Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Powder and inkjet printing
Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

evomotors
At the moment, can't show in action, as head Xaar128 I dismantled. Xaar128 I have worked on the Board , I first printed with a solvent and xaar128 well they did, but then I moved on to resin, which was supposed to print. At this stage, Xaar128, the resin ceased to print, too high viscosity of the resin. Was heard as the piezoelectric elements work in the back, but from the nozzles of the resin occasionally is ejected. Tried for resin to lower the viscosity by adding a solvent, but the solvent is not soluble in the resin, and the resin and the solvent are separated into fractions. Head prints but with the resin that I use is very unstable.For resin which suggest I use Xaar128 not fit.
abbasrohanipoor
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:59 am

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by abbasrohanipoor »

Hi Ivan
Thanks for your comments. I read Xaar 128 user manual, there are some point(page 35) that I can not understand. can you please help me?
1. voltage supply should be isolated???
2. negetive side of logic and high voltage supply should be isolated???
is it possible to use just one 35V power supply for both vpph and vppl?if not, how can I solve this?
best regards
Wonko
Posts: 110
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:13 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Wonko »

The 5V and the 35V GND lines should not be connected anywhere because they are connected inside the print head.

One 35V supply must be as precise as possible. It does not require a high amperage, but it should be constant.

The second 35V supply should provide higher amps, but doesn't need to be as stable.

I used a single switching supply for 37V (2V for the diodes), but split up the supply using diodes, then giving each line it's own set of capacitors to stabilize, small caps for the low power, high precision supply to filter small voltage changes, and a high cap on the other line to buffer the irregular high amp demands form the crystals firing.

The 5V comes from the CPU supply and has no connection to the 35V supply except inside the head.
cassio
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 7:06 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by cassio »

Ivan
did You some video of the printer working with the components
abbasrohanipoor
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:59 am

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by abbasrohanipoor »

Dear Wonko
How are you? Thanks for your fast reply?
you split up power suply, can you please send me your wiring diagram? and use capacitors for each power(high and low), how about max capacitance?
best regards
Wonko
Posts: 110
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:13 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Wonko »

There is not much science behind it. I just tested around a bit and added a combination of caps. The high power line has 220uF (c3) or something like that. The low power line has 1uF (C1) and 10uF (C2) in parallel, filtering different lengths of pulses. If simply works for me. The diodes simply ensure that one power line does not "steal" the power from the other. If you want to do even better, you can put a filter (mmm) with a few uH between the diode and the cap in series on the low power line which will filter out even more noise.

Code: Select all


+36V with trim pot switched supply. Trim until you have the correct voltage at the output.

(+)-------o---|>|--mmm---o-----o----- low power 35V+
          |              |+    |+
          |          C1 ===   === C2
          |              |     |
          |             ___   ___ GND
          |
          +------|>|-----o---------- high power 35V+
                         |+ 
                     C3 === 
                         | 
                        ___ GND

abbasrohanipoor
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:59 am

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by abbasrohanipoor »

bravo!
I will check this, I hope that head work correctly.
As I have remembered you had ordered UV ink, is it possible to use this kind of ink?
Lastly what happen if the viscosity of ink is too low? have you ever test this situation?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

Hi. Cassio again, do not understand what you are asking. As far as I understand, you mean do video work Xaar128 running Arduino. I did not shoot video, but if you want I will shoot a small movie, Xaar128 work.
Wonko
Posts: 110
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:13 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Wonko »

Maybe he was referring to my link: https://youtu.be/dnBx0aCWNms

I have bought UV Ink, but not tested it - no time. It should work though. The head is capable of using UV ink AFAIK, and there is nothing special required on the software side.
4ppu
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 9:28 am

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by 4ppu »

Hi at all,

I am sorry about the late answer. Very nice projects you are going to realize.

I am interested in your source code. How do you speak to the printhead?
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