180 gallon build: Modular control system, 3D printed equipment, open-source

[Reefers4U]

Originally Posted by dread240

I ended up going wanhao duplicator i3v2 LOL

Lets get a tally at how much money he has cost us from reading this thread.... I'm about 500 down with buying filaments and stuff now lol

+1

I just purchased a MakerGear M2 because of this build -

this guy can get me to come out of my pockets quicker than Gwyneth Paltrow - ha!

[dread240]

oohh you jumped in deep. I wasn't willing to splurge that much right off the bat lol, but I didn't want a wooden 3d printer either.

[Devaji108]

you should totally start a build thread in the build thread section...cuz this is just amazing...

[dread240]

we should keep it under wraps... then when we all have our printers we'll take over RC with awesome stuff nobody else has lol

[Reefers4U]

Originally Posted by dread240

we should keep it under wraps... then when we all have our printers we'll take over RC with awesome stuff nobody else has lol

+1 lol

[Reefers4U]

Was going to ask this in a PM but realized those searching for this might also need to know

Ok. This is complicated and amazing - I didn't realize there were so many settings. I'm currently printing off a spatula for s&g

1) What are your settings in the splicer and what do you use as a splicer?

2) Are you printing in PLA or ABS for this stuff?

3) The max my printer goes is 240c, is that a problem for this stuff?

[jrhupp]

Reading through the last few posts has made my day! I'm so happy to see folks getting into this. Thank you!

Originally Posted by Reefers4U

Was going to ask this in a PM but realized those searching for this might also need to know

Ok. This is complicated and amazing - I didn't realize there were so many settings. I'm currently printing off a spatula for s&g

1) What are your settings in the splicer and what do you use as a splicer?

2) Are you printing in PLA or ABS for this stuff?

3) The max my printer goes is 240c, is that a problem for this stuff?

Reefers4U, agreed. For these kind of questions please add them to the thread.

I'm using Cura 15.04.02. Print speeds will be printer dependent (for me 50 mm/s works well) and may take a bit of fooling around to find the right values. For infill I'm printing most objects with 30% infill. Wall thickness is between 1 and 1.2 mm depending on what I am doing (using a 0.4 mm nozzle). 0.2 mm layer height. 0.6 mm bottom and top layer thickness. I'm using retraction and combing.

For print material, everything I do is ABS. PLA is a poor choice for the aquarium as it will brake down over time. I'm working with filament from two sources currently; OnlineFilament which seems to be a reseller for a manufacturing facility in Ohio and IC3D. The first stuff is hit or miss. The IC3D stuff is of really great quality and I have had no issues with it. Despite cost its my preferred filament these days.

I extrude at 225 C (sometimes higher with thin walls and black ABS, then 230 C) and run the bed at 105 C for the full print. You should be fine with a max of 240 C. For ABS 235 C is the max you will likely ever go.

I am printing on glass with PET film covering it and ABS juice (dilute ABS/acetone slurry). The PET film is a translucent green plastic tape used as masking tape for powder coating. This works very well for me with an enclosed printer. Those with open printers seem to be preferring ULTEM as a bed material these days. I tried and couldn't get the print off with out destroying it. So no ULTEM for me.

[eb2292]

Originally Posted by jrhupp

Reading through the last few posts has made my day! I'm so happy to see folks getting into this. Thank you!



Reefers4U, agreed. For these kind of questions please add them to the thread.

I'm using Cura 15.04.02. Print speeds will be printer dependent (for me 50 mm/s works well) and may take a bit of fooling around to find the right values. For infill I'm printing most objects with 30% infill. Wall thickness is between 1 and 1.2 mm depending on what I am doing (using a 0.4 mm nozzle). 0.2 mm layer height. 0.6 mm bottom and top layer thickness. I'm using retraction and combing.

For print material, everything I do is ABS. PLA is a poor choice for the aquarium as it will brake down over time. I'm working with filament from two sources currently; OnlineFilament which seems to be a reseller for a manufacturing facility in Ohio and IC3D. The first stuff is hit or miss. The IC3D stuff is of really great quality and I have had no issues with it. Despite cost its my preferred filament these days.

I extrude at 225 C (sometimes higher with thin walls and black ABS, then 230 C) and run the bed at 105 C for the full print. You should be fine with a max of 240 C. For ABS 235 C is the max you will likely ever go.

I am printing on glass with PET film covering it and ABS juice (dilute ABS/acetone slurry). The PET film is a translucent green plastic tape used as masking tape for powder coating. This works very well for me with an enclosed printer. Those with open printers seem to be preferring ULTEM as a bed material these days. I tried and couldn't get the print off with out destroying it. So no ULTEM for me.

Thanks for all the awesome pointers! I'm sure these will help some of out when we start printing some fishy accessories.

[Gorgok]

Any opinions on this http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-...pp_337314.html

It's pretty big yet priced in a range I agree with (I'm cheap). Might not be terribly rigid being acrylic but then it's not hard to add pieces to stiffen it up being acrylic... While they don't seem to say it's got a heated bed as far as I understand.

Never done printing myself yet and would like to (only modeling and cnc stuff). Not just because of this thread but yeah, this didn't help dissuade the desire at all.

