Monday, 21 March 2011

3D Printer Progress

I'm afraid this post is going to be a relatively short one, because I don't have particularly much to say. On Friday, I picked up the electronics for my 3D printer, and soldered much of that together. After some quirks of the design (for instance, completely refusing to start unless a temperature sensor is connected, and not giving any warning that this is the case), I was able to get the motors running successfully.

I now need a beefier power supply (a heated bed, useful for making parts which don't curl and look a mess, will probably be eating several times more power than an old scanner power supply can deliver). The vague plan is to cannibalise an old computer PSU with some add-on circuits to keep the output pretty stable - computers are a nice, constant load most of the time, but motors and heated beds which might suddenly switch on or off aren't so nice (especially when everything's switched off, the load is far too small to keep the output voltage stable).

In other plans, I dug up an old CRT monitor from my collection of junk. Expect to see some high-voltage goodness in the next few weeks. That is, if that lovely flyback doesn't kill me first...

If any of this has been too electronics-orientated then don't worry, I'll include something slightly less geeky in the next installment. Also, in order not to break the combo of "rich media" (I hate that term) in every post, I leave you with the following reminder of the week's viral sensation:


Have a great week,
Charlie
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown21 March 2011 at 08:06

    Computer PSUs are pretty good on their own - I've not seen any stability problems, and I've abused some pretty well :-).
    If you draw lots of power, the 12v rail can drop down a volt or so - but heaters and motors don't notice.
    Since PSUs provide several outputs (5v, 12v, -12v, 3.3v) and vary hugely in design, rating, and quality, YMMV :-)

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  2. Charlie27 March 2011 at 22:15

    I have a small stack of computer PSUs ready to try out. I started one without enough load on it a while ago - I still remember the acrid smell of capacitor smoke to this day, and have always respected their needs perhaps a little too much. It didn't even die, which was the most impressive thing - worked absolutely fine afterwards :)

    I'll be on holiday starting next week, in which time I aim to complete the "prototype" electronics (cut-up computer PSU - if I'm doing this as an A2 coursework I have to show development of ideas, good prototyping etc - my eventual plan will be to use a full PSU "breakout board" with emergency shutoff button) and design the framework, extruder block, and structure, and order belts, leadscrews etc.

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