Home Made PCB Heater Bed

[pvyParts]

So after having a bit of a rant to the missus about shipping costs I figured it really can't be that hard to make my own heated bed seeing as I had all the stuff needed for cct board fabrication at home after reading all of the info on here and around the web I could find. so here is what I ended up with.

My plan was to use the original simples alli surface as my heated bed and clip it all to the new XL wood bed I had fitted.

My theory was to have it at around 2 ohm and to run it on 12v so like 6A draw through a SSR and a separate supply.

after a bit of math I drew up the cct board design in inkscape because I find it a bit faster than eagle or similar. (my SVG http://goo.gl/3fnjgV)

Then I used the iron on method to transfer it to the blank board and etch it.




My ohmage was a little high. Measures in at 3.1ohm. i am thinking i;ll grab one my my 24 v supplies and run it on that but for now i am still using the 12v.

I ran it up off the machine. Took about 20 odd seconds to get to 55dC I put some kapton tape over it and then ran it right up to 110dC ( took about 7 or 8 minutes from memory ) ( and yes i know that this is without an actual bed or something real times is longer )



And here it is all fitted into my simple.



First real thing I printed on it was the x belt mod and it came out great I have no problem with sticking anymore it even sticks straight to the Alli bed.




All in all I'm very happy with the results and i thought I would share.

Comments / feedback welcomed and encouraged!

Aaron

[evanalmighty]

Well done. Now you're ahead of the game when it's time to make a larger bed.

[RetireeJay]

Nice work.

I recommend using some kind of hold-down on your wires so that the flexing does not occur at the solder joints where the wires meet the board. Let the wires flex somewhere else, but if they flex right at the solder joint they're gonna break real soon.

[REPRAP SQUAD]

This is what I did to keep the wires from flexing near the soldered joints. Its a bit of overkill but I had all the parts available and it also works as an easy way to remove my heated bed.

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

How is this homemade PCB heater bed doing? If this homemade bed works well, I will probably make one.

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

I can't justify spending 30 bucks on a 6×6 heated bed that I am only going to use until I finish printing the upgrades for my Printrbot Simple. I have been looking all over the place for heat bed designs and it is ironic that the last image I clicked on brought me here. I am still fairly new but I catch on quickly, however I still have some questions. If you could post a image of your relay setup, that would be awesome. I was planning on using an atx power supply because I do not want to draw that kind of amperage through my Printrboard. Did you engrave both sides of the pcb to reduce warp? How big is your circuit board? The pcb I am going to get is from radio shack it is 4.5" x 6.125" (11.4cm x 15.5cm). You have already been a huge help to me, I feel kinda bad for dumping all these questions on you.

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

I am pretty sure I am going use this as a guide
I liked the idea of using lacquer pens for repairing breaches, I am pretty sure that I am going to make mistakes. What are you using for a heatbed temperature sensor? I just realized that I am going to have to order a sensor or find one locally.

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

Did you put any thermal paste between your pcb and the aluminum printbed? I think the heatbed would heat up faster due to better heat transfer.



What are you using to insulate the bottom of the pcb? I hear cork works very well.

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

Ok thanks, i've been waiting patiently

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

I was thinking about buying this
However I also want to etch one XD

They have heatbed relay's but it costs 15 bucks

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

Sweet, somebody commented that the copper clad is 0.016 inches or 0.39mm thick. I hope that helps. I might buy a small heated bed and then mill one later with this http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:49484

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

I like the idea of milling my own pcb's, then I can make custom shields for the arduino. They have a cyclone on thingiverse that is more rigid; it might be overkill for pcb's but they have a video of it milling acrylic. I think it would be interesting to see if it can mill aluminum. Then you could 3d print a cnc machine and mill it's own upgrades.

[pvyParts]

[greenb]

[pvyParts]

[pvyParts]

Did a test when i got home.

and here is how it works this is @ 30v DC
vertical lines are 30 seconds even tho it says last 60 min
it only goes +2dC ish
hEATER.png

[WarHawk8080]

[Mooselake]

Put a thermal fuse, like the ones used in coffee makers and other appliances, inline with the bed. The heater circuits used in reprap controllers can fail and stay on, and cause a fire hazard. Never leave this printer unattended. Put it on a GFI protected circuit, too.

Kirk

[Mooselake]

It's a common mistake [WHITE SMILING FACE]...

Silicon (no E) s a mineral that occurs in beach sand, and among other things is used in glass and semiconductors. Silicone (with an E) is a silicon containing compound used in, among other things, adhesive and curvaceous body implants. The names are not interchangeable.

Kirk