Mechanical and thermal resilience, and accuracy. Also, much more plug and play than a thermistor. Has a 2 pin plug on the end which goes to the amp, and PT100s are much more predictable and are similar between manufacturers, so once you're set, you never touch the firmware again. Of course, if you want to use a volcano, you either need to have two different firmware copies (wish you could buy a dual firmware capable RAMBo, but AFAIK, you cant), or else manufacture a volcano block capable of taking the PT100 (which is pretty easy if you have access to a mill) I plan on posting my results/drawing with a PT100 enabled Volcano, once I have my firmware sorted. And while I'm at it, I'll see if I can fix your problem, and have a repetier table for you, DSL.
Volcano blocks that are PT100 compatible are being manufactured as part of the big box project so I expect they will be available from E3D come December
I wasn't willing to wait that long, so I made one myself. It's currently sitting on my printer. Also, Spoiler: PT100 table for repetier #define NUM_TEMPS_USERTHERMISTOR1 48 #define USER_THERMISTORTABLE1 {\ {227*4,1*8},{236*4,10*8},{245*4,20*8},{253*4,30*8},{262*4,40*8},{270*4,50*8},{279*4,60*8},{287*4,70*8},{295*4,80*8},{304*4,90*8},{312*4,100*8},{320*4,110*8},{329*4,120*8},\ {337*4,130*8},{345*4,140*8},{353*4,150*8},{361*4,160*8},{369*4,170*8},{377*4,180*8},{385*4,190*8},{393*4,200*8},{401*4,210*8},{409*4,220*8},{417*4,230*8},{424*4,240*8},\ {432*4,250*8},{440*4,260*8},{447*4,270*8},{455*4,280*8},{463*4,290*8},{470*4,300*8},{478*4,310*8},{485*4,320*8},{493*4,330*8},{500*4,340*8},{507*4,350*8},{515*4,360*8},\ {522*4,370*8},{529*4,380*8},{537*4,390*8},{544*4,400*8},{614*4,500*8},{681*4,600*8},{744*4,700*8},{805*4,800*8},{862*4,900*8},{917*4,1000*8},{968*4,1100*8} } This is a direct conversion of the marlin table, and so should be accurate. However, I have not tested it's thermal accuracy with an IR camera or such. Let me know if something is off. just go ahead and paste it into your configuration.H where the first line mostly matches, and set your sensor to 6, which should match it. Otherwise, so long as the pins are connected where the documentation indicates, you'll be fine.
Guys and gals, "Pt100" and "thermocouple" are two very different things. I guess you're all talking about Pt100 here, not thermocouples (most commonly "type K", others tend to be more expensive). Thermocouples usually are easy to fit wherever a thermistor will, there is no need for any special heater block. The only thing to be aware of is that the business end of them tend to have no electrical insulation, so it would be a good idea to make sure they don't touch the block.
I just installed an E3D v6 hot end and the PT100 interfacing kit on my solidoodle 3 using a printrboard mobo that I control with Reptier Host. It reads great but I can't seem to get the hotend over 310C. It just tapers off and plateaus at 310C. Seems like I need more power or something...
Not sure how your controller frontend is configured, but I remember that in Marlin, you can set an absolute maximum above which the controller will not apply any more power to the heater. Does your firmware contain such a ceiling [edited - was: roof] setting too, maybe? The other question, of course, is, if your power supply and the heating element (and the whole setup) are at their limit. You probably don't have an oscilloscope to observe the voltage supplied to the heater, or?
The firmware settings are correct. I found the issue to be the heater element needs to be upgrade from the 30w that comes with the E3D to a 40w heater. The 30w seems to tap out around 350C. The 40w should get me to where I need to go.
I upgraded my solidoodle to use a PT100 Thermocouple so it can print up to 400C. Here is what I learned. -You need an interface board so the PT100 can interface with a printerboard. E3D sells a kit that includes the interface PCB and PT100 sensor. http://www.filastruder.com/collections/e3d-spare-parts-and-accessories/products/e3d-pt100-sensor -The sensor out will need to go into an empty analog pin on the printerboard. It cannot go into the old pin location do to the 4.7k pull up circuit on the original thermistor location. -A Pin Header must be soldered into the PCB in the EXP 1 location so we can access an unused analog pin. This pin is right next to the xyz and e stops. Be careful. It looks like the PCB was reflowed so all the thru holes are filled with solder. I individually soldered in each pin since I couldn't do a whole row at once. A good place to see the pinouts for the PCB is listed here. https://labitat.dk/wiki/Panelolu_and_Printrboard_the_easy_way -In the EXP1 area I am going to use the 5V and GND to power the interface PCB. Also in the EXP 1 area I am going to use the pin closest to the EXP1 screen print on the board. This pin is the analog pin 2 (A2) http://imgur.com/JChoxmO The Marlin Code is setup for the PT100 to use the 2nd analog pin. You must just edit to code so it will look at analog pin 2 now as opposed to the original pin 1. In the pins.h tab the following changes must be made. From Code: #define TEMP_0_PIN 1 // Extruder / Analog pin numbering To Code: #define TEMP_0_PIN 2 // Extruder / Analog pin numbering -The firmware will need to be updated for the calibration of the PT100. In marlin firmware the sensor “20” has the programing curve ready to use. In the configuration.h tab the following changes must be made. Make sure to get the latest thermistortables.h from the Marlin Github. The solidoodle fork does not include the PT100 table! From the E3D thermister Code: #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 6 //{SD Patch} To the new PT100 sensor. Code: #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 20 //{SD Patch} -Max temp in the firmware must be updated to allow the unit to hit the 400C. From the 310 from the wiki for the E3D (or 250 pre E3D number) Code: #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 310 //{SD Patch} To 410 (I wanted a little bit of headroom. Code: #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 410 //{SD Patch} -A 12v or 24v 25-30W heater (the stock E3D heater with blue wires) will not get the nozzle up to 400C. You must upgrade to a 40W heater (red wire) to achieve and maintain temperatures of 400C. http://www.filastruder.com/collections/e3d-spare-parts-and-accessories/products/e3d-heater-cartridge Thanks to elmoret for the help! PS. Some history of why the 25-30W heater is now standard.
Great posts above guys, if someone gets this written up on the wiki: wiki.e3d-online.com then we'll gladly refund them the cost of their PT100 purchase and some extra credit too.
You definitely sound like an expert on this procedure, mind if I run something past you? If you've connected a pair of PT100s to A2 and A3 of the Printrboard rev F, tested them both so you know they're working, changed the definitions in pins.h to '2' and '3' respectively, and changed the thermistor tables to '20', changed the max temp to 400, and you're still getting a temperature reading of '1100', what has been left out??
I've been trying to find info on where to connect the amplifier to the board. I have a SD3 as well but it has a Sanginololu board. I would appreciate any help I can get.
Customer support sent me a link. They're available now. http://e3d-online.com/Volcano-Sensor-Cartridge-Block?search=volcano pt100
Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate all the information and I'm happy to hear it's doable within Repetier. Can anyone put this into an idiot-proof form? I'm not dumb, but I am a complete novice when it comes to reprogramming firmware. The most I've done is tweaked parameters within Repetier for bed curvature and PID adjustments. I would literally need a step by step guide that starts with the assumption that I know nothing.
