Filament Runout and Jam Detector, and Black Box Extruder Flight Recorder

thingiverse

Ever wanted to catch in real time how your 3D printer extruder is performing? Normally, the only way to know that under extrusion is happening is when it becomes obvious that the extruder is printing air or the layers fall apart or there's a pile of noodles instead of a print - by then the print has failed. This device lets you see in real time how well the extruder is performing and can also pause a print if under extrusion occurs or the filament runs out so that the problem can be fixed - potentially saving the print. This project is quite complicated - it doesn't only involve making 3D printed parts, but also requires modifying and flashing the 3D printer firmware, building the electronics and programming a microprocessor on an Arduino Uno. I have written DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS - they are in the thing files - you will need to read and follow them! Please post in the comments if you have any problems and I will try to help. UPDATE February 22, 2020 - I have updated the instructions to include some information for using Marlin 2.x UPDATE March 28, 2020 - I have uploaded an updated Arduino sketch file for the filament detector. This allows the up button to be used to toggle the beeper enable on and off and the down button to be used to rezero the error count without having to enter the setup menu. Also, the sketch cancels the error signal after a few seconds so that when an error signal pauses the printer and the print is restarted by the operator the print does not then pause again straight away due to the operator forgetting to cancel the error before restarting. UPDATE May 24, 2020 - I have uploaded an updated Arduino sketch file that fixes a bug in the sanity check of the saved EEPROM values which could cause the graph not to display. UPDATE June 14, 2020 - I have updated the instructions to include some information about 32 bit boards - but I have not tested the device with one of these boards yet. I have also modified the circuit so that the error signal to the motherboard can be connected to a 3.3V pin if needed by adding a voltage divider to the output from the device.