Author Topic: Velleman K8200 3D printer  (Read 8963 times)

ljwinkler

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Velleman K8200 3D printer
« on: January 08, 2014, 03:13:55 PM »
Hi All,

In this post I'd like to share with you my thoughts, fights, issues and achievments with the printer.
Please feel free to comment or ask a question - I will be more than happy to help.

To be up to date with my latest news, please subscribe to this post or follow me on any of the below:
- Twitter (http://twitter.com/winkler247)
- Blogger (http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/)
- Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/ljwinkler/designs)
- YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/ljwinkler247)

Cheers,
LJ

ljwinkler

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2014, 03:14:40 PM »
Velleman K8200 assembly tips

I'd like to share with you my thoughts I came across when I was assembling the printer.
Please check my post here: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.ie/2014/01/velleman-k8200-assembly-tips.html
I hope it will be useful.

I'm more than happy to answer all your questions!

Cheers,
LJ

ljwinkler

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2014, 03:15:34 PM »
Hot bed heat distribution

Here is just a quick update on a heat distribution on the mirror bed.
The temperature is set to +58°C but it varies from +50°C on the corners to +65°C in the centre.
You can also see the X-shaped aluminium frame underneath.

Cheers,
LJ

ljwinkler

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2014, 03:17:16 PM »
Frame clip + locking pin

Here is just a quick update on my latest addition to the 3D printer.
As you know (or maybe not) mounting any accessories on the printer’s frame is a bit inconvenient. It is a good idea with these square nuts slid in the frame but unfortunately if you want to add something after the printer is fully assembled – it can be very ungrateful.
Some of the areas are easy to be modified, like the vertical aluminium profiles – it requires just removing the top caps. However, some areas are very hard to access (like the Z carriage arm) – you would need to tear the printer apart to get into the groove in the aluminium profile.

I had to figure out how to hang something on the frame without disassembling the printer or drilling holes in the frame.

To download the files - visit my profile on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/ljwinkler/designs) or use direct links below:
- bracket (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409393)
- pin (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409394)

More details/photos here: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.ie/2014/01/frame-clip-and-locking-pin-for-velleman.html

Cheers,
LJ

ljwinkler

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2014, 04:00:32 PM »
FLAT frame clip

Here is just a quick follow up on my previous frame clip (http://ljwinkler.blogspot.ie/2014/01/frame-clip-and-locking-pin-for-velleman.html). The middle section fits snugly into the aluminium profile only if there is no flat cable or other wires running along, that's why I have created another version of the clip, this time with flat middle piece.
The rest of the clip remains the same. It contains exact same rectangular holes on both sides and the pin designed previously (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:221362) will work as well. However, a countersunk M3 or M4 bolt needs to be used.

To download the files - visit my profile on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/ljwinkler/designs) or use direct links below:
- flat clip (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:416539)
- full clip (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409393)
- pin (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409394)

More details on my blog: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/2014/01/flat-mounting-clip-for-velleman-k8200.html

For latest updates/projects please subscribe to my blog: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
LJ

MJLorton

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2014, 10:56:58 AM »
Very nice...this is a technology that is taking off very quickly now. We have a few folks at our meet up that are playing with these or building their own.
Play, discover, learn and enjoy! (and don't be scared to make mistakes along the way!)

ljwinkler

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2014, 04:36:42 PM »
Controller board mount

Today I decided to change the way how the main controller board is mounted.
By default is just hanging on the frame and waiting to be shorted by the aluminium profile underneath. It is not mounted securely (only one edge of the board, 2 small screws in plastic mountings).
I have used jodbe’s design on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:193965). It has really smart solution to hold all the wires – it has built in canals so the wires are not sticking out anymore and the unit becomes very flat.
I have just modified it slightly by removing fan’s mounting points, cutting away side of the board and adding 2 mounting points for my frame clips. Depends on the location on the frame, FULL (http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/2014/01/frame-clip-and-locking-pin-for-velleman.html) or FLAT (http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/2014/01/flat-mounting-clip-for-velleman-k8200.html) clip may be used.

