E3D hotend install on Play

[Paulkenny15]

Hi guys, im sure its all been done before but im unable to find a thread on someone that has changed their hotend on the Play to a E3D V6 ?

Basically i have managed to print the bracket and wire it all up as i think its meant to be done.
I have it all moving but only displaying a temperature of around 20 and i am unable to get the hot end to heat up...?

Is there anything i need to do in the software that can allow this to work..? Im using the thermistor that came with the new hotend too.

Thanks

Paul

[RetireeJay]

The thermistor that comes standard with the E3D hot ends is not identical to the thermistor in the Ubis hot ends, but they basically operate the same way. The difference is the calibration curve, which deviates about 20C at printing temperatures (I forget right now which is hotter). You can live with the erroneous setpoint and readout, or you can install firmware that uses the correct calibration curve - which you can probably find already compiled and ready to install if you poke around a bit (starting with E3D's own site).

However, a total failure of the hot end to move away from room temperature has nothing to do with the choice of calibration curve. It means either that the heater is not delivering heat, or that the thermistor is not in contact with the heater block. If the heater is not delivering heat, it means that either you have a broken wire, or the wire is not connected to the board properly, or possibly that the board has a defect and is not turning on the MOSFET to deliver current to the heater.

If you have an ohmmeter, the place to start is by disconnecting the heater from the Printrboard and measuring the resistance of the heater from that end of the cable. It should be in the tens of ohms (not kilohms or megohms). If the resistance is very high, then there's something wrong with the cabling (or very unlikely, the heater itself). If the resistance is in the tens of ohms, then that part passes the test. Then check to make sure that the two MOSFET transistors (the devices with the big metal tabs adjacent to the connections for the hot end and heated bed) are not shorting out to each other. Bend one forward and one back just a bit if necessary to make sure they are not touching.

If you can run software that tells you how much power is being sent to the hot end (like Repetier), use that to see if the board is calling for heat or not. If it's calling for 100% heat, there should be 12V across the heater.