My PC stopped working, and so I thought, since it is a small form factor PC and hard to work on, that it would be a good time for some upgrades since I had to take it apart anyway.  Well that was not as easy as I had hoped.  I needed to upgrade my M.2 drive and I also had a larger hard drive which I wanted to stick in the PC (an 8TB drive schucked from a USB enclosure).  It was anything but simple and I probably have had to take apart the PC about a dozen times by now and am still not done.  Normally to swap the system drive, or really any drive, I would use Macrium Reflect to clone it.  The problem is, I was running Windows 7 and (I later learned), it does not have native support for M.2 NVME drives which of course was what I bought to upgrade since my motherboard supports them.  I read that there was a Microsoft hot fix for windows 7 to add NVME support, but it appeared to be pulled sometime and I recall seeing something to the effect of, it is available with 10, so just upgrade.  Well luckily, when they were giving it away, I was able to upgrade to 10, so the hardware "hash" of my PC would be saved for a later upgrade, so that was in the bag. 

Problem is, before I found this out, I thought the clone or partitions were the problem, and wasted a long time before realizing it was a driver problem (windows would half boot up but fail during the splash screen).  Then I spent time searching for a driver from the M.2 manufacturer (doesn't seem to exist), and then I found a possible workaround which was more trouble that it was worth and so I just upgraded to 10 (which is simple).  I suspect that if I had bought a Samsung NVME I may have been better off, but oh well.  The worst part is that M.2 drives are often mounted in the most inaccessible placed on motherboards, and mine was on the back, which meant a full tear down each time I had to try something new (meh).

However even after going to 10, in order to get the driver on the image I would use with the new M.2 NVME drive, I had to:

1. clone my original M.2 SSD over to an external drive
2. install my new M.2 NVME, and boot off the cloned external drive
3. once I confirmed that windows 10 could see the NVME drive (in disk management), I created an image of the external boot drive
4. imaged that onto the NVME which I could use to then run windows 10 from. 

I recall seeing a similar post on Reddit I think, with this same process (in a nutshell).  And it made sense because I think Windows would need to have the NVME driver loaded on the image being used with it and this process does that.

And after all that, my CPU fan crapped out so I had to kludge a small fan together for that while I wait for a replacement. 

But I could not leave it well enough alone, I cracked open an external USB hard drive to use it as an internal drive.  And then found that drive is one that uses a 3.3V reset pin on the SATA power connector, so had to block that pin with some kapton tape which is a simple mod to make them work with power supplies that include 3.3V on the SATA power connectors.

Finally, I am starting to worry about my graphics card which seems to be running quite hot... so I had to turn up the fan using wattman (default profile was not keeping it cool). 

My PC is still in parts but it is all nice and clean now, and the extra storage will really help though.  I'm not super stoked to be using Windows 10, but it was inevitable if I keep using windows that I would need to downgrade to it.  Once I get my PC back together I can start to catch up on things.  Due to the PC problems and other issues, it feels like I have been camping for the past several weeks with no PC to use.  At least my hard drives did not crap out though, but it has me thinking about a better backup solution.

.I was working on installing a new effector on my Anycubic Kossel today when this happened... Static discharge killed my display and possibly my RE-Arm is also now toast, though it does seem to work - it (can auto-level).  I have ordered a new display and will see if that is all that I borked up, but I don't have a good feeling about it.  When I get it working again, I will also be making a new display enclosure to cover the ground terminal..err bezel which is what took the zap.

Update - the Re-ARM was spared :-D  To avoid this happening again I remixed a new case with a bezel to protect the exposed metal on the LCD.  Now to get the touch probe working.

I just stumbled on Project Gutenberg this week.  I'm not a big reader, but it's better than watching TV, and I'm also cheap so this works for me.  It is a collection of 58,000 (free) books that have been converted to txt, html or other formats compatible with e-readers.  Looks like older stuff, probably out of copyright works, but there are quite a few, and I'd not be surprised if they have all the classics (which I have not read), and they have some memoirs and biographies as well (but there is alot to sort through).

