Cyrozap's Tech Projects

Computers. Circuits. Code.

Early Christmas Gifts Are Awesome

The MK5 parts kit!

My dad got me a MK5 kit for Christmas after my MK4 broke for the 3rd time in a few months (PTFE insulators are annoying—I think my thermistor table was wrong). I have since put it together and am currently printing out the Holiday Prusa Mendel on Thingiverse with it. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving! :)

However, there were some problems I noticed:
- Thermistor read wrong temps—ABS now likes to melt at 200C
- Solder joints on power resistors melt partially when running at 200C
- The online instructions for putting it together didn't account for certain changes in the kit; for instance, it comes with two crimp connectors that are never explained.

I did make some improvements, however:
- Added thermal paste between power resistors and aluminum block
- Epoxy used to glue together base-plates to the legs of the extruder holder

My current grievances:
- I don't like that the solder joints are melting and cooling—I don't want to have the risk of breathing in those bad fumes.
- Teflon on nozzle is coming off tip

Final thoughts:
- If it doesn't work flawlessly, at least it works a lot more reliably than the MK4!

Interesting things I noticed today while writing this:
- The server is running quite quickly...
- The 5.1MP Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P93 I used to take the picture in this post (I got it for free from a friend of my dad) has hardly any image sensor noise. This is amazing compared to the amount of sensor noise in my 5.0MP Canon PowerShot S2 IS (consumer-grade DSLR).

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