Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Powder and inkjet printing
Kyle
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:58 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Kyle »

I'm stalled for a couple of weeks waiting for material (shipping from China).

evomotors, This code works on Arduino Uno or Mega, which both have a USB port and TX/RX pins that can be used for serial I/O. If your Arduino is connected via USB, it should expose a COMM port that you can connect to with a terminal emulator or the "Serial Monitor" in the Arduino IDE to see this summary at the end of a run. This is completely optional for running the code.
Kyle
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:58 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Kyle »

Also, quick note on FFC connectors: I suggest doing something to stabilize the cable right where it meets the connector. After some use, my FFC cable started to bend and pinch near the connector. This part isn't really designed to flex. Eventually, some of the connections over-flexed and started to fail. Have fun!
evomotors
Posts: 62
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:33 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by evomotors »

By the way, the connector breakout I posted is good to go. I didn't have time to draw the pin-out but they are perfect and the IDS cable is more reliable for our purpose.
Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

Hello! I do not speak English. I also began to experiment with the print head Xaar128. Instead of the adapter I used my own making adapter with Pinout as the Datasheet. As contacts used DS-1031-01( plug pin). Done the wiring on the Board Arduino mega 2560.Card to adapter combined with 20 pin ribbon cable. When you turn on the Board, the print head starts to work, prints are not paying attention to an array of bytes which is recorded in the state table of nozzles. Don't understand what the problem is.
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Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

Kyle, a big request. Could you show an electrical diagram of your Arduino connect to the print head. I also do 3d printer big size.
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Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

The first tests with the print head
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Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

For applying powder, I use no additional hopper with the piston, and a movable hopper which is mounted on the portal, with a controlled gap at the bottom to feed .
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Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

If I can help connecting the print head Xaar128, I am ready to provide all drawings and diagrams in free use for the community.
Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

For control I use a Mach3. The print head is controlled by the controller based on Arduino, Mach3 and Arduino communication is carried out in different ways. Now I have two options or a connection via Modbus or with a relay from the control Board ( when in G-code there are commands to control the state of the nozzles of the printhead, Mach3 includes relay, Arduino is an external interrupt, the Processing environment processes a piece of code with G-code and sends to Arduino the state table of nozzles, Arduino upon receipt of the table overwrites the table and starts to print with the updated data.
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Ivan1983
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Hacking the Xaar 128 printhead

Post by Ivan1983 »

Machine connection to the electronics is carried out according to the scheme
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