Upgrades and Updates

The place to discuss your hardware and software/firmware modifications...
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Rara
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Upgrades and Updates

Post by Rara » Fri Apr 18, 2014 6:18 pm

So right now I've got a late 2012 machine with all its original hardware on it. Last night I believe the bed PSU bit the dust and had my first hardware-related print failure (am I initiated finally?). I've been paying just enough attention to things to know there have been some changes and upgrades going on but I wasn't planning on fixing unbroken things. So given that, I thought I might start a thread to discuss the whats, whens, whys and verdicts of the various things that have changed..sort of an open thread for now, and after some of the blanks are filled in, make one succinct post and edit it in here at post 1? Open to suggestion, of course!


Extruders: I've seen V4 mentioned here and there; is that the dual extruder, or is there a V4 single as well? What's the history on V1, V2 and V3; voltages, element types, anything else?

PSU's: I am still sporting the dual 12/19v bricks; it looks like it's all one 24v setup now? Does it affect anything on RAMBo itself, as in can one upgrade a V1 machine to current specs?

Heated Bed: This was changed for 24v, along with a rectangular heater for full coverage of the platform? Or did I just make that up?

Fans: These are 19/24v specific, right?

Connectors: Shortly after I got my machine, there was a problem in the harness and they sent me a new one, but the connectors on the fans had been upgraded. Have there been any other changes along those lines?
2012 M2 V4-PTFE

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Tim
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by Tim » Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:45 pm

I also have a late 2012 model, and I'm surprised that you just hit your first hardware failure! Although yours sounded a bit more traumatic than my several failures, all of which were fixed with glue or solder followed by a quick return to printing.

MakerGear produces teasers about the V4 from time to time, but the V3b is the most recent extruder that is available for sale at the moment. You and I should have the V2, which uses the ceramic lump around the extruder. The V3b has a much cleaner heater block around the extruder. The V3b is standard for the 24V M2 systems that are shipping now, but you can order a 12V version from MakerGear.

There is one modification that needs to be made to old RAMBo boards, which is to replace the yellow circuit breaker (looks like a giant square disk capacitor, located in the back corner) with an automotive fuse (the technology used by the circuit breakers only works up to about 18V). I haven't heard about anybody doing this modification, but it shouldn't be more complicated than a quick soldering job. However, I have no idea what an appropriate part number is for the automotive fuse socket, if you want to buy one from Mouser or Digi-Key, etc. (anybody know the answer to that one)?

An upgrade of firmware to the RAMBo is probably a good idea, although I'm not sure that it is required. In most cases, the power electronics should be switching in whatever voltage is at the supply, be it 12V or 24V. Possibly a firmware upgrade is necessary to drive the 12V fans from the 24V supply. This is an issue that came up in several threads. Your fans are 12V spec and should not be driven to 24V. MakerGear once promised to add 24V fans to the set of stuff that goes with the 24V upgrade. Not sure of the status on that.

I have been avoiding upgrading to 24V, mostly due to the price. So I'm still using the V2 extruder and 12V heated bed, and the dual 12/19V power bricks.
I will be watching this thread closely. . .

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jimc
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by jimc » Sat Apr 19, 2014 12:59 am

Perhaps in your case it might be easiest to email rick and see if he has an older psu for you.

Dale Reed
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by Dale Reed » Sat Apr 19, 2014 2:06 am

Rara wrote:So right now I've got a late 2012 machine with all its original hardware on it. Last night I believe the bed PSU bit the dust and had my first hardware-related print failure (am I initiated finally?). I've been paying just enough attention to things to know there have been some changes and upgrades going on but I wasn't planning on fixing unbroken things. So given that, I thought I might start a thread to discuss the whats, whens, whys and verdicts of the various things that have changed..sort of an open thread for now, and after some of the blanks are filled in, make one succinct post and edit it in here at post 1? Open to suggestion, of course!
(Trimmed the rest.)

Your machine has a 19V brick for the electronics, steppers and hot end, and a 12V brick for the heated bed. It has 12V fans all around, with the electronics enclosure fan and extruder fan wired in parallel. The firmware is probably set to PWM the output to those fans at 155/255, giving about 12 volts average. The newer machines use a single 24V power supply. (The new supply still has no on-off switch. Keep your surge strip or whatever you currently use to turn power on and off!). The 24V PSU is wired to all three pairs of input terminals on the RAMBo. The 24V units use the same two 40mm 12V fans, but now they are wired IN SERIES for the electronics and extruder fans. When you buy the 24V upgrade kit, a chunk of wiring harness for the extruder is included, and that change includes wiring places the fans in series. The firmware setting for that output now gets changed to 255/255, supplying 24 volts to the fans in series, giving 12V for each. You'll need a 24V bed cooling fan. MakerGear now has in stock, I believe, both 40mm and 50mm 24V ball-bearing fans.

I got a pack of 24V ball-bearing 40mm fans online (not MG), and I did NOT change out the wiring harness -- I just replaced the electronics fan and extruder fan with 24V units, and changed the firmware to run the output at 255/255 -- so I'm running a unique setup with two 24V 40mm fans still in parallel. I did get a couple 50mm 24V fans from MG, so I have a spare in case I (yet again) stick the M3 hex driver into the wrong place. (Oopsie X n.) Using the 50mm 24V fan for the bed/part cooling (angled).