To download the files - visit my profile on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/ljwinkler/designs) or use direct links below:
- original controller board base designed by jodbe (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:363662)
- my controller board base (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:425023)
- full frame clip (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409393)
- flat frame clip (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:416539)
- pin (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409394)

More details on my blog: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/2014/01/flat-mounting-clip-for-velleman-k8200.html

For latest updates/projects please subscribe to my blog: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
LJ

ljwinkler

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2014, 03:39:00 PM »
LED ring light for Velleman K8200 3D printer

This time I would like to present you how I have added a light around the extruder.
Instead of re-inventing the wheel I just bought a simple tent light in Argos.
It contains 2 rings with white 5mm LEDs and it is battery powered. It takes 3x AA batteries so the maximum voltage is about 4.5V – close enough to onboard 5V. I’m going to drive it using PWM so I’m not worried about exceeding the limits (I’m sure there is a voltage margin in the product design so it will not catch the flames if 4.51V is provided :)

For the PWM driver I used Atmega328P microcontroller with an Arduino bootloader. It is a bit overkill using a microcontroller for such a simple purpose but it leaves me an open window for future modifications and it was also very quick to set up from parts I had. The other big advantage of this solution comes when a small tweaks are required – it just means changing the source code and re-uploading it back to the microcontroller.
I used one of the analogue inputs (A0 - pin 23) to read value of the potentiometer and one of the PWM outputs (D10 - pin 16) to drive a transistor that controls the LEDs. Atmega328P has a 10 bit A/D converter, therefore it can read 1024 positions of the potentiometer (0-1023). However, the PWM output is only 8-bit (0-255). I have modified the range to be 3-255 – so turning the potentiometer to its edge will turn off the lights completely. I have also added averaging of last 10 readings to prevent flickering.
A 4-pin header (Reset, RxD, TxD, GND) was added for programming purposes.
As a power supply I used the main controller board, pins marked as +5V and GND from the header J1 located in the corner of the controller board.


List of components used:
  • 1x ATmega328P with Arduino bootloader
  • 1x BUF644 NPN transistor
  • 1x 16MHz crystal
  • 2x 22p ceramic capacitor
  • 1x 10k resistor
  • 1x 100R resistor
  • 1x 10k potentiometer

And here is the source code:

Code: [Select]
// Arduino program for PWM LED lighting
// Copyright 2014 - LJ Winkler (lwinkler247@gmail.com)
//
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------//
// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person             //
// obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files    //
// (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,          //
// including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,    //
// publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,    //
// and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,       //
// subject to the following conditions:                                    //
//                                                                         //
// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be          //
// included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.         //
//                                                                         //
// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,         //
// EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF      //
// MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  //
// IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY     //
// CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,    //
// TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE       //
// SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.                  //
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------//

/*
 * pin A0 - PWM pot input
 * pin 10 - PWM output
 */

const int numReadings = 10;
const int potINpin = A0;
const int pwmOUTpin = 10;
int potValue = 0;
int pwmValue = 0;
int readings[numReadings];
int index = 0;
int total = 0;
int average = 0;

void setup() {
  pinMode(pwmOUTpin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(potINpin, INPUT);
  for (int thisReading = 0; thisReading < numReadings; thisReading++){
    readings[thisReading] = 0;
  }   
}

void loop() {
  total = total - readings[index];       
  readings[index] = analogRead(potINpin);
  total = total + readings[index];     
  index = index + 1;                   
  if (index >= numReadings){
    index = 0;                         
  }
  average = total / numReadings;       
  pwmValue = map(average, 0, 1023, 255, 0);
  if(pwmValue<3){
    pwmValue=0;
  }
  analogWrite(pwmOUTpin, pwmValue);
  delay(1);
}


To download the files - visit my profile on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/ljwinkler/designs) or use direct links below:
- LED rings mount (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:455730)
- Left bracket (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:455726)
- Right bracket (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:455727)
- PWM controller board base (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:455729)
- Potentiometer holder (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:455728)
- Full clip (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409393)
- Flat clip (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:416539)
- Pin (http://www.thingiverse.com/download:409394)


More details on my blog: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/2014/02/led-ring-light-for-velleman-k8200-3d.html


For latest updates/projects please subscribe to: http://ljwinkler.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
LJ
« Last Edit: February 13, 2014, 03:47:34 PM by ljwinkler »

SeanB

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #8 on: February 13, 2014, 11:41:51 PM »
While I like the idea of using the printer to print the upgrades for itself I would recommend using a 1R5 or so resistor in series with the LED ring. From experience I see many of those cheap lamps use the internal resistance of the batteries to provide current limiting. With a 5V supply you will get a very high current through the LED's at max power position, which will make the already badly overdriven LED's have a short life.

ljwinkler

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Re: Velleman K8200 3D printer
« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2014, 01:31:20 AM »
Thanks for the tip SeanB.
However, I've noticed I've never set the brightness further than 40-50% - it just makes so much light it is hard to look at.
The mirror + shiny extruded plastic make me wear sunglasses while printing 8)
But I get your point - while testing on a bench the lamp was capable of sucking almost 4A at 5V - 80mA per LED  :o

Cheers,
LJ