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ReDeTec ProtoCycler+ User Manual

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Rev 2.0

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Summary of Contents for ReDeTec ProtoCycler+

  • Page 1 User Manual Rev 2.0...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction to the ProtoCycler+ 1.1 Safety 1.1.1 General Safety 1.1.2 Extrusion Safety 1.2 ProtoCycler+ Layout 2.0 Grinding 2.1 Grinder Operation 2.1.1 Grinder Safety 2.1.2 Grinder First Time Setup 2.1.3 Operation 2.2 Sorting Ground Material 2.3 Ground Material Size & Extruding Recycled Plastic 3.0 Important Things to Know Before Extruding 3.1 Puller Wheel Storage 3.2 Cleanliness...
  • Page 3 6.0 Congratulations! 7.0 Appendix...

  • Page 4: Introduction To The Protocycler

    1.0 Introduction to the ProtoCycler+ Welcome to the ProtoCycler+ community! The team here at ReDeTec is excited that you have chosen to walk the path of sustainable 3D printing! We’re here to ensure your success with your device. Operating the device requires a knowledge base and it is strongly recommended that you read this entire manual before use.

  • Page 5: Protocycler+ Layout

    Note: If you have a High Temperature model, temperatures may reach as high as 500°C! Never extrude PVC or any unknown plastic. The fumes could be lethal! ProtoCycler+ currently supports PLA, ABS, HDPE*, LDPE*, PA12, PETG, HIPS (*special printing hardware is required to print HDPE/LDPE).
  • Page 6 Figure 1: ProtoCycler+ Front View (labeled) Figure 2: ProtoCycler+ Side Views (labeled) Figure 3: ProtoCycler+ Inside View (labeled) Figure 4: From left to right - Nozzle Screen, Nozzle Breaker Plate, Nozzle Cap...

  • Page 7: Grinding

    2.0 Grinding (skip over this section if you have a Grinderless Unit) 2.1 Grinder Operation The ProtoCycler+ must be powered on at all times to operate the grinder. The grinder relies on an electromagnet interlock that engages the grinder drive train only when supplied with power.

  • Page 8: Operation

    2. Uninstall the Grinder Sorter from the drawer in preparation for use. 3. Insert the now empty Grinder Drawer back into your ProtoCycler+ in preparation for use. Note: the Grinder Sorter should never be installed in the Grinder Drawer when operating the Grinder as this could cause plastic build-up and jamming.

  • Page 9: Ground Material Size & Extruding Recycled Plastic

    4. Shake the two side to side, up and down, until it seems the only particles left in the sorter are too large to fall through. 5. You may also wish to shake the sorter over a large pan or bucket to allow a little more freedom of motion.

  • Page 10: Important Things To Know Before Extruding

    3.0 Important Things to Know Before Extruding 3.1 Puller Wheel Storage The plastic is pulled from the extruder nozzle using two wheels. These two wheels have soft silicone tires, and use a spring to hold force between them for gripping the filament. If left stationary in one position for an extended period of time, the tires can develop a flat! Therefore, it is important to disengage the spring and rotate the puller idler wheel out of position when not in use to avoid developing a flat.

  • Page 11: Plastic Care: Dry Vs Wet - Clean Vs Dirty

    In the event that your screen becomes clogged, please contact ReDeTec support for assistance in how to clean your screen! This process requires special care and safety when executing and a trained specialist will be happy to advise.

  • Page 12: Opaque Vs Transparent Plastic

    Just as your extruder should be kept clean of contaminants prior to and during operation, the same applies to the plastic itself. We take special care to avoid contaminants entering the plastic supply. If dirt or a higher melting temperature plastic makes its way into the plastic you are extruding, you may encounter inconsistencies in the melt output and/or irregularities in the consistency of your filament diameter.
  • Page 13 Before setting up your Spooler, please check to ensure all of the parts in the image below are included as part of the Spooler Kit. Figure 7: Spooler Kit Parts; 1. Spooler Motor Bracket 2. Spooler Support Bracket 3. Spooler Hub with Magnet 4.
  • Page 14 The following illustrations outline how to assemble the spooler and correspond to the set of written instructions that follow.

  • Page 17: Spooler Assembly Instructions

    3.5.1 Spooler Assembly Instructions Warning: The ProtoCycler+ must be powered-off when installing and plugging in the spooler. Unplugging or plugging in the spooler while ProtoCycler+ is powered on can permanently damage the main circuit board. 1. Remove the bubble wrap from the Spooler Motor Bracket. 2.

  • Page 18: Light Guide Alignment

    - DO NOT use extruded filament! ● ReDeTec uses a 1.83mm and a 2.56mm dowel to align the light guides, but you can use anything close within +/- 0.1mm. The larger dowel size is used for the sensor closest to the nozzle, and the smaller dowel size is used for the sensor closest to the puller wheel.

  • Page 19: Light Guide Alignment Overview

    3.6.2 Light Guide Alignment Overview: With ProtoCycler+ connected to PCC, start manual mode extrusion via the ProtoCycler+ User Interface (For guidance, refer to the ProtoCycler+ Command Center Overview). You will see a screen that looks like this upon manual mode startup: Figure 10a: Startup screen of manual extrusion with all readings toggled off (by clicking the “Labels”...