Tim is pretty much right on with the hot end. My M2 was from March 2013 and had the nichrome-wound ceramic-ball heater (V3) with the thermistor taped/stuck on the nozzle. The V3B currently shipping uses a resistive cartridge heater in an aluminum block, and the heaters are available in various resistance (hence voltages), so when you order the 24V upgrade kit, you'll get the 24V heater. You can get the hot end kit only for your 12V/19V machine -- just let Karen know in the order comments what machine you have and they'll make sure you get the right heater. The thermistor is on the aluminum block as well, no longer on the nozzle, and there's some temperature drop from the block to the nozzle, so with the V3B 24V heater, you need to set your temperatures about 15-20C higher (so, 215-220 for PLA, 245-ish for ABS). Not to worry about melting the PEEK at these settings -- jimc has run even higher (255, jim?) continuously without damage.

I believe the up-coming V4 is all metal, so the PEEK worries go out the window. MG is also working on a dual-extruder setup which will use the V4 hot ends. Pictures are posted in another recent topic on the forum.

Tim is also right on with the RAMBo itself. If you look at the corner of the board near the left front of the machine, you'll either see a yellow encapsulated part or a blue (15A) automotive fuse. The former is the 1.0 RAMBo (the revision is also silk-screened on the top of the board in fine print, near the middle), and this is the one that needs the yellow solid-state breaker removed and replaced. The one with the blue fuse is either 1.1 (like mine) or 1.2. You won't have the 1.2 on your machine. There's an electrostatic sensitivity on the 1.2 -- just so you're aware if you upgrade your board --- and MG has shipped a fix to owners of it. If you get a new RAMBo, that should already be taken care of.

I can't answer you about the various changes in connectors. I don't think they've changed since my M2 shipped. The wiring harness that comes with the upgrade kit will probably solve most, if not all, your connector issues, because it replaces all the connectors that are up on the extruder and hot end.

As for the bed heater, yes, it is now a 24V rectangular unit that covers the entire bottom of the aluminum plate except for maybe 1 cm along the back. Elsewhere on the forum you'll find a hack for cutting a wide trace in the old heater to turn it from (basically) four elements in parallel to two groups of elements in series, making it an effective 24V heater. I hacked mine like this, but it's pretty ugly and I don't recommend it --- you may be more talented than I am with an X-Acto knife, however! (I saved the old HBP just in case -- but I actually use it as a wall plaque because of the nice laser-cut M2 logo! I should get it mounted on a nice finished cherry board.... yet another "thing to do".... sigh.)

Hope this helps you out, Rara. Good luck deciding whether to go 24!
Dale

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Rara
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by Rara » Sat Apr 19, 2014 4:43 am

It did sound like I've been a bit luckier than average; however you never hear from the people who don't have problems, so I might not be alone either! This is all great information so far, thank you all very much. I actually have a 12v PSU around here somewhere, but I thought I would start a thread to try and consolidate this sort of information in to one handy place. I may have a need for additional M2's in the near future so I'd do the 24v upgrade to keep them uniform, but I wasn't sure what's involved.

But anyway, so far, a lot has been cleared up!

I don't have a V1 hot end; and I'm questioning if any production M2 had a V1 hot end now? A V2 maybe? All I know is an all-metal V4 sounds pretty neat, and dual could be cool if for no other reason than anticipating dissolve-able support material. I presently have what I believe is nichrome in an epoxy ball under a couple layers of heat shrink insulation..

The fuse thing reminded me that Rick swapped out the board when we were diagnosing the harness issue and that got me the automotive fuse and updated firmware (is this something that would have been updated since? I have never done anything with it! Forgive me, I'm primarily a hardware guy..this would have been January or February '13 or so I think). So that puts me at V1.1 I think, I couldn't get a clear look at the board how I have it arranged right now, although I did see where I may just have a loose connection rather than a bad PSU (woohoo!).

Good to know about the bed - I do get more pronounced warping/lifting at the ends. Has anyone used both? Does it help in that department?
2012 M2 V4-PTFE

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jimc
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by jimc » Sat Apr 19, 2014 5:10 am

travis, the connections on the back of the rambo going to both psu's are known for working themselves loose. if the heated bed one gets the slightest bit loose it will for sure get hot and melt down. look in the shared models section here on the forum. i have an electronics box i modeled awhile back which locks those connectors in place.

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Rara
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by Rara » Sat Apr 19, 2014 5:17 am

jimc wrote:i have an electronics box i modeled awhile back which locks those connectors in place.
I bet you can't guess what I was printing when it failed... :lol:
2012 M2 V4-PTFE

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jimc
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by jimc » Sat Apr 19, 2014 5:18 am

hahahahaha!

MarkG
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Re: Upgrades and Updates

Post by MarkG » Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:18 pm

Rara wrote:
jimc wrote:i have an electronics box i modeled awhile back which locks those connectors in place.
I bet you can't guess what I was printing when it failed... :lol:
I was probably too late, but if you want a PSU, I upgraded and am not using mine....

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