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Ultimate fix for Da Vinci Printer

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    #1

    Ultimate fix for Da Vinci Printer

    So I've already ordered my replacement printer, but as I was sitting around musing today I realized that effectively the only thing broken about my 3D printer is the fact that it's da vinci. The design is solid and all the basic parts work(motors, extruders, axis, etc).

    So I cruised over to Reprap's website and started looking over their guides for building totally DIY printers(not kit printers) and discovered you could buy a an Arduino RAMPS board for about $50USD and basically replace the defunct da vinci board entirely, effectively using it as the basis for a DIY printer.

    I'm aware its possibly to flash the da vinci with repetier, but guides for this process are scant at best, and from what I can tell very require as much, if not more effort than just plugging everything in two a brand new board.

    Just a thought I wanted to share. I don't know where you'd find all the necessary settings anyway, but I might pass my defunct printer off to a friend to try this.
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    #2
    Great idea! If the hardware is fine, then, in theory, replacing the board/controller should make it a fully functional and well performing printer. If you do end up doing this or if your friend does it, I'm sure there are plenty of da Vinci printer owners that might appreciate a write-up on the process.

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      #3
      Its probably going to take someone with slightly better tinkering skills than I, but if I can't manage to offload the da vinci I may have to try it. At this point its basically a paperweight otherwise :P

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        #4
        You'd be surprised how easy it is to do... There is a TON of information out there for the RAMPS and Aruduino combo. As long as you can identify all of the plugs, it should not be too difficult. A great project to document and share.

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          #5
          My main issue with all of these things is usually the software itself. Repetier asks for a lot of information that I don't have and isn't documented anywhere. I may be able to glean some of it from my simplify3d profile.

          Basically the hardware isn't looking like much of a challenge, the plugs may not be labeled but its not tough to trace the cables. Like most commercial printers, da vinci is mostly "off the shelf" parts, the sevos look identical to the ones in a makerbot.

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            #6
            You can also take a look into Marlin as Firmware. The documentation on it is great and till now I had no problems for getting all the settings right. You even find the correct settings for cheap chinese thermistors

            But definitely a way you should look into if it really is only the board/software that is causing the problems.

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              #7
              It is possible there are other "problem" parts at play, but more feature-rich software could get around that. Da Vinci's latest brainstorm is the filament sensor.

              But here's my line of reasoning: the drive train works fine. All the little servos are good. The extruders work. The heaters "work" although there seems to be something wrong with either the thermocouple or the command that switches it on. Its possible there is a break in the wire, but I find it odd that it would be able to read back a temperature if that were the case. Either way, assuming you've already got a working drive train and carrage, replacing the extruder with a thirad-party unit would not be a challenge.

              The drive train(that is, the physical X, Y, and Z positioning systems) is the hardest part of building one of these. But I've already GOT that part! Even if the LCD and none of the sensors work, being able to tell the thing "Extrude" and move around would already be more than it can do currently. Which is nothing.

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                #8
                could you not just use another control system, as you say the hard ware all works but the control/sensor side is pants, control boards are ceap enough, i bought some boards off egay for next to nothing and im using those to control an eventorbot clone.

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                  #9
                  Is there any detailed guide on replacing the davinci board with a Ramps eventually? It would be very useful for many people that want to upgrade their printers but afraid or want to replace a fried board like myself. A selection of links from someone who successfully made the mod could work too and become the start of a guide!

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                    #10
                    I would love to see documentation on switching from the Da Vinci board to Arduino! One of mine has a board that could use replacing.

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                      #11
                      http://voltivo.com/forum/davinci-hwm...l?limitstart=0

                      This is the best post about this and contains almost all info needed to convert to mega/ramps. I am about to finish the installation today and it's a success so far. You can get rid of almost half the cables of the printer (filament sensors, top door, cartridge sensors, extruder pcb, etc..) One of the cons is that repetier f/w is not compatible yet and you have to use marlin. I had a fried board and now i have an upgraded daVinci!

                      ps. Do your best in labeling the cables before disconnecting from daVinci board.
                      Cheers

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                        #12
                        How is Marlin? I've never seen/used it.

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