership in regards to this and I have not seen any posted objections, I am going to put this up for a vote for general funds.
The vote will be for $75 to cover the BL as well as any materials needed to make a mount for it.
As I mentioned the other day, my vote would be to hold off on buying hardware till we try flashing the controller to stock Marlin and getting what we have working. There is a lot on that machine that can easily be fixed with some elbow grease and stuff we have in the Hive. Once we get it as far as that can get us, we should have a better idea of what all needs to be purchased, so can do a single vote to cover the whole project.
This item would be needed if we do the flashing beforehand or not. The BLtouch is to fix the limitation that is already there with the current Sensor. We are unable to use the machine and it’s accessories fully due to the current sensor. I also believe the controller we currently have should be replaced with a higher end version, this will allow for cleaner and better prints also.
The aluminum build plate and the current sensor were working fine when we were trying to get the Gigabot working last weekend, but there were a number of things that made the printer very hard to use succesfully (though it did work as-is with enough care and if you don’t mind your parts being mirrored).
- The hacked-up firmware has an issue with Z-Zero being set 15mm below the bedplate after homing that can lead to head crashes very easily if you are not careful. This could be fixed by flashing to stock Marlin and adjusting the settings appropriately to suit the machine’s configuration.
- The head has been crashed enough times that the carriage and gantry need to be disassembled and reassembled to find and replace bent and missing fasteners. The frame also has several missing fasteners that make the printer not stiff like it should be.
- The Firmware/configuration causes parts to print mirrored across the XZ plane (and possibly the YZ plane, my test print was symmetric that way, so I couldn’t tell). This can be corrected by flashing to stock Marlin with the correct configuration parameters (and maybe swapping a stepper phase polarity or two).
- The heated bed is not hooked up, though my understanding is we have the adaptor hardware necessary to hook it up, it just needs someone to do the work of flashing to stock marlin and configuring it.
- the bedplate leveling system is missing hardware making it near-impossible to level. This is just springs, screws and knobs we either already have on the hardware shelf or can print once the ultimaker is finished it’s repairs.
I am 100% on board with a vote for a budget to repair that printer and getting working reliably. It should be handled the same way Jeff has managed the Ultimaker repairs, whoever is willing to lead the effort should take a deep dive into the printer to identify the minimum hardware (using existing controller, sensors, heating elements, etc.) that needs to be purchased to repair the current configuration.
This is just my $0.02, so I can be overruled, but I’m a yes vote on Gigabot hardware only if we see that complete list put up for discussion and then vote to get everything necessary all at once.
Thanks for trying to keep the hive moving forward.
Kevin,
The Gigabot’s aluminum plate is warped, we have a glass bed specifically for this, the sensor doesnt work with that. Using the aluminum build plate is already a work around. While I dont like how Jeff handled the Ultimaker upgrades, I have offered multiple times to take over.
1 I have another thread open about the Firmware and control board. We have an old control board setup which I dont like and feels need a serious upgrade. I refer you to the “Gigabot Brain upgrade discussion”
2) I Havent looked at the Gantry yet, Ryan was messing with that last and I wasnt going to step on his toes, if he is done with what he was going to do I will be happy to look at it. Regarding the frame fastener, I have replaced the T nuts on the frame that I was made aware was missing.
3) This goes back to question 1’s answer
4) I was told there was an issue with the control board/firmware not accepting a thermostor & Thermocouple daughterboard together. (Refer to question 1’s answer) As well the warped aluminum board would need to have the Glass installed to print properly when the bed is heated, as that does cause the warp to be more pronounced. With the Glass bed our current sensor doesnt work, circling back around to the $75 vote.
5) with an auto bed sensor, the bed plate shouldnt be on springs to adjust, this isnt set up in the Firmware, for an unknown reason, which leads me back to question 1’s answer.
- The hacked-up firmware has an issue with Z-Zero being set 15mm below the bedplate after homing that can lead to head crashes very easily if you are not careful. This could be fixed by flashing to stock Marlin and adjusting the settings appropriately to suit the machine’s configuration.
- The head has been crashed enough times that the carriage and gantry need to be disassembled and reassembled to find and replace bent and missing fasteners. The frame also has several missing fasteners that make the printer not stiff like it should be.
- The Firmware/configuration causes parts to print mirrored across the XZ plane (and possibly the YZ plane, my test print was symmetric that way, so I couldn’t tell). This can be corrected by flashing to stock Marlin with the correct configuration parameters (and maybe swapping a stepper phase polarity or two).
- The heated bed is not hooked up, though my understanding is we have the adaptor hardware necessary to hook it up, it just needs someone to do the work of flashing to stock marlin and configuring it.
- the bedplate leveling system is missing hardware making it near-impossible to level. This is just springs, screws and knobs we either already have on the hardware shelf or can print once the ultimaker is finished it’s repairs.