Absolutely ages ago I put a request into Elegoo support for a replacement printhead USB lead - the new improved type that shouldn't overheat as the head moves around. Nothing much happened and I forgot my request, although I did re-route the existing lead, and kept my eye on it.
Yesterday I received an email asking me to confirm my address: the lead arrived today!
The next task is to fit it...
A trivial but useful fix...
One thing that annoyed me about the CANVAS upgrade was seeing the connection cable flapping around at the back of the printer; it looked vulnerable, and there was a significant risk of it getting caught accidentally. This could easily damage both the cable and the sockets.
I looked at it last week and realised that there was a simple solution: I printed two M3 Cable Mount _Clips in the 5mm size, using a reasonably tough and flexible filament - I used PETG. The cable was inserted - it was a snug fit - and I used the existing fixing screws to fasten them to the frame. These screws were just long enough to held them on, but an extra 3 - 5mm in length may be required - this would probably make a better job (but mine are holding well for now).
Note: It wasn't until I posted that I realised my error in the title - it should read "tidy & safe"! I wish that editing titles was allowed... <sigh>
I am currently printing the pieces for a CC1/CANVAS top cover. There a lot of pieces, and they each take a lot of PETG. Sometime in the next few prints the spool of filament is going to run out, and I don't want that to happen towards the end of a long print.
So... today I tried the 'filament load and continue' function on a much smaller print, knowing that the first spool was certain to run out before completion. Two reels of PETG, number 1 being the almost empty one (just a few metres remaining) and number 2 about half-full.
And... it worked! The end of spool 1 went up the PTFE tube and, after a while, the printer paused, there was a bit of chuntering about, then spool 2 started to feed and the print continued. In the end there was hardly a mark to be seen on the print at the point where the spools swapped.
This is one of the main reasons I got the CANVAS unit - the ability to use filament to the very end of a spool, knowing that the printer will carry on with the next spool.
It's always nice when a machine does exactly what it's supposed to do, without fuss.
The PCBA board that plugs into the bottom of the communications board has very fragile connectors for the hot-end plugs - I have already broken one by pulling the heater socket off, and my attempted repair failed a little while later. Fortunately I had a spare PCBA board.
The problem is that the sockets are flow soldered to thin traces on the board, and their leads are also very thin.
Has anyone devised a method for fixing these sockets in place? I was wondering whether it was possible to put some superglue between the socket and the board, and maybe encapsulating the socket with hot glue. Or both!
Some filaments come with centre holes that fit perfectly onto the Canvas spool holders - Elegoo (unsurprisingly) and eSun work well.
However, I have a lot of SUNLU filament, and those spools have a much bigger hole.
Is there a design for an adaptor available?
OK - I am now really screwed up! And it's a saga of my bad decisions...
Here's the history:
* My CC1 was running well on OpenCentauri.
* Installed the Canvas kit, printer hung up with just the startup logo, and red lights on the canvas unit.
* Remembered that I still had the original USB drive, so booted the system to get the original software running. Still had the hang up, but that went away when I unplugged the Canvas cable and rebooted. System ran properly, so I hadn't broken anything during the install!
* Plugged in the USB drive with the updated firmware, following all the instructions. Started the upgrade, it unzipped it into the memory, and said something like "applying update", but the percentage stuck at 0% for over 30 minutes. In the end I had to turn off the printer (bad move No 1?)
* Restarted with the original USB drive, system started OK with the canvas lead out - but then the firmware thought it was at the latest release and ignored the update. I presume the 'register' had been updated, even though the substance of the update hadn't happened. Again, it wouldn't start with the Canvas lead plugged in, so I guess it was really at the previous version.
* The next bad move was that I decided to try the OpenCentauri Cosmos firmware, even though it's still in beta - I misunderstood what it was, and thought it was a release for Canvas - it clearly wasn't! (bad move No 2?). This ran up to a point, did its own thing successfully, even up to the initial calibration stage. Once it was up and running it did operate the printer, to a point.
Now I can't get going on the OC Canvas system, and it's ignoring the original USB version. So I'm officially stuck... What I'd like to do is go back to the beginning, and reload an official release with nothing pre-set... factory fresh, as it were.
Is there ANY way of forcing the official latest release onto an unresponsive printer?
I have found a fundamental problem with the CC1 Canvas upgrade kit's manual. The QR code on page 07 is a faulty link - there isn't a video there.
This would be quite useful just now, as I've just received my kit...
I have an issue that maybe I should have anticipated...
I have been running my CC1 on OpenCentauri, and have just installed my newly-arrived Canvas system. The trouble is, when I turn it on I am stuck on the OpenCentauri startup logo and, after a while, all I see is the logo together with flashing red lights on the Canvas unit - no menus on the screen.
I probably should have rewound OpenCentauri out and reinstalled some original firmware version, then done the Canvas upgrade. Unfortunately all Elegoo offer on their support website is "OTA upgrade recommended" with no downloadable version.
Now I am looking for suggestions for sorting out the problem and moving forward...