For audio books there is also LibriVox which I only sampled a few, but was impressed that they are as good as many I have bought from Audible in the past. 

Putting this here since I keep having to look it up.  Windows has a built in command line utility to check the MD5 or SHA1 hash on a file.  That can be useful to check the integrity of a file downloaded from a site that provides the info for the expected MD5 or SHA1 hash (such as sourceforge).  

The idea is that an algorithm is run against the original file, which spits out a long number - which is the "hash".  That number is posted on the site where the file is downloaded from, along with info on if the hash was generated with MD5 or SHA1, so anyone can then run the same algorithm against the file they have, to generate the same number/hash.  Comparing the downloaded hash to the hash posted on the site tells you if the file that was downloaded is correct or not. 

So, when I download a file, I can check that the file is in tact and as intended, by running that algorithm against the file I have to see if the "hash" is the same as the one on the site.  If they are the same, then the file is good, if not then the file is bad and I should re-download it.  This is not something that is normally an issue, but when downloading new router firmware which is just a hex file, it is a good idea to verify the integrity of the new file before loading it.  

To do this with windows:

Type "cmd" in the search field under the start menu
When the window opens, first go to the directory where the file resides, start with the drive letter, then "cd" to the directory:

C:\Users\SomeUser>F:
F:\>
F:\>cd \Downloads
F:\Downloads>

Then run the command "certUtil" to get the checksum of the file:

SHA1:
certUtil -hashfile SomeFileName SHA1

MD5:
certUtil -hashfile SomeFileName MD5

The numbers that it spits out can then be compared to the MD5 or SHA1 hashes on the website where the files were downloaded from.  The spaces can be ignored, they are only for readability, since the numbers are normally without spaces.

The Solder Fume Extractor seems to work modestly well.  There is a big trade off between size and it's capability to suck the fumes away, but it is OK if I can get the work within a couple inches of the inlet.  I'm not super impressed with it overall, but I like it enough that I will probably post it up once I add a fuse to it.  To that end, I wanted to post a pic showing the current draw from the battery (which goes trough the boost converter before the 12v fan), while the fan is on.  I already blew a 750mA fuse due to the inrush current, so will try something larger next (or maybe just measure it with the scope to get in the ballpark).

Longer term, I'm planning to build a larger version with a 92mm or 120mm fan and an 18650 battery.  Hopefully that will be better for everyday use.

I received the last parts I needed to wrap up the DS20V2A case today,  The print does not look the greatest, but it is at least the right size, and everything fits.  I set the boost regulator voltage to 20V and had it running from a 19V supply, and the 24V fan seems happy with that arrangement (running at 20V).  Please ignore the incorrect color of the wires to the boost supply output (red and black are reversed from convention).  I realized my mistake right after I soldered them (doh), but did not feel like reworking them just for the color of the wires, I did mark the connectors up so it would be clearer though.

I've made some pretty good progress on the Solder Fume Extractor, but I've also discovered what a pain in the arse prototyping can be.  I must have printed this thing at least twice over and some parts 8 times to get it to this point.  That however was the relatively easy part.  The electronics pack on this thing was designed to be somewhat modular, the thinking I had was that I could use it in other projects and it would also be easier to assemble since I could put it together outside the case and just install it.  Well that is somewhat true, but thanks to a bunch of mishaps (broken wires, mislaid wires, just looking like crap), I reworked this a couple times before I thought it looked right.  It would have worked but it was a bigger mess than it is now and I wanted to tidy up the wires a bit, which due to the small space I have to work with in the case is really a requirement more than a wish.  I then realized that the USB charger and protection board I bought was really designed to charge an 18650 or similar higher capacity Lion cell, not my puney 450mAh pack.  That matters because the bigger the battery capacity, the more charge you can pump into it, and this charger was set for 1A max current which is way too high for the battery I am using.  The good news is that somebody already read the datasheet and put together a great how to guide for a very similar board to what I am using, and they also broke down what the set resistor ("RProg") values mean.  I was able to confirm that my board matched up since the "RProg" resistor was "122" or 1.2Kohms by default.  Since I have a 450mAh battery, and I read that the safe max charge current is usually 0.5C to 0.7C, I figured that around 225mA would be a good safe max current.  Based on the table in the link about, I actually went down a bit since I only had 4.7K and 5.6K SMT resistors on hand, so I used the 5.6K's (which are labeled as "562").  That would provide about 215mA max current.  So I swapped the resistor and tested it, and it was pushing around 220mA at peak which seems pretty good (this was from a battery a bit more than 1/2 discharged).

