![]() ![]() For once, the CETUS didn't use a standard thermistor but probably a thermocouple. Other than that, there were just two hacks I had to make. If you build the board into another machine, make sure to install the antenna on the outside of the enclosure for better reception. I reused the existing antenna on the Cetus. The ribbon cable mounts to the adapter board, which then connects to the mainboard using some custom wires. It's positioned so that I can reuse the old cutout for the barrel connector. I designed a holder to mount the Mellow Fly and the adapter board. Let's now continue with the CETUS modification. If you're, by the way, also interested in one of these adapter boards for your CETUS, I had a bunch more boards made that you can purchase as a kit, with all the parts necessary over in my online shop. That's why I also added a barrel jack to my adapter board that routes the power to a screw terminal. The Cetus also uses an external power brick, for which I was now also missing the connector because it was on the old mainboard. I went with the clean route and designed a simple adapter board in KiCAD where I broke-out the 16-pin cable to a bunch of JST and screw connectors. As much as this makes part of the clean look of the machine, as much made this interfacing everything on the extruder harder. The challenge was that the CETUS uses a 16-pin ribbon cable as a wire harness. Here, I ripped out the old control board and was tasked with putting in a new one. In my opinion, the implementation is not as good yet as in Klipper but already offers frequency calibration with accelerometers, and I'm sure it will improve in the future!īut let's get back to my CETUS. And before people start screaming: "But Klipper!!!!" ReparapFirmware even started implementing Input Shaping over the last releases which can reduce ghosting on prints significantly, especially when printing fast. Speaking of firmware – RepRapFirmware offers basically anything you might also know from Marlin, even with more recent features like Linear Advance and Mesh Bed Leveling. Since RepRapFirmware is purely configured via Gcode in a config file, you don't even have to mess around compiling your own firmware. ![]() The WiFi module, together with DuetWebControl, is excellent to use. Dedicated fan headers will allow you to reduce noise in idle because you can turn the hotend cooling fan off whenever the heater is below a specific temperature. Better Microstepping eliminates salmon skin on prints and will improve accuracy and quality. A recent RepRapFirmware mainboard like the DUET Mini or the Mellow FLY will come with TMC2209 drivers that have proper Microstepping and can work almost silently. Though if you have a machine that's just not working properly due to the electronics and firmware but is mechanically solid, such a conversion might make an old machine perform really nicely again. That doesn't require any firmware configuration is the easiest to implement and objectively the best solution in such a case. My conversion from a proprietary mainboard to the Mellow Fly RRF worked great, and I regret nothing because everything is better, but what can you expect if you're thinking about putting such a new mainboard in one of your machines? Well, first, if you've got a printer that works and you're only looking for WiFi connectivity, just add Octoprint. Preferably my adapter board (soldering iron required)Ī cartridge thermistor (video comments suggest the CETUS uses a PT100 so the stock thermistor might be compatible with the Mellow boards) Prerequisites for the CETUS Mellow FLY conversion Despite the name, they are just as well usable for most other 3D printers. ![]() There's an active Discord channel and a Facebook group around the Mellow Fly boards, and the Duet forum is excellent if you're looking for input on firmware configuration. Team Gloomy, responsible for the RepRap firmware port, has a great guide to perform precisely this Ender-3 conversion. The boards are called MELLOW Fly E3 because they're meant as a drop-in replacement for Ender-3s with compatible JST connector sockets and the same hole pattern. ![]() They are running powerful STM32 microprocessors for RepRapFirmware, have integrated WiFi with an external antenna, and plenty of IO-ports for fans, thermistors, sensors, and different types of screens. There are two versions of it: the normal E3, which I also used and has replaceable stepper drivers, and the newer E3 Pro version has integrated and five instead of four TMC2209 stepper motor drivers with additional improvements. Simply put, the Mellow FLY RRF seems to be a cheaper version of the popular DUET 3 Mini 5+ because it sells for only around $60. ![]()
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