A Tea between friends :-) How was Your Day

[Izzy]

NO! The kitten coming in and out of shot will be so much better

[LePaul]

Well right now she's big into chasing her shadow....

[MTVDNA]

I had a little bit of a scare today. I had printed some parts, and was about to start up another when I noticed the screen said:

ERROR - STOPPED
Temp sensor BED

Well, nothing turning it off and on again can't fix, I thought. Wrong. The printer wouldn't even finish booting before showing the error again. So I decided to check the connector on the pcb to see if it was correctly plugged in. I figured maybe the temp sensor was broken. I measured the resistance, which was about 108 ohms which is perfectly fine for room temperature. Since everything looked fine I decided to check if the printer would boot before I put everything back together again, and indeed it did. However, when I had put it back upright again, the error was back.

The ultimaker support pages told me to check whether the wires were properly connected at the bed. Apparently, sometimes they can get loose because of the movements up and down. When I removed the bed from the z-stage, I made the mistake of unscrewing the black connector block into which the heater and temp sensor cables go. As I lifted the bed, the soldering of the entire block came loose..... FFFFFFFFUUUUUUU......

The only soldering iron I had at hand was rather bulky, and I didn't trust myself to fix it, so I went to the store where I bought my printer. Fortunately they were easily able to fix the soldering. I was not looking forward to having to pay EUR 180 to get a new one, so I'm very happy it turned out okay.

I also got some magnalube so I could clean the lead screw, which is now quite shiny.


On an unrelated note, I'm looking to buy a good digital caliper. I think I'm going to order this one:
http://nl.farnell.com/mitutoyo/500-196- ... dp/1521216

It has good accuracy and repeatability, absolute scale (no need to set zero every time you turn it on), and Mitutoyo seems to be a good brand. I also like the thumbwheel, and the fact that it doesn't have a port to connect it to pc. (those are at least EUR 50 more expensive, and you don't even get a cable, which also costs another EUR 70 or so.)

If anybody has any advice on them I'd appreciate that.

[Izzy]

I'm not sure if it has an auto off, most verynears ( no that's not a spelling mistake, compaired to a micrometer the reading accuracy is 'very near' ) even the cheaper ones £20 will be good enough for your needs, but it's worth paying a little extra for one with auto off, saves a lot a batteries.

[Meduza]

The Mitutoyo is really worth it, even if i prefer the longer 200mm ones, the 150mm ones always seem to be just a bit too short for some stuff

[Izzy]

I agree the mitutoyo have always been quality instruments, I still have my 1st micrometer and Vernier (old school, non digital) from back in 1981, they both cost me nearly a weeks wages each, but have served me well for 35 years so a good investment
Also look for an accessories pack for the vernier that allows for measuring centres etc. Although I don't remember them being as expensive as they are at the moment.

[LePaul]

What's new, gents?

My home Internet router took a hit...from the kitten. Dropped to floor and not working! No home internet (asides on my iPhone data signal). At first this was annoying but after a few days, you get so much done when lot loosing time online! I'll replace it next week and put it in a better spot where she can't grab cables and crash the network

[Izzy]

You either need to use sticky Velcro pads or design and print a mounting cradle that you can fix in place so she can't be a scientist!
( When cats knock things off of surfaces they are not being arses, they are being scientific, they are checking the gravitational effects in that location, this information is then passed on to other cat scientists and rechecked on a regular basis!)

[LePaul]

She's certainly an explorer. My friend has a male kitten, same age (4 months) and she reports he is a very mellow cat. I seem to have adopted the Tasmanian Devil ! She does love the automatic laser pointer....its a vertical mast, periscope style that randomly moves around the laser beam for 15 minutes at a time. She doesn't heed her name yet....and she's still big into biting!

[LePaul]

Gents! Where are ya? More vacations for my European friends?

Happy First Day of Fall

[Izzy]

Ok so I'm about to go on holiday for a week this Saturday, off to the Ionian for a weeks sailing

But I was quickly sorting out my printers hood, I've got to remake the top and sloping faces that open up giving access as they are from my initial prototype. The whole hood can be lifted off, and with the front door it creates a suitable environment for ABS printing, when I have redone the front lids I will publish the files for others to utilise.
All the parts can be printed on the bed, I deliberately made the parts small and simple, all the acrylic parts can be produced from a single 2mm sheet about 4ft X 2ft, all the parts are screwed together. Fully details will be published when complete

Please excuse the mess, the printer sits on a lazy Susan, and I have a tray assembly that fits the front and sides, the front centre piece has a tray that fits under the printer where I keep my scalpel safe and sound.

[ivan.akapulko]

As always, a daily routine of squeezing you dry. But it's the good tiredness, right?
Good: for the first time set up the magnetic resonance imager, it did not work the first time, but on the second day I and my companion sat him down in place. Finished the second version of the fastener of sensors for MRI, soon to be the first photo straight away.
The bad: the dog found piroplasmosis, but 5 days of antibiotics has created a miracle
2Izzy: Do you need a hood on UM2 only for ABS, or it make benefits for PLA too?

[LePaul]

gr5 was mentioning a hood is good for filaments like nGen too

[Izzy]

With the door on it provides a stable environment, I designed the lid so that it can be propped open indifferent positions for ventilation too, and it also prevents my cats from getting too inquisitive and sticking paws where they may get hurt.

[LePaul]

PrintedSolid sells an interesting enclosure....

https://printedsolid.com/collections/3d ... -kit-parts