I was a bit cautious when I tested the cell for the first time charging, for several reasons, including the obvious (that it was the first time charging so why not).  Happily the battery has been charging for the past hour and has gone from 220 mA to 90mA so the controller seems to be doing what it is supposed to.  I also confirmed that I can run the fan off the USB while plugged in and that the charge meter only displays properly when the USB is disconnected and the fan is off (which is what I assumed but it was worth confirming).  There is still some testing to do and a few more parts to print and test, but this one is almost done.

Quick update - I added a 1A fuse between the battery and the USB charging and protection board, and that is how I plan to leave it.  I took these measurements after installing the fuse to see what voltages the charging protection board would cut off the battery:

Battery Low Cutoff 3.04v (with 1A fuse in series with battery)
Battery After Charge 4.22v (with 1A fuse in series with battery)

These work for me, but I am still not really happy with the performance.  I tried a 5V regulator board and a 5V fan but the performance was only modestly improved, if that.  I think I need to go bigger on the fan to have adequate solder fume extraction, but this will work in a pinch.

I've been working on a couple more projects for the breadboard kit - three actually.  The first is a the DS20V2A supply already posted on thingiverse, and the other two will be a TS-80 case and a solder fume extractor.  I think I may be close to done on the TS-80 case and likewise am nearly done with the fume extractor - though still waiting on parts for the fume extractor before I finalize the design.  When these are done, they will fit in the STANLEY 014725R organizer case with the breadboard kit.  I am also working on a slightly improved breadboard kit that can swap modules between the left and right handed versions, but that is on the backburner for now since it is just a really small change, but requires time and filament to test.

The solder fume extractor will use a 20x60mm fan and will be powered by a Li-Ion pack.  The electronics are packed into a module which can be assembled outside the enclosure, then placed inside when everything checks out.  It will include a USB battery charger and protection circuit for the Li-ion cell, a boost converter for the 12v fan and a display for the battery level which will be controlled with a momentary switch.  Getting that stuff to all work was the largest chunk of work and wasted some time and filament getting things right, but it's better than printing the whole mess to find out one switch does not work.  I also now have some useful modules to use in other projects.

The TS-80 case will also hold a power bank, specifically this one from Anker.  That power bank is only 10k mAh, but it does work with the TS-80 well enough that I can get some usage from it before it dips too low to use.  The primary thing it has going for it is the QC 3.0 and the size which make it ideal for fitting in my Stanley Case.

It will probably be a couple more weeks for this stuff to get finalized and posted up.  The power supply is posted but is a work in progress, since I am waiting on some parts for it.

Today both my delta and my Ender 3 decided to clog up, and not in the easy just atomic pull type of clog.  These were tear apart the extruder clogs and spend the next half hour questioning why I didn't pick up some easier hobby.  Anyway, hopefully there is something interesting here.

First the Ender 3 with the Titan Aero clogged up and ground the filament down.  This has not happened in some time, but looking at the inside, it was full of ground up green filament and not much else, so that seems to indicate that the problem just started.  I cleaned out the crap, and noticed that the filament was pretty well jammed in the hot end which seems to indicate heat creep.  This green filament is PLA, but it is suggested to run it at 235 which is closer to ABS.  I have however run this same filament many times in the Ender 3 without issue.  My retraction is very low (0.4mm) so it is probably not that.  It's a puzzle to me right now what caused this.

