The TAZ 4 comes with a fan already on the extruder. Unfortunately, no wire is run to it and the manual pretends it doesn’t exist. How does one go about hooking it up? I’ve searched in the forums but mostly it’s talk of people and their own fan solutions, so I want to make sure I do what’s appropriate for this setup.
Also, do you have to specifically turn on the slic3r options for the fan? Looking at them, it seems like it’s already on by default (at least with the provided taz profiles for PLA).
That’s certainly not normal. Would you mind sending in an email to Support@LulzBot.com with your order information, serial number and a copy/picture of your “Test Acceptance Record”. A photograph of the wiring for the fan would be helpful as well. We do have a guide on wiring the fan here: http://ohai-kit.alephobjects.com/workflow/TAZ-extruder-fan/
In Slic3r, under Filament Settings > Cooling, you can control the fan’s operation through gcode, or in Pronterface send the M106 command to turn it on, or M107 to turn it off. You can also control the speed through M106 S_ _ _ where the speed is set with S(0-255). You can control the fan as well through the Graphical LCD controller.
Hah, I found the connector! Let’s call this a 50/50 user error and documentation error. User error is because unlike the orange/red and mixed wire connectors, the fan connector was pulled up snug to the sheath and the other two connectors were laying on top of it. Documentation error because the quick start guide doesn’t mention the fan. The part for connecting the wires says only “7) Connect the extruder assemblies’ 4-pin connectors: match the orange/red wire connector pair for the hot end and the mixed color wired connector pair for the extruder motor. Connect the matching pairs together so they lock and click.”
Had it mentioned the fan connector, I certainly would have kept digging. And there’s no mention of the built-in fan in the manual, either (other than notes that you can use a fan). This left me with the impression it wasn’t completely ready but required the user to finish the wiring.
There were a couple other issues (my bed heater socket in the electronics box somehow popped off its fasteners so I had to open the electronics box and hold it from the inside while I connected it from the outside) and the X axis rods had gotten bumped so that they were a good 5-10 degrees off level and required some real elbow grease on the right z axis rod to get it unstuck and level. But they were fairly minor and user-correctable.
Well, I’m excited to see if this solves the issues I’ve posted about with my PLA prints. If I use the posted TAZ slic3r profiles, will it handle the fan automatically or will I need to insert the gcode or add manual settings into slic3r myself?
Cooling is turned on, you’ll can adapt the settings to suit your print as needed. Typically, the end user would not have to connect the fan, as it would already be wired and set.
Well, I sent the information. I’m not 100% sure, though, what you’re saying about “the end user would not have to connect the fan”. Perhaps you are talking about connecting the fan in the electronics case? I mean connecting it at extruder assembly (as pictured). The quick start guide instructs you to connect the other connector but skips the fan. As mentioned above, it was pulled back far enough below the other two that I didn’t see it (and everything in there is black so that didn’t help it jump out).
