I've been quiet lately. I’m getting ready for the big print. The cam side housing print will take about 25-30 hours to accomplish. I’m gearing up for it. I need to make sure the following things are in check:
1. Temperature controlled chamber. The basic structure is done. I built it from 1/2” furniture grade plywood.
I’m using 2 layers of reflective bubble insulation. The front door is 0.1” acrylic. I built a frame for it, and filled the gap between the acrylic and frame with silicone. I’ll put a cheap thermometer into the chamber and monitor the temperature with it. Off course I’ll do some dry runs with smaller parts. I do not want active temperature control for the time being. I’ll see how high the temperature goes.
2. I need to make sure the stepper drivers will have adequate cooling. First I wanted to cut some heat sinks from this large heat sink,
but later I realized that Panucatt sells the new drivers with heat sinks installed. Royco was so nice, and sent me loose heat sinks with adhesive pads attached, so I can install them on my stepper drivers. They should be here in 1-2 days. The temperature in the chamber will be 50-60C so about 30-40 degrees above the current temperature. I hope the stepper driver will like it. I have no desire to rewire the entire controller just to place it outside the chamber. The power supply will be on the outside though.
3. For a 30 hour print I want to make sure the printer will not stop if someone flips a switch in the house close to the printer, or if the power goes off for a second, so I dusted off one of my old UPS-s. It is a Belkin 650VA – 350W unit. I’ve gotten a new 12V – 7Ah battery for it, and it runs like a new one. I did a test tonight by powering the printer from the UPS. Then halfway into the print I unplugged the UPS. The printer did not stop for a second. It just kept printing. The UPS started to beep, and I left it like that for ~2 minutes. Then I plugged the UPS back in. The printer just kept printing. So get a UPS!