Printer Camera....

Sumner Mar 14, 2022

  1. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    I wanted a camera to be able to view the printers I have (Ender and Photon Mono) when they are printing. I wasn't interested in being able to control the printers remotely with say a Pi for instance. I only feel comfortable with running the printers when I'm home and being retired that isn't a problem. I wanted to be able to view an ongoing print if I wasn't near it at the time. A lot of times I'll be in the attached shop while the Ender is running in the house or the other way around with the resin printer running in the shop and I'm in the house.

    I bought the netvue shown below on Amazon ( HERE ) and have been happy with it. It was way easier to setup than a similar (different company's) camera and surveillance system was.

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    I was up and running with it in about 15 minutes. The phone app is easy and quick to use when you want to check on the printer.

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    Above I have the camera in the house viewing the Ender.

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    Above I moved the camera to the shop about 40 feet from the modem in the house to where the resin printer is. I plugged the USP connector to a nearby outlet and it connected immediately to the modem. The phone also saw the new connection right away.

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    I went back into the house with the phone and all was well. You can't control the printer from the phone but you can move the camera to change the view up/down or side to side. It will be great that I can easily move it between the printers as needed. Not much else to say about it other than it has fulfilled my needs well and I'm happy with it.

    Same info on my site ( HERE ),

    Sumner
     
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  2. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    hummm ive been wanting a resin printer just to play with. Im not sure if i want to get one or not. word is the smell is