MakerBot Stepstruder Mk7 Temperatures
I had the Mk.7 on the “needs help” bench while doing the previous set of temp tests. I took it apart and discovered the problem with it not pushing plastic was the tensioner against the drive. It had scratches and the drive pulley was clogged with plastic. After fixing that — see the next post for my cheap and adjustable tensioner — I put it on the Cupcake and did another set of temperature tests.
Like the previous set of tests, for temperature reads I used:
- built-in sensor that ReplicatorG software reads
- Fluke 88V temp sensor with temperature probe. Not a cheap device but the readout is 0.1C and it’s fast
- $20 BBQ grill cooking thermometer. Cheap, easy to use, but I think their goal is to make sure I don’t kill someone with undercooked poultry.
As with the Mk.6, the temperatures are lower on Replicator than on the other two sensors, so I need to run with much hotter temps than are required by the instructions. At this point I’m considering adding an offset/calibration value in the software so that the read temp is adjusted properly.
(The images are hosted on flickr for easier commentary)