Prusai3

TechInc Inventory
Description	3d Printer
Make	RepRap
Model	i3
Manufacturer Link	http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa i3
Category	Other
Operational Status	Working
Super Users	User:amx109, User:Nathan7
Received at
Acquisition Details	We Built It
Owner	TechInc

Our 3d printer based on the Prusa i3 design.

Specifications

• Maximum print sizes: (x,y,z) - 170mm, 170mm, "a lot"
  • note the printed object will suffer from "warping" much before those limits are reached.
• Minimal print resolution: (x, y z) - ?, ?, 0.2mm
• Extruder nozzle size: 0.35mm
• It can print overhangs of less than 45degrees without scaffolding.

Printing supplies

• 3mm PLA (hard and britle, doesn't warp much, biodigradable)
• 3mm ABS (soft and tough - LEGO like plastic, warps much more the PLA)

Settings

Settings for the printer depend on the kind of filament.

PLA

• Bed temperature: 60
• Extruder temperature: 185

Pink PLA

For the pink PLA we print at 190 (195 for first layers). Bed at 65

ABS

• Bed temperature: 110 (but it seems the bed doesn't seem to reach that at the moment)
• Extrude temperature: 215

3D Printing Process

The process is this

• create STL file
• slice STL file, export to gcode
• print gcode

STL file

Many popular CAD/3D programs can output STL. here's some we use

• Blender
• OpenSCAD

And you can get ready made 3D objects from

• Thingiverse

Slicing the STL

We use the slicer software called Slic3r - it will generate the actual printer commands (G-code).

Sometimes slic3r complains (even if blender finds no problems with the model). To fix it use the following magic webservice (this is an interface to cloud.netfabb.com ) :

curl --data-binary @orig.stl stlfix.jit.su -o fixed.stl 

The gcode produced by our slic3r configuration will automatically 'home' the printer before it prints, and once its finished printing it will move the nozzle to X0, turn the hotend temperature down to 160 and turn off the motors.

Printing the STL

We use Pronterface to print.

• Load the program
• Hit 'connect' to connect to the printer
• Load the gcode file
• hit print and it should do its work. it can take upto 5mins before the printer actually starts printing.

Maintaining the printer

• Make sure the hotend nozzle is free from plastic before it starts printing. Grab a pair of tweezers and pull any pieces of PLA/ABS away from the nozzle
• if the printer becomes unrepsonsive the following usually fixes it
  • turn off the printer
  • unplug the USB cable to the printer
• if the printer breaks or isnt printing correctly notify the maintainers. do not try to fix it. this is not because you dont have the ability to, but because the maintainers have a 'history of care' and want to identify recurring issues and hopefully fix them.
• the following are known issues
  • Z axis on RHS slips sometimes
  • metal rods need replacing with hardened versions
  • z axis threaded rods need replacing with hardened versions

Future work

• new extruder using lightweight single stepper
• replace rods
• investigate why Y axis is no 90deg to X.