[jrhupp]

Originally Posted by Gorgok

Any opinions on this http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-...pp_337314.html

It's pretty big yet priced in a range I agree with (I'm cheap). Might not be terribly rigid being acrylic but then it's not hard to add pieces to stiffen it up being acrylic... While they don't seem to say it's got a heated bed as far as I understand.

Never done printing myself yet and would like to (only modeling and cnc stuff). Not just because of this thread but yeah, this didn't help dissuade the desire at all.

I have no idea on how this one would perform. But man, at 150$ even if you ended up swapping out a number of parts I have think you would probably still come out pretty good.

While they don't mention a heated bed, it does look as if it has one. Note the bundle of wires going to the bottom-back-center of the bed and the three green connectors on the board; One is likely the hot end, one the input power and I am guessing the third is for the bed. I don't recognize the board, so that is just a guess.

[dread240]

yea, at that price that's pretty tough to beat. I'd be curious as to just exactly how accurate it is with it being acrylic.

That said there are quite a few x and z braces for prusa i3's on thingiverse that I've seen. Some even specifically stated for the wanhao that I purchased even though it's all metal construction.

I'm hoping mine should be here next week. I wish I wouldn't have nitpicked so much and just bought one, I could be making stuff already lol

[dread240]

more motivation sir. I've got mine up and running now, been focusing on doing a couple upgrades guys suggest (how cool is it to make the parts for the equipment on that equipment)

Surprisingly I've had some pretty good success with ABS right off the bat. I used some test PLA they sent with it that printed wonderfully, then went straight to a roll of ABS. First print didn't stick but the bed temp was only like 70 when it started, since going to 95 it's been flawless so far.

[Reefers4U]

for ABS that wont stick to the print bed try a glue stick. apply it when the bed is cool. I've had good success with this method.


@Jrhupp - what glass container are you using to do the vapor polish? I have yet to find one that has all the qualities I need.

[jrhupp]

Originally Posted by Reefers4U

for ABS that wont stick to the print bed try a glue stick. apply it when the bed is cool. I've had good success with this method.


@Jrhupp - what glass container are you using to do the vapor polish? I have yet to find one that has all the qualities I need.

It's a vase from one of those over stock stores. Nothing fancy.

[dread240]

I've been tinkering solely in ABS, and have been having great results with the wanhao buildtak surface. I've yet to have a print fail, which from reading is pretty amazing.

That said, I did notice that no matter what I did in cura, I couldn't get dimensionally accurate parts that would fit together. Last night in a "%^&$%^*$%" moment I splooged for simplify3d, ran 3 interlocking objects, all came out great and dimensions were spot on. Now I can actually get into making some useful things instead of all these test blocks/items lol

[ChitownBrickie]

Following

[jrhupp]

Originally Posted by dread240

I've been tinkering solely in ABS, and have been having great results with the wanhao buildtak surface. I've yet to have a print fail, which from reading is pretty amazing.

That said, I did notice that no matter what I did in cura, I couldn't get dimensionally accurate parts that would fit together. Last night in a "%^&$%^*$%" moment I splooged for simplify3d, ran 3 interlocking objects, all came out great and dimensions were spot on. Now I can actually get into making some useful things instead of all these test blocks/items lol

Thats excellent to hear!

On the dimensional accuracy of Cura; interesting. I have not looked into this but maybe I should be. For interlocking parts I generally leave a small gap between pieces and have not had issues with things not fitting together.

[dread240]

you could easily design that into the stl to makeup for the offset, but that to me was going to be more work then it was worth knowing I should be able to get better precision off of the machine.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:264782

That was the test block I had originally ran in cura (as well as the s plug alignments) that were nowhere near close to fitting. I had my line width down to .4mm which exactly matched the nozzle, and no matter what I did I couldn't get pieces to work together.

For instance, that test block in cura, the notch printed @ 9.47mm wide (should be 10mm) and the block printed @ 9.85mm wide (again should be 10mm wide). If you really really forced it, you could get it to go in a bit but that was it.

That same .stl, not modified one bit, in simplify3d printed printed the notch @ 9.91mm and the block @ 9.87mm. Still not absolutely perfect but way better tolerances then I was getting with cura (and believe me I tried a lot of prints with cura). Also keep in mind these are now cooled ABS pieces, and most estimates of shrinkage ratio are .6-.9% from what I've read. A 9.91mm part with .9% added in for shrinkage is.... 9.99919mm.....

So yea, I'm super pleased with my accuracy right now.

[jrhupp]

Some updates: I've been working on things but have been too busy to post much. I have the valves functional and plumbed in, but have not tested the surge system yet.

I have the tank full of saltwater and cycling, and have tweaked the sump a bit. I'm still not happy with it. So I will wait to post details on that until I get closer to a final design.

I ran into an issue with supply voltage that messed me up for a bit. I did my original testing and stepper motor selection for the valves using an 18VDC supply. But I picked a 12 VDC supply for the reef tank. Turns out the stepper doesn't generate enough torque with a 12 VDC supply. So I needed to change out the supply for the tank, but not all my modules were able to handle a higher input voltage. Long story short I added a 12VDC regulator to the light controller and temperature controller. The problem is solved now and the tank will be moving to a 19VDC supply.

