I am not sure who to ask, so I decided to put it out there online. I have an old HE3D Prusa Mendel type printer from about one to two years ago. The board blew out about 6 months ago and the printer has been sitting in the garage ever since. I don’t know whether to scrap it or rebuild it.
I would rather scrap the parts and get a few dollars back so I can by another printer (not from HE3D) for under $500 but I don’t know how to go about this. The more realistic solution is to renovate the printer and bring it back online. If I do this, does anyone know where to get started on renovating an old reprap Chinese printer? I want to install an e3d hotend with a new build plate, which would require a new board such as the rambo mini. I also will replace all the wiring (as a short circuit caused the board to burn out). Would this end up more expensive than if I bought a new 3d printer?
My mistake was getting the Chinese “build your own” HE3D printer as my first DIY build. Now I have to deal the consequences after a year of printing on it.
Renovating it could be a fun project and IMO it would economically be worth it: there’s no way you are going to spend so much to just fix what’s broken. I had an HE3D Kossel as well, and despite the kit being… “meh” quality and it being my first printer at all, I had some fun modding it and making it perform at its best. A year later I eventually sold it and built a D-Bot anyway. Still, I don’t know if someone will be willing to pay $500 for a not-so-recent DIY RepRap, when there are newer, cheaper, factory-made printers out there at the moment.
Thanks for the input! How would you go about modding this printer? Would it even be possible to hook up a v6 Bowden extruder and hotend to it, or would I have to design a new carriage for it? Do you know of any forums\instructions\models for the specific printer? I have no idea where to start!
Unfortunately I have no experience with Mendels, but I think a new carriage might be needed. I’m sure that someone on Thingiverse has already made a suitable part (a quick search turned this up, but keep in mind that I do not know your machine well and I might just be linking an incompatible piece - x carriage for E3D V6 / 50 mm axis distance with Auto Bed Leveling by MacNite - Thingiverse 4) I’d change the board first - a “standard” RAMPS should be fine for that machine I think, and it’ll set you back less than $20 usually. Consider buying a spare if the price is ok and the stepper drivers are of good quality. Test what there’s to test, fixing just the bare minimum to bring the printer back online. Avoid putting too much things in at once. When it’s proven that the printer in healthy, go on with the upgrades! One more thing: have you thought of cannibalizing the Mendel to build another machine? You may do as I did, pull out steppers, hotend and electronics and only sell the assembled frame.
Thanks for the input! How would you go about modding this printer? Would it even be possible to hook up a v6 Bowden extruder and hotend to it, or would I have to design a new carriage for it? Do you know of any forums\instructions\models for the specific printer? I have no idea where to start!
A ramps setup with lcd can be had pretty cheep I have a great x carriage with bed leveling and I can recommend a couple of great extruders to run the e3d on this machine I have a old prusa running as my main machine still
Cool. Which extruder did you use with the old prusa? I am unsure about the width between the two railings for the x carriage, but how can optimize it for the e3d? Also, I don’t really like the heated bed because of the need for it to have a separate router (I can’t remember what it is called). Can the ramps board handle a direct connection for the heat bed?
Thank you broncosis! I actually have a Mendel max 3 chugging away as my main printer, so I should be able to handle the parts! I would however be I interested in your board. I have never heard of the one you mentioned. I’ll also review your thingiverse file as well. I can’t start it till after Christmas, but it looks like your model could work. If I were to print a carriage, would I be fine to print it in ABS? Or something else?
Sorry for my inexperience, why are there six different boards that I would have to buy? Don’t I just need a single board and then attach all the motors and hotend and hotbeds to that board?
The board here are a modular system so that if one part goes you can replace just that part also its one of the cheeper more reliable setups This ramps kit looks much more complex than it is There is about 10 or so boards you could choose from.
Don’t do what ive done before and ruin two circuit boards in a row. I say that because a short circuit shouldn’t ruin anything. A short circuit is a result not a cause of the problem.
Ah, I see. Thanks! Are there any on Amazon? And do these boards allow for a second extruder (not a necessity, just something I thought about). I would think the best dual extrusion system for the reprap Mendel printer would be similar to the prusa i3 mk2 setup. Could I eventually mod it into that?
Yes they are available on Amazon as well as the heated beds Just aliexpress is the cheapest Dual extrusion is totaly do able with a bodwen setup like you have
Yes they are available on Amazon as well as the heated beds Just aliexpress is the cheapest Dual extrusion is totaly do able with a bodwen setup like you have. This board can run 2 extruder for sure but its a pain to setup sometimes also you lose the simple way to connect a cooling fan
Interesting. I did see that the fans where the cause of the short circuit, then the board started burning or something, and pieces started falling off the board. I will be re-wiring everything,so hopefully that fixes the problem. Does anyone know where I can get small gauge wire in the US? Would ACE have it?
Since then ive renovated it and its now by far irs my best printer, but it wasnt a cheap renno.
Id reccomend you start by buying the following parts
P3 steel frame
E3d titan extruder
E3d v6 hot end
Duet wifi control board
With these and some hardware off your original printer you may have the makings of a reasonable printer… you may need to buy a heatbed too, and a few other bits and pieces… and you may need to get a p3 plastics kit from the same place as the frame
Best go to the e3d website for the extruder and hot end, ebay for the p3 steel frame and duet wifi for the duet you may get them from amazon but going direct to producer is better…and going direct to duet wifi will give you essy access to one of the best support networks for this kind of rebuild.
Wow. I’ll look into it. I’ll definitely upgrade the hotend to a E3d. How much do you think the renovation will take if I just use a regular controller board ($)? I don’t need the silent motor option, and I have a raspberry pi with octoprint for the wifi.
Ok great sales pitch I think you may have missed some points in this thread. The OP has a second machine But he is looking to renovate this printer not build a new one My prusa has been a good stable machine for almost 5 years But you make some good points a rigid frame is important so now is a good time to go through and tighten everything and make sure everything is true and square I agree the e3d is a great upgrade get your machine up and moving again First your extruder / hot end worked before so you can use it to calibrate your new control board and stuff while you print your new carriage for the e3d if you need I would recommend a auto leveling up grade for sure it was the single best upgrade I made to my machine it went from failing 50% of the time and constantly leveling the bed to just pop in the and card and print. The auto leveling setup on the carriage I posted uses a touch probe which lets you use and build surface you like, where a inductive sensor needs a aluminium or copper or steal bed. I use glass on mine. My second printer has a steal bed with a inductive sensor on a boxed wood i3 frame with one piece printed ends and I would say its probably more rigid than any plate style prusa i3. But my j head and touch probe on my prusa just work With a little aquanet on the glass I can print pla with a bed temp of 60c and get a glass transparent and smooth base
I think you misunderstand how crap he3d products are…sure a tightened frame may help, but if your going to rebuild a printer then do it right and do it once… sticking with a poor frame that needs retightening and resquaring once a week isnt really worth the time…as for sales…meh, i just reccomend parts that i have personally used and know do a great job, i dont make a cent from reccomending anything and Im sure there are others that can do the job, but im not in a place to reccomend them.
There are a few other great printable upgrades like wobble isolators bearing holders for the bottom of z rods one piece motor mount and top frame parts I will this evening compile a list of thingiverse links for you that I would recommend
Ok fair enough all prusa printers suffer from loosening up that’s were a little penetrating thread locker and a few extra nuts are for I am sure that any prusa I1/I2 style would be crap to you it is a 6 year old design how ever your printer the i3 was the evolution of this design and has a few flaws too I am sure as most machines do Glad you enjoy it
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