ManualUpdatesV30
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V3.0 Build Manual Updates
These notes are for the build manual for the V3.0 Machine. If you are building the V3.1 kit please see the appropriate page of the wiki v3.1 Printed Build Manual Updates.... although there may still be some useful advice here.
Most of us who followed the manual have some notes, tips or corrections on the various steps. There are also many tips on specific build steps in the forum, blog and here in the wiki. This is the place to share them all! New builders can use this section as an addendum or for clarification. Please avoid describing mods that are not absolutely necessary to get a good working RapMan, but please do add links to your special mods.
Building tip .... "One thing that might be nice is if in the build manual they mentioned that you can build the extruder and positioning 'bot in parallel AND, more importantly, you can do the extruder barrel build and the extruder body build in parallel. I spent several days working on the barrel before I realised that there was nothing to stop me from working on the rest of the extruder at the same time." ... (thanks for the suggestion Forrest Higgs)
before you begin
- Check that you have all the tools required for assembly
Cartesian Robot Build Manual
Dimensions
Some important dimensions (with +-0.1mm error margin)
FRONT/BACK side distances between rod centers (8mm and 12mm):
top cetres 12mm to 12mm: 40.81cm bottom cenres 8mm to 8mm: 40.81cm height centres 12mm to 8mm: 35.71cm diagonals centres 12mm to 8mm: 54.23cm
LEFT/RIGHT side distances between rod centers (8mm):
top centres: 40.81cm botton centres: 40.81cm height centres: 35.51cm diagonal centres: 54.08cm bottom center to the "table": 5.89cm
NOTE that distances are between centers of the rods so depending if you are measuring inside to inside or outside o outside to outside edge, do not forget to add/substract a radius (4mm or 6mm) value.
Nozzle
outside barrel dia: 14mm inside barrel dia: 10mm, 3.33mm outside peek/alu: 10mm inside peek/alu: 6.4mm outside pfte: 6.3mm inside pfte: 3mm pfte length: 51mm peek length: 19.33 alu length: 19.22 nozzle tip: 1.66mm, 2.66mm, 10mm barrell length (tip to end): 30.6mm
Step 1‐01 Corner Bottom Block R x 2
- part 10011 is very similar as 10010, be sure to get the good one.
Step 1‐02 Corner Bottom Block L x 1
Step 1‐03 Z Motor Block x 1
Step 1‐04 Corner Top Block R x 2
Step 1‐05 Corner Top Block L x 1
Step 1‐06 Y Motor Block x 1
- When the bed is moved upward one of the 2 screws of the Z-limit-switch and even the acrylic bracing of it catches on the corner-block below the Y-motor. You may wish to remove one of the 2 screws of that limit-switch and also file down the correspinding edge of that corner-block a bit until the limit-switch passes freely.
Step 1‐07 Bed Corner x 4
Step 1‐08 Bed Base x 1
- In the animation, there are springs fitted with some extra washers and nuts. This is not detailed in this step but in Step 14-01
Step 1‐09 Diagonal Tie Base 8mm x 2
Step 1‐10 Diagonal Tie Side 8mm x 4
Step 1‐11 Diagonal Tie Side 12mm x 4
Step 1‐12 Filament Reel x 1
Step 1‐13 PCB & Screen x 1
- do not forget to adjust the volates on TPZ,TPE, TPX and TPY. This is not mentioned in the video, only in the text below.
- You can use any GND for reference. e.g. the shell of the USB-connector, the rings around a screw,...
- You can meassure and adjust the voltages with and without the motors attached and the motors not moving at the moment.
- The video (and only the video) is obsolete for newer kits as all kits come now with the OLED screen already attached. It really was step 13 for some :)
Step 1‐14 Wire Steppers x 3
- Heat shrink is colored black, the yellow tube is silicone rubber needed for the extruder.
- Motors now come supplied with just 4 wires (red, green, blue, black). These do not need to be extended - they are supplied the correct length.
- You may need to get yourself thicker heat-shrink for the joined wires as they have double the thickness if joined 1-ended in parallel.
Step 1‐15 Wire Micro Switches x 3
Step 2‐01 Z Idler Posts x 4
Step 2‐02 Bed Top x 1
Step 2‐03 Electronics Housing x 1
Step 2‐04 X Motor & Idler Plate
Step 2‐05 X Rod & Belt Clamps
Step 3‐01 Base Frame x 1
- The foot setting jigs used in the next step are very handy here to get a nice level frame.
Step 4‐01 Verticals
Step 5‐01 Z Idlers
Step 6‐01 Top Frame
Step 7‐01 Setting Top Frame
- The correct hole is the one labeled "vertical" and "A" (There are 2 holes marked "vertical")
Step 8‐01 Setting Verticals
Step 9‐01 Diagonal Ties
Check the dimensions (on top of this page) for the correct distances between rods
the imho proper distances between centers of the rods (added also to the wiki) for 3.0 cartesian ... not sure if 3.1 uses the same values or not, the 3.1 owners might measure and let us know Smiley FRONT/BACK distances: top cetres 12mm to 12mm: 40.81cm (end to end: 40,81+1,20=42,01cm) bottom cenres 8mm to 8mm: 40.81cm (end to end: 40,81+0,8=41,61cm) height centres 12mm to 8mm: 35.71cm (end to end: 35,71+0,4+0,6=36,71cm) diagonals centres 12mm to 8mm: 54.23cm (end to end: 54,23+0,6+0,4=55,23cm) SIDE distances: top centres: 40.81cm botton centres: 40.81cm (end to end: 40,81+0,80=41,61cm) height centres: 35.51cm diagonal centres: 54.08cm
Note: With spare part 10040 and spare part 10056 this may be easier to do then with the original parts due to them tollerating more mechanical stress then the acrylic.
Step 10‐1 X Motor & Rails
Step 11‐1 Y Motor Bracket & Bearing Bracket
Step 12‐1 Y Motor & Drive
Step 13‐1 X Carriage
- You should not have the nuts more than hand tight on any of these bolts otherwise there is a real risk of squashing the bearings out of shape and maybe carving grooves in the X and Y 12mm rods. The problem with these fasteners being hand tight is that they have a tendency to vibrate loose and fall off. The elastic bands you can find in your kit are fitted round a set of four nuts to stop this. This is not described in the manual.
Step 14‐1 Bed Base
Step 15‐1 Top Bed
Step 16‐1 X & Y Belts
Step 17‐1 Mounting the PCB
Step 18‐1 Filament Reel
Step 19‐1 Connecting the PCB
Extruder Build Manual
Before starting the extruder, you may want to check the next steps and count your bolts, nuts and washers. You have used up quite a lot of them in the carthesian bot and this is a good point to show if you have lost any parts.
Step 1‐01 Heater Barrel
- To aid in cutting the barrel put a tape around it to mark the 6 mm point. Take a fretsaw and saw right next to the tape 1mm deep, rotate a bit and saw again, repeat until you've completed the whole perimeter. this undeep cut makes it easier to guide the saw when you cut straight true in the end. (forum-thread about the length)
- please note that cutting was required when the length of barrel was 36mm although the top piece removed is not needed for all using the PEEK upgrade (see here forum thread about new parts for extruder) and cutting is not needed at all for the newer 30mm barrels (see here forum thread about Extruder Step 1-01)
- Drying the firecement can be done at room temperature but you will need 3 times 12 hours, better to use a kitchen oven at 200 degrees then you only need 10 minutes each time. The question was often asked on the forum so no its not 10 minutes in the oven AND 12 hours at room temperature, it OR :)
- You can use various tools for the fire cement, like a blade or the side of a screwdriver and roll over the cement like a rolling pin. It helps if you wet your tools a bit to prevent the cement from drying to quick.