  • Page 20: Step 1 - Adjusting The Sensor Height

    Figure 10b: Two examples of incorrectly aligned light guides – the nozzle sensor is very bad and the puller sensor has too much drop off on the right side to work. 3.6.3 Step 1 - Adjusting the sensor height 1. The first step is to ensure the sensors themselves are aligned. Each sensor has a thumbscrew that, if loosened, permits the sensor to move up and down, as shown below in Figure 11.

  • Page 21: Step 2 - Evenly Lighting The Sensor

    2. Typically the puller sensor’s photoresistor will be positioned all the way at the bottom range of its movement for best results. It has been adjusted this way from the factory, and should not need adjustment! 3. The nozzle sensor is a little more tricky depending on what material is being extruded and at what diameter;...

  • Page 22: Step 3 - Calibrating The Readings

    Figure 12: How to grip the light guide shaft to adjust LED angle. 3.6.5 Step 3 - Calibrating the readings 1. Finally, we need to ensure the light guide readings are accurate. This is where we’ll use the dowels. The procedure is the same for both the puller and nozzle sensor, with minor differences that will be noted as required.
  • Page 23 3. Looking at the GUI (graphical user interface) of your PCC, you should notice that the flat raw data line (representing light being read by the photoresistor) is now a “U-shaped” trough. This is representative of the shadow cast by the LED shining on the dowel, and is shown below in Figure 14.

  • Page 24: Extrusion Operational Instructions

    (~23C is ideal temperature for your room to be). All ProtoCycler+ units have been primed with PLA and calibrated before leaving ReDeTec. This means there is plastic already in your melt section! Depending on how much time has passed since the ProtoCycler+ was calibrated, the plastic in the melt section may have absorbed moisture from the air.

  • Page 25: Automatic Extrusion

    4.3 Automatic Extrusion One of the best features of ProtoCycler+ are the automatic profiles, which allow your unit to extrude filament completely automatically. ProtoCycler+ comes with some preloaded extrusion profiles, and more can be added depending on your firmware version. It is important that you have the most recent firmware and EEPROM loaded onto your ProtoCycler+ for these profiles to work optimally.
  • Page 26 Figure 15: Using tweezers or pliers to feed the filament from the nozzle to the puller wheels 4. ProtoCycler+ will now enter the “Stabilization” phase. Your ProtoCycler+ control system will wait for the filament diameter to become consistent enough to proceed to the spooling phase.

  • Page 27: Diameter Sensor Check

    of the spool, as close to the user as possible, and tightly wound with no slack or loops. Different spools will require different methods of attaching the filament - some have strategically placed holes that you can feed the filament through, and others may require strategic taping.
  • Page 28 Figure 17: Nozzle Diameter Sensor raw data ideal reading example. Figure 18: Nozzle Diameter Sensor raw data misaligned reading. Notice the rid vertical line indicating the shadow of the filament has completely fallen outside the bounds of the sensor reading range.

  • Page 29: Manual Extrusion

    4.4 Manual Extrusion For greater control and the ability to experiment with extrusion settings and materials, we have enabled a manual mode control. This is excellent for discovering new materials or adjusting existing plastics processing settings based on your ambient conditions. A lot of these instructions are going to be similar if not identical to the Automatic Mode instructions.
  • Page 30 3D printing, you want the fan on max for plastics like PLA. However, unlike 3D printing, you ALWAYS want the fan on at least a little bit - even for plastics like ABS. Never run the unit without the cooling fan enabled. 10.

  • Page 31: Intro To The Protocycler+ Purge Procedure (Ppp)

    5.0 Intro to the ProtoCycler+ Purge Procedure (PPP) When purging your ProtoCycler+’s extrusion system there are two types of purging depending on what you wish to achieve. They are: 1. Short Purge: Required when transitioning between wet and dry plastic or color changes. Please see section 5.1.1 for instructions on how to conduct a Short Purge.

  • Page 32: Disco Purge

    But what if there is no overlap in the two materials’ processing temperatures? If this is the case, please contact Technical Support immediately for assistance, stating what plastics you are transitioning from and to. ReDeTec will advise further. 4. Having an extra nozzle (with breaker plate and screen) is especially useful when...
  • Page 33 But following this manual should set you up on the best path forward. If there is anything we can help with please contact our technical support email: techsupport@redetec.com All the best and happy extruding, Team ReDeTec...
  • Page 34 7.0 Appendix Table 2: Below summarizes possible purge scenarios, their respective temperature settings, and what type of purge they require. Old Material Purge Type Nozzle Nozzle Preheat Purge Notes to be Material to State Removal Temperatur Temperatur Purged be Primed Temperatur e [C] e [C]...
  • Page 35 the low temperature material and clogging your extruder. If there is no overlap in material processing temperature s, you may require an intermediary purge material. High Disco Purge High High High Cross Temperatur Temperatur temperature temperature temperature reference e Material e Material material material...
  • Page 36 preheat extrusion temperature temperature of the low temperature material then you will risk burning the low temperature material and clogging your extruder. If there is no overlap in material processing temperature s, you may require an intermediary purge material. Color 1 Color 2 Short Purge Material...
  • Page 37 switched at any time during regular extrusion. Wet Plastic Dry Plastic Short Purge Material Material Material Dependent. Dependent. Dependent. extruder in manual mode until purged. Plastic may be wet if you notice necking or bubbles (or pockets) in extrusion. You can leave the nozzle on for wet to...

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