Any 3D print gurus?

[Easy-X]

I have a Prusa i3 (Mk1) clone that I've just dusted off. It seems to be a RAMPS 1.4 driver board on an Arduino Mega. The firmware was version 1.0 of Marlin which nothing seemed to want to talk to. I've spent the entire evening getting Marlin 2.07 running on it and then teaching it left/right/up/down/etc.

Surprisingly it still prints stuff but I think the PLA filament has gone funny. Needs a lot more tweaking & calibration before I can get it to print consistently though.

Anyhoo, assuming I can get it back in working order I'm wondering what to do with it I have a big reel of ABS but no working heatbed (although there is a PCB kicking around here somewhere.) I'm wondering if I should get it to the point I can print me a new printer
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[bladerunner]

I'd bang some fresh PLA in it and see how it does first
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Current bikes...cbr929, KDX200's, Rd125lc mk2, RGV250's

[Ayrton]

I'd get a heated bed first. If you can get a 110v one as it heats up so much faster, but you do need to add a relay.
https://www.instructables.com/Upgrade-3D-Printer-Heated-Bed-to-110V/

It's worth seeing how well it prints and then upgrading the bits you want. I have a mk1 clone with an acrylic frame and upgraded it with as E3D hotend, extruded aluminium AM8 frame, bed level sensor and other bits. I dont think there's much of the original left They dont print too badly as standard really, but little upgrades like a auto bed level sensor makes printing so much easier.

[Easy-X]

[WD Forte]

PLA is more hygroscopic than ABS so you probably need some fresh stuff
that hasn't absorbed so much ambient moisture in the time its been laid up.
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bikers smell of wee

[Easy-X]

[Ayrton]

[Easy-X]

Yeah, I've pretty much given up on it in the stock configuration. All the prints lift off a few layers in and all the extreme edges have lift off distortion from material shrinkage.

I did manage to level the bed pretty well by hand though. Initial prints were a complete mess but now they're quite neat - the first few layers anyway. Even tried the old PLA and that was fine.

On that: it might be just some old crud in the extruder. I've tried running the ABS and some good PLA samples through and everything seems much better now. Maybe the higher temp ABS did it some good

I have the 12V PCB, I have the high wattage PSU so I've ordered up a thermistor and some wire and will get the heat bed working and try again. Once I can churn out reasonable PLA & ABS I can think about upgrade parts like the levelling sensor. (Bonus brackets galore on thingiverse!)

Something like this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trianglelab-3D-TOUCH-sensor-Auto-BED-Leveling-Sensor-for-anet-A8-tevo-repr-T-ZT/363068858120
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Easy-X]

I had another play with the printer last night, experimenting with top-hatting to see if it made any odds... no basically Anyhoo I can see this being a bit of a "turn an old Golf into a GTI rally car" thing - parts are cheap, you can upgrade bit by bit.

Took apart the XBox PSU I have: 3 pairs of chunky wires for +12V and at ~16A absolutely ideal for a 3D printer. It also has a tiny pair of 12V wires that should do nicely to drive the external fans which were previously just wired directly into the 12V/5A feed. Just waiting on some more ferrules and then I can wire it up.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Ayrton]

I've not got any experience with those kind of sensors but I think they work ok. I've got an inductive sensor on mine, but it can only be used on a metal bed, which pissed me off a few days ago when I tried to add a new flexible magnetic bed.
This guy has a good comparison video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il9bNWn66BY

[Easy-X]

[Easy-X]

BTW I've discovered I have a Prusa i3 Hephestos which should make my life a bit easier with regards to getting it set up correctly

<addendum> Ah, looking at the specs it's a solid aluminium frame I must say the RepRap site is a fantastic resource! I've turned up the original Marlin config files... which means I wasted hours unnecessarily tweaking the code by hand
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[blurredman]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Infinity_%281990%29.jpg
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[Easy-X]

[Easy-X]

Got my first print done, Calicat:

https://i.imgur.com/Sjp9FfL.jpg?2

Crucial to get it to print: bed levelling plus glue stick and the heatbed @ 60 degrees
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter