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Lastly, if other un-meltable materials or dissimilar materials with higher melting temperature than
your plastic of choice enter your system, you may find over time that your nozzle becomes
clogged. Referring to Figure 4 (Nozzle parts), inside of the Nozzle Cap there is a breaker plate
and screen whose purposes are to aid in building stable pressure, and to act as a last line of
defense against contaminants entering your filament. In the event that your screen becomes
clogged, please contact ReDeTec support for assistance in how to clean your screen! This
process requires special care and safety when executing and a trained specialist will be happy
to advise.

3.3 Plastic Care: Dry vs Wet - Clean vs Dirty

Similar to filament, you want to make sure your plastic is dry and kept clean prior to use. All
plastic is inherently “hygroscopic”, meaning it readily absorbs moisture from the air into its
molecular structure. This moisture is your enemy when it comes to extrusion! Extruding with wet
plastic will cause the moisture to be vaporized during extrusion, causing bubbles in the output
and vastly changing the extrusion properties. In most cases this will prevent you from achieving
high quality consistent filament.

It is very important to follow a strict regimen of properly drying, and managing your dried
plastic before extrusion.

The drying process is simple and may be done using an oven, toaster oven, or food dehydrator.
If using an oven or toaster oven the moist air must be removed for proper drying. Plastic
manufacturers will give specific recommendations on drying temperatures and times.
Temperatures and times used for ABS and PLA are shown in Table 1.

Table 1

: Drying Guide for PLA and ABS.

Make sure your drying system is already preheated before starting the timer for the drying times
stated in Table 1.

After drying, the plastic must be immediately stored in an air-tight container or bag with
desiccants until use for extrusion, otherwise it will quickly reabsorb moisture from the air again.

Ground plastic will have had plenty of time exposed to the environment, and must always be
dried for best results.

10

Содержание ProtoCycler+

Страница 1: ...User Manual Rev 2 0...

Страница 2: ...que vs Transparent Plastic 11 3 5 Spooler Set Up 11 3 5 1 Spooler Assembly Instructions 16 3 6 Light Guide Alignment 17 3 6 2 Light Guide Alignment Overview 18 3 6 3 Step 1 Adjusting the sensor height...

Страница 3: ...6 0 Congratulations 32 7 0 Appendix 33 2...

Страница 4: ...th automatic and manual extrusion modes Most importantly you will be able to operate it safely If the manual doesn t cover what you re looking to understand or raises further questions please visit ww...

Страница 5: ...manual extrusion mode Please do not attempt to extrude any unknown materials unless you understand the chemical reaction that occurs when the material is thermally broken down For example PVC release...

Страница 6: ...Figure 1 ProtoCycler Front View labeled Figure 2 ProtoCycler Side Views labeled Figure 3 ProtoCycler Inside View labeled Figure 4 From left to right Nozzle Screen Nozzle Breaker Plate Nozzle Cap 5...

Страница 7: ...the other by the grinder drawer 2 1 1 Grinder Safety Please thoroughly review the safety precautions before operating the grinder Failure to do so may result in serious injury or irreparable damage t...

Страница 8: ...own on the Grinder Lid Plunger and rotate the Grinder Handle clockwise Viewing through the clear area of the Grinder Lid you will see the Grinder Teeth spin inwards 4 During operation if at any time t...

Страница 9: ...ruder is very important If the plastic media is too large in any dimension it can jam your extruder Using 100 regrind can also lead to jamming De jamming is a difficult process which may require parti...

Страница 10: ...n each unit before shipping but dust accumulation occurs over time Before extruding inspect your extruder hopper for dust and other contaminants If material other than the plastic you wish to process...

Страница 11: ...extrusion Extruding with wet plastic will cause the moisture to be vaporized during extrusion causing bubbles in the output and vastly changing the extrusion properties In most cases this will prevent...

Страница 12: ...l 3 4 Opaque vs Transparent Plastic The diameter sensors work best with opaque plastics For a naturally transparent plastic such as PLA colorants must be added to make the filament opaque Your order c...

Страница 13: ...in the image below are included as part of the Spooler Kit Figure 7 Spooler Kit Parts 1 Spooler Motor Bracket 2 Spooler Support Bracket 3 Spooler Hub with Magnet 4 Spooler Spacer 5 Spooler Pin 6 Spoo...

Страница 14: ...The following illustrations outline how to assemble the spooler and correspond to the set of written instructions that follow 13...

Страница 15: ...14...

Страница 16: ...15...

Страница 17: ...pooler Motor Bracket is above the longer arm of the spooler base Tighten the screws so the Spooler Motor Bracket and Spooler Support Bracket are secure 12 Slide the Timing Belt over the clutch handle...

Страница 18: ...time The following image details the two types of light guides Figure 9 Light Guide V1 0 left Light Guide V1 1 right 3 6 1 What you need to check Light Guide Alignment You ll need two sizes of dowels...

Страница 19: ...esent the raw data read by the light sensor photoresistor array for the diameter of filament at the nozzle left brown line and the final diameter of the filament at the puller wheel right dark green l...

Страница 20: ...t step is to ensure the sensors themselves are aligned Each sensor has a thumbscrew that if loosened permits the sensor to move up and down as shown below in Figure 11 The sensors are adjusted from th...

Страница 21: ...tained The process is the same for both the Nozzle and Puller sensors 2 Both light guide versions 1 0 and 1 1 allow the LED to be angled up or down to ensure the light guide is evenly lit Their operat...

Страница 22: ...dowel in between the puller wheels as shown in Figure 13 Similarly check the nozzle sensor using your 2 56mm dowel of choice Do your best to align the dowel with the nozzle output as seen in Figure 13...

Страница 23: ...ED mount back towards the user increases the diameter reading Conversely the diameter reading will decrease as you move the slider carriage closer to the sensor This is how you achieve nominal reading...

Страница 24: ...DeTec This means there is plastic already in your melt section Depending on how much time has passed since the ProtoCycler was calibrated the plastic in the melt section may have absorbed moisture fro...

Страница 25: ...d here for 100 seconds to thermalize the melt section This allows the hot melt section of your device to reach a uniform temperature throughout before initiating the rest of the extrusion start up seq...

Страница 26: ...ler wheel during this time 5 Once the output filament has stabilized you will hear another chime and a prompt on the UI screen saying Spooler Ready The fan speed will reduce to allow the filament to s...

Страница 27: ...n t be able to draw down the filament to its desired final diameter 9 And there we have it You are now off to the races and creating your very own filament Note If connected to a computer now is a goo...

Страница 28: ...raw data ideal reading example Figure 18 Nozzle Diameter Sensor raw data misaligned reading Notice the rid vertical line indicating the shadow of the filament has completely fallen outside the bounds...

Страница 29: ...instance PLA usually 3D prints around 190 220 C and the datasheet suggests 200 C for processing However ProtoCycler s patented MixFlow system requires a temperature of only 180 C for PLA so we would w...

Страница 30: ...good starting point Then follow steps 5 and 6 from the automatic instructions feed the filament through the spreader and attach tightly to the spool As soon as the filament has made one loop send the...

Страница 31: ...document 5 1 1 Short Purge 1 Power on your ProtoCycler and connect to the PCC software Pour the new plastic you wish to extrude into your Extruder Hopper While connected to the PCC begin manual extrus...

Страница 32: ...the temperature of the Lower Temperature material s nozzle removal temperature see Table 2 for reference increase temperature back up to the Purge Temperature 4 Purge for 10 minutes 5 Repeat steps 2 5...

Страница 33: ...ere is an initial learning curve and longer path to mastery But following this manual should set you up on the best path forward If there is anything we can help with please contact our technical supp...

Страница 34: ...25C Temperatur e can vary depending on material type and grade Special exception to ABS where the removal temperature is the same as the preheat temperature Low temperature material extrusion tempera...

Страница 35: ...e can vary depending on material type and grade Special exception to ABS where the removal temperature is the same as the High temperature material extrusion temperature minus 10C Temperatur e can va...

Страница 36: ...gging your extruder If there is no overlap in material processing temperature s you may require an intermediary purge material 3 Color 1 Color 2 Short Purge On Material Dependent Material Dependent Ma...

Страница 37: ...Plastic Short Purge On Material Dependent Material Dependent Material Dependent Run extruder in manual mode until purged Plastic may be wet if you notice necking or bubbles or pockets in extrusion Yo...

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