- The resistance of the Ni-Chrome wire should be somewhere between 4 and 5 Ohms (close to 5 is safer), NEVER wire below 4 Ohms, up to 8 will work but heat up slower.
- Be careful with the thermistor legs, they tend to break when you bend them too sharp or to often.
- Do not make the last layer of cement thicker then 15mm. There is a clear silicon tube in your kit that needs to slide around the nozzle, this is not detailed in the manual but gives you extra insulation. See step 2-02 for more details
Step 1‐02 Clamp Nut Holders
Step 1‐03 Drive Shaft
- part 20010 is the drive-shaft. It´s in the bag of the extruder.
Step 1‐04 PTFE Modification
- This step refers to the first generation extruder and is NOT NEEDED ANYMORE with the Revision B extruder that is shipped with the latest kits. Revision B replaces the single PTFE tube with a long thin PTFE tube that fits in a shorter PEEK (brown) tube + an aluminum tube. This thin PTFE liner should be cut to length when it has been inserted firmly at the level of the mdf disc such that the acrylic disc on top will hold it firmly in place.
Step 1‐05 Pressure Bearings
Step 1‐06 Conduit
Step 1‐07 Stepper Wiring
- The image says 1650mm and the parts-lists speaks of 650mm cables. So as long as the wires on the stepper aren´t 1m long (they are 75 untwisted)....
- look at 8-01 to see how long the wires really need to be. 1.5x the length of the extruder base-plate + length of the plastic tube + 130mm
Step 1‐08 Z Depth Stop
Step 1‐09 Fan connector
Step 2‐01 Drive Plate
- you also need 2x the assembled parts 10107 from an earlier step.
- page 17 has an animation for this step.
Step 2‐02 Wiring Heater Barrel
wiring
It is much easier to slide the yellow, heatprove sleeving and the criping-tubes over the grey and purple wires BEFORE stripping them.
head-assembly
At the end of the movie you will see the assembly of the PTFE tube, you need to replace the single PTFE tube with the 3-part assembly from revision B. Press the brown PEEK tube firmly in the barrel, all the way till the end. If you cant push it till the end you can later try to just assemble the insulator section and tighten down the 3 bolts evenly this will push the PEEK into place. First slide the thin long PTFE tube in the PEEK and slide the aluminum tube over the remaining PTFE. You see the assembly detailed here:
- The support ring cut off the heater barrel in step 1-01 is not needed anymore with this setup.
- The thin PTFE liner should be cut to length when it has been inserted firmly at the level of the mdf disc such that the acrylic disc on top will hold it firmly in place.
- The acrylic top plate now has an extra mdf support that sits under it:
- Not detailed in this step is the extra clear silicone tube that can be fitted around your nozzle, this gives extra thermal insulation. If you have a lot of fire cement on top of your triangle plate covering the wires you can cut a hole out of it for a better fit:
Step 3‐01 Drive Head
- Its normal that the Drive Shaft's thread scratches your acrylic base plate when turned.
- There is a step missing in the manual, its best that you do it here. The pressure bearing from step 1-05 needs to be mounted in the square hole on the base plate. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP, without it your filament wont get pushed in the heater barrel but an incorrectly mounted pressure bearing can lead to serious damage. The pressure bearing needs two springs, when they have the correct tension the pressure bearing will act as a safety device. The springs will let it skip if for some reason the stepper feeds more filament then the heater can manage. Look at the picture how to mount it:
Step 4‐01 Stepper Motor
Step 5‐01 Spacer Bolts
Step 6‐01 Conduit Mount
Step 7‐01 Mounting Heater Barrel
Step 8‐01 Extruder Loom
Step 9‐01 Extruder Connector Plug
- Never connect or disconnect the Plug while your board is powered on, you destroy the stepper driver chip!
- a tiny 1mm wide micro-screwdriver is the perfect tool to push the wires all the way in (and even to push them out from the other end if something breaks).