For the valves, here are some more shots of them coming together.

Here are the collets being glued into the valve body. These are sized for 2" pipe. The idea originally was that these could be resized so the valve could be used with other diameter pipes without changing the valve body. They went in with PVC glue as I wanted something clear with some body to it.


Here is one of the sleeves in one of the valve body openings all cleaned up and ground out (details on these are in an earlier post).


#8 stainless steel nuts pressed into the drive half of the valve body. There are ten in total.


Valve bodies all polished up and ready for assembly. These were too big to vapor polish in my jar on the hotbed. So they were done in a stock pot on the kitchen stove (while the wife was not home).


I printed templates and used them to cut the seals out of EPDM rubber sheet.


Stepper motor, drive electronics and one of the seals installed on the dive portion of the valve body. The round seals just snap into a grove on the valve body.


The small gear that goes on the steeper. It uses a 3x12 mm cap screw and a 3 mm nut.


Drive bushing and bottom pin getting o-rings and silicone grease. All the seals got a good brushing of grease.


The drive bushing being installed with the ball. The two machine screws are not needed to install the bushing. Those are incase the bushing needs to be pulled out, and are not installed normally.

[jrhupp]

The large drive gear going on. It just threads on and then gets a second nut as stopper.


Here is the complete assembly with the cover snapped down over the electronics.


Last but not least; prototype parts!

[jrhupp]

Here's a short video of a mostly complete valve in action.



At start up there is a 10 second window where an input (3 second button press) will toggle it into calibration mode. Once in calibration mode it finds the magnet in the large gear from both directions and then waits for user input. Each button press at this point steps the valve one step with the goal being for the user to move it to the full open position. Once full open is reached it will store the offset from the magnet position in EEPROM and use this to find closed each time it auto-homes (via command or on power up/re-start).

Once out of calibration mode, at button press moves the valve open or closed. The opposite of whereever it is currently.

In the end these will be controlled over the serial bus I'm using for all the other modules on the tank.

[rickztahone]

Originally Posted by jrhupp

Here's a short video of a mostly complete valve in action.



At start up there is a 10 second window where an input (3 second button press) will toggle it into calibration mode. Once in calibration mode it finds the magnet in the large gear from both directions and then waits for user input. Each button press at this point steps the valve one step with the goal being for the user to move it to the full open position. Once full open is reached it will store the offset from the magnet position in EEPROM and use this to find closed each time it auto-homes (via command or on power up/re-start).

Once out of calibration mode, at button press moves the valve open or closed. The opposite of whereever it is currently.

In the end these will be controlled over the serial bus I'm using for all the other modules on the tank.

This is some next level stuff. Been following along and loving it. Keep up the great work.

[Reefers4U]

@jr your parts are looking awesome man! No blobs or zits. are you using rafts or overhangs? I've only printed this so far and a few brackets for a frag rack.

I get a distorted top and not very defined plastic netting.

I'm extruding at 90% w/ temps at 235/110

[jrhupp]

Originally Posted by Reefers4U

@jr your parts are looking awesome man! No blobs or zits. are you using rafts or overhangs? I've only printed this so far and a few brackets for a frag rack.

I get a distorted top and not very defined plastic netting.

I'm extruding at 90% w/ temps at 235/110

Thanks!

Typically I don't use rafts. Not sure on what overhangs are. So I'm guessing I don't use those. I do use support material some time.

In my experience I get ripples on the first layer(s) when either the first layer height is to short or more commonly because it is over-extruding. Getting an accurate measurement of the filament diameter is important; don't assume the filament is actually round or that the diameter is constant. I used to also get ripples on occasion when I used to use glue stick on glass to print on; small glue clumps would cause the ripples to start and then they would just get bigger with each pass of the nozzle.

For the blobs and what not, I get some occasionally but not to much. Air pockets in the filament I think are the likely cause of what I get now. Tweaking retraction settings can help as that can be a common cause. Do you have an option for combing in your slicer? That helps too as it limits where the nozzle can travel over, so when it does ooze its more likely to be in space internal to the print.

And if it makes you feel better I have some parts that I will post soon that I had to print four times to get it right; One run was full of gaps, one the support material couldn't be removed from, one looked like a piece of lava rock as the support material was useless (too far away) and the surface was pushing up into the nozzle.

[Reefers4U]

Sorry I didn't explain myself very well - the overhang is the part overhang, so think of arches or semi-circles. You tell the printer at what angle of overhang it should start printing support material. So if I'm printing the roman Colosseum it would have to start printing support material because of the arches - that is a controllable setting in your slicer and was wondering what you had it set at because your parts look complicated but solid.

I'm using a glue stick. Going to try and lay down just one layer and see if that helps. What are you using? Some say hairspray?

I've noticed the diameter inconsistency. Do you just take multiple measurements and average from there?

I'm using simplified 3d I'll check for combing.

Thanks - that does make me feel better because I was thinking of sending it back. Still not getting perfect prints but I managed to print a shot glass that worked well