COMPLETE Dual Titan IDEX - another try

Discussion in 'Guides, Mods, and Upgrades' started by Alex9779, May 14, 2017.

  1. Proto_BB

    Proto_BB Well-Known Member

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    Is there a bill of materials? I have nearly printed all of the parts. I purchased the steppers and other items for Bjorns version, but I'm not sure if they are applicable here. Also not sure if my standard Titans will be ok or if I need "mirrored" (not that I know what the difference is).
     
    #61 Proto_BB, Jun 18, 2017
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2017
  2. Alex9779

    Alex9779 Moderator
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    Nope, sorry...
    The design uses a mirrored Titan on the right side, yes.
    You Titans are "handed", the hotend is not in the middle, it is shifted a little to the right side if you look at it from the front.
    The mirrored Titan has the hotend on the left side. Also the filament guide is mirrored, drive wheel, lever, screw and spring are just the same...
     
  3. Proto_BB

    Proto_BB Well-Known Member

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    Back to Bjorns build I go.
     
  4. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    Hi Alex

    I'm still in the calibration stage of my IDEX conversion, tweaking the Marlin RC BugFix firmware to work with my new configuration.
    I'm not sure quite how I missed this but on my first attempt at running a manual MBL sequence I discovered that the nozzles can no longer reach the bed - at absolute minimum Z height they are still about 5 mm away from the bed.
    I guess I can just fit taller brass spacers to hold the bed up a bit higher. I think 20 mm instead of 15 mm should work fine.
    Did you do this or find a different solution?

    Cheers,
    Richard
     
  5. Alex9779

    Alex9779 Moderator
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    Hey Richard,
    I had no problems like that. I did never change the spacers since the KS campaign. No idea if they have been changed...
     
  6. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    That's weird!
    I'm using standard E3D V6s mounted straight into Titan extruders. I've printed all the parts straight from the download on Thingiverse - everything fits as it should do. The only previous conversion I've done is from the Pro to the Dual Hybrid.
     
  7. Alex9779

    Alex9779 Moderator
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    Hmmm I had a look at the picture your posted and you have the stands for the bed screwed all the way in so they touch the bed assembly... Mine are up a little about 5mm I think...
    Can you post some other pictures? Close ups maybe showing the distance between the nozzles and the bed and you bed stand offs?
     
  8. Alex9779

    Alex9779 Moderator
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    I uploaded modified parts to the thing, I changed the clearance of the belts on the X carriage parts a little... Didn't cause problems but seeing the belt toucht the back does not look good IMHO :)
     
  9. Alex9779

    Alex9779 Moderator
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    Ok Richerd, here are some photos of my box.
    The nozzle touches the bed, the stand offs are not screwed in, about 3mm up, and phptos of the distacne of the bearings to the mounts and the screw nut...
    2017-07-14 08-26-10 0883.jpg 2017-07-14 08-26-16 0884.jpg 2017-07-14 08-26-22 0885.jpg 2017-07-14 08-26-35 0886.jpg
     
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  10. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    Hi Alex. Thanks for posting pictures of your build. I will add some more of my own.
    My 20 mm posts have arrived and been fitted to the platform. The nozzles can now reach the bed. The new issue is that the wiper is now too low to wipe the nozzles - I should be able to modify the original to increase its height a bit.
    My right extruder is working fine, but the left one (T0) is skipping terribly. I have turned the voltage on the driver up to 0.75 V and it is still doing it so I will need to investigate further; perhaps there is a mechanical cause.
    The right carriage is also quite sturdy and moves nicely, but the left one has far too much play in it. When the X motors are turned on, locking the rear half of the left carriage, the front side can still slide back and forth a couple of millimetres. There is a clearly visible gap between the carriage and the motor/Titan block and the plastic is not strong enough to resist bending. I will have a go at reprinting all the parts once I have got some S3D profiles sorted out.
    Cheers,
    Richard
    IMG_4338.JPG IMG_4339.JPG IMG_4341.JPG IMG_4342.JPG IMG_4340.JPG
     
  11. Alex9779

    Alex9779 Moderator
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    For your wiper as far as I can see you can move it up in the slots of the case...
     
