Hey all,
I'm trying to do something crazy here. As the title suggests, I'm trying to make an independent V3B hot end control.
We are upgrading our 3D printing FANUC robot and I have been assigned to design the controls as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Here's a rough sketch of my idea...
The 9V battery is really just meant to be an illustration of a 24V power supply.
Any ideas?
Independent hot end control.
- JohnnyRobot
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:25 pm
Independent hot end control.
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Re: Independent hot end control.
Get one of the all-in-one $35 PID controller kits off of eBay. Some of them have a relay inside that'll do 120v @ 10A, more than enough to run the hotend. They use an (included) thermocouple, too, and read them temperatures themselves.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-TA4-RNR-PID ... 3f40359751
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PCS-K-Type-The ... 259d58c2dd
Tape the thermocouple to the heater block with Kapton and put the rubber boot back on. Power the PID controller with 120vac (be careful...). Connect the relay terminals of the PID controller inline with the hotend like a switch. Fire it all up, set it to autotune, be merry.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-TA4-RNR-PID ... 3f40359751
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PCS-K-Type-The ... 259d58c2dd
Tape the thermocouple to the heater block with Kapton and put the rubber boot back on. Power the PID controller with 120vac (be careful...). Connect the relay terminals of the PID controller inline with the hotend like a switch. Fire it all up, set it to autotune, be merry.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
Re: Independent hot end control.
Absolutely!insta wrote:Get one of the all-in-one $35 PID controller kits off of eBay.
Buy the biggest blocks you can, wire 'em together, and don't putz around with circuit design & DIY Arduino sketches. This stuff is dirt-cheap on eBay / Amazon, so if your time is worth more than $0/hr, everybody comes out ahead.
Mechanical relays have both an AC rating and a DC rating. If you believe the eBay specs for that controller:insta wrote:a relay inside that'll do 120v @ 10A
- 250V/3A AC
- 30V/3A DC
In any event, that's much much much less than you need for a heated build platform. Switching the platform through an outboard DC-DC (not the usual DC-AC) solid state relay would be a Very Good Idea, because it removes the mystery specs from the design:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-Soild-Stat ... 0737814413
Whatever the 24 V platform current might be (one measurement trumps one kilo-opinion), get an SSR rated at twice that value.
The thermocouple attaches to that controller through screw terminals, not a Type K connector, so you must figure out the polarity on your own: if the temperature reading makes no sense, swap the connections. Better yet, get a sack of female Type K connectors:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5X-New-Female-K ... 1508059056
Wire one up appropriately and you have a no-goof connection for standard thermocouples.
Re: Independent hot end control.
Silly Ed, this is for the hotend, not the bed He's only pulling an amp or so at 24v, which the onboard relay will do just fine.
The current ratings being the same isn't unusual, that's the rating of the flex wire. The voltage difference is for arc extinguishing when switching under load.
The current ratings being the same isn't unusual, that's the rating of the flex wire. The voltage difference is for arc extinguishing when switching under load.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
Re: Independent hot end control.
Point taken... but, remember, nothing exceeds like excess.insta wrote:this is for the hotend, not the bed :)
That would be, what, 24 AWG?the rating of the flex wire
Makes you afraid to look inside the controller, doesn't it?
Re: Independent hot end control.
Nah the flex wire inside the relay. The controllers themselves don't have any moving parts outside of that relay, not too much to fail assuming you listen to something resembling the ratingsednisley wrote:Point taken... but, remember, nothing exceeds like excess.insta wrote:this is for the hotend, not the bed
That would be, what, 24 AWG?the rating of the flex wire
Makes you afraid to look inside the controller, doesn't it?
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
- JohnnyRobot
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:25 pm
Re: Independent hot end control.
Thanks everybody. That is a great solution. If it were up to me, I'd use it.
After presenting the idea to the boss man, he still wants to go the Arduino route. The 3D printing robot is going to be featured at the Detroit Henry Ford Museum Maker Fair.
He wants to use an Arduino to show that the robot is capable of communicating with "Maker Friendly" hardware. So now I'm back at the drawing board.
After presenting the idea to the boss man, he still wants to go the Arduino route. The 3D printing robot is going to be featured at the Detroit Henry Ford Museum Maker Fair.
He wants to use an Arduino to show that the robot is capable of communicating with "Maker Friendly" hardware. So now I'm back at the drawing board.
╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
-- Hi! No signature here.
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
-- Hi! No signature here.
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
Re: Independent hot end control.
Take a page from the Steampunk guys and just stick Arduinos and Sparkfun components all over the PID controller
That's a stupid requirement he gave you
That's a stupid requirement he gave you
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org