So the next clog was my delta printer which has a V5 hot end.  I have been wanting to swap it out for a long time, but just don't have the time right now.  This one was well and truly clogged, I tried all the regular tricks, atomic pull (oops, broke the filament before the clog), stuck those tiny needles up the nozzle - they just hit a solid jam several mm in.  I removed the nozzle to see if I could possibly push the clog out from the top or bottom.  That last one was successful, but I did not have anything that was really designed for knocking out a clog like this.  The clog was above the heat creep zone where heating the hot end does not loosen it and it was pretty well stuck.  I ended up using a 1/16" drill bit (my last one), which I chucked in my cordless drill for some extra grip.  I carefully lined it up and inserted it into the heat break tube from the bottom (with the nozzle removed), then heated the hot end up and when it was at temperature, I started to push the drill bit up through the heat break which finally dislodged the clog.  I was then able to pull out the approximately 5mm segment of PLA that was causing the problems from the top of the hot end using some tweezers.  I need to grab some more 1/16" bits since they may come in handy.

The most likely reason for the clog on the delta was some stop gcode which did a 1mm retract followed by a 5mm retract after finishing a job.  My retraction on this printer is 3mm so I suspect that the extra retractions at the end of a print were sucking molten PLA up into the top of the heat break tube which then formed the clog.  Supporting that possibility is that the prior print completed, but it was clogged when I tried to run the next print.  The Delta had been down for a while and I did not think there was any issue with the old start/stop gcode I had been using, but I hope removing the retractions from the stop gcode fixes the problem. 


Well nope...the delta still has clogging problems, and this morning, after clearing one clog and pushing some filament throug by hand it immediately clogged again.  Just about broke my hand pulling this clog out (and yep it was pre-heated), and the bowden couplers had some sort of death grip on the PTFE tube, will need to swap them out for something that will release as well as hold the bowden tube (which also ended up pretty messed up after the ordeal of trying to get that little plug or melted PLA out).  So the bowden couplers and PTFE tube were collateral damage but at least for the couplers, they were probably bad anyway.  I think the next step is a full tear apart of the V5 hot end to see what the deal is with this gap that is allowing a plug to form.  Another weekend half shot thanks to printer problems, which I think is my cue to give up for a bit on this for a while.  Will figure it out, just not today.

So the delta may be back in business, but so far I have only run small quick prints on it.  I swapped the bowden tube and the coupler on the hot end.  Hopefully this will keep working, but the last print I ran, the delta was doing some crazy air printing - after the part was completed.  I have seen this once before, and I now suspect it has to do with sending the data from octopi.  Since there is no error checking with gcode sent from Octopi, and I have had problems with the Octopi terminal stopping (while the printer still seems to be sending temperature data back), I think it may be time for a better and shorter USB cable (currently I am using one that is about 6 feet long due to the location of the Pi).  Could be barking up the wrong tree, but my Ender 3 never does this, and I use OctoPi with that all the time (with a 1 foot USB cable).

Update - Jan 27, 2019

The Delta had more problems with clogging and I found the problem, which was a loose wire to the hot end cooling fan.  It was making enough contact that it would come on when it was stationary, but as it moved it would become intermittent.  However I am not going to swap the original hot end with the one below, which sports a custom touch probe mount (27mm offset).  I am hopeful that I can get this working in the next week when I get some more time since I have to also update the firmware and wire it up (most of that is done, but I have not installed it yet). 

I recently installed a more powerful blower fan on my delta (for the electronics case) but damn if it doesn't sound like it will take off.  To tame the fan a bit I needed a PWM controller (for a 3 wire fan).  I ordered one like this, and made a case for it which will also have space for three illuminated switches. I'm still waiting on parts so am not 100% everything will fit, but I printed it anyway.  If it works out when I get the rest of the parts, it will get posted up to Thingiverse.

The final version of this is now posted on Thingiverse here.  I say final, but it is still a "work in progress", still I think it will be the last revision of this model since everything seems to fit so far (still waiting on switches).  There is also a face plate which is purely cosmetic that is being printed right now (so no pics of that yet).

Below are some new pics, I have it mounted on the delta and the PWM fan controller is doing a good job of keeping the blower under control.