  12. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    Thanks,yes. I had forgotten that it was adjustable from the back. I have moved it right to the top of the slots and it is working now.
    I dismantled the left extruder and discovered that I had accidentally reused the same short screw holding the Titan body to the motor. This was too long and was failing to clamp the new, thinner carriage plate at all. I have replaced it with a shorter screw which I hope will have fixed the slipping extrusion problem. I'll try another print run tomorrow.
     
  13. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    Turns out one of the pancake stepper motors I received from E3D is faulty. There is minimal resistance to rotation when the power is off, and the holding torque with power on is very weak. Project is now on hold while I try and organise a return.
     
  14. Alex9779

    Alex9779 Moderator
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    Oh Richard, not nice... Hope it works out for you. I am pretty happy with my rebuild. Though I didn't print much yet... Still have to dial in the dual extrusion...
     
  15. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    I have temporarily fitted the original Titan stepper motor and added a longer screw for the X MIN endstop to test whether the stepper driver and the Titan extruder are working correctly.
    So, not actually dual extruding yet but at least both carriages are working well.

    IMG_4343.JPG IMG_4345.JPG IMG_4346.JPG IMG_4347.JPG IMG_4344.JPG
     
  16. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    Both extruders now working. Print quality is excellent!
    IMG_4353.JPG

    Onto the offset calibration next. This post from Greg was invaluable.
    Before calibration
    IMG_4348.JPG

    After calibration
    IMG_4349.JPG
     
    #76 richgain, Jul 20, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2017
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  17. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    I am very pleased to report that the IDEX conversion has finally fixed my Z height problem with dual extrusion prints!
    Here is my original 2-colour frog in green from the old Dual Titan Hybrid, and the new version in red printed on Alex's IDEX conversion. Note how the blue eyes are properly round, where the orange ones were oval.
    The underside of the frog is also massively improved which is an indication of how effective the new cooling fan design is, @Alex9779.

    IMG_4355.JPG IMG_4357.JPG IMG_4358.JPG
     
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  18. Paul Begley

    Paul Begley Well-Known Member

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    that looks great. I'm really interested in performing this upgrade.
    Has your build volume changed, and if so by how much.
    Are you still using the same rumba board?
    And what's needed to convert a standard 1.1 dual hybrid into the idex.
     
  19. Spoon Unit

    Spoon Unit Well-Known Member

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    @richgain great stuff. Do spill the beans to on what looks like a whopping print bed. I also wondered about how much more space at the back could be used but you clearly already figured that out.
     
  20. richgain

    richgain Well-Known Member

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    Thanks. Build volume is 300 x 200 x 300 as per Alex's design. The box, print bed and electronics are unchanged. Perhaps the perspective of the photo is deceiving, @Spoon Unit.
    I absolutely love using the PrintBite surface to print on; I use it on all my print beds now. It is really hard-wearing and performs brilliantly. I like using Greg's modification that puts the IR Z probe on the bed instead of the print head, so I have kept that too. The Rumba seems to work fine with an IDEX build - thanks to @Folkert Kaman for the confidence to stick with it, and for his RC8BugFix branch of Marlin.
    As for what's needed, I started from the Thingiverse page, downloaded and printed all the plastic parts, bought the motors and cable chains that Alex recommended and then started reading all the IDEX threads on here. @Greg Holloway's original post has a list of parts that is still highly relevant. You will need a mirrored Titan extruder as well as the normal version and two of the slim Nema14 motors. I did print the original set of parts in Edge, but in my opinion it lacks the necessary rigidity in a couple of areas, so I have reprinted the main carriage parts in PLA and will do another rebuild soon.
     
    #80 richgain, Jul 20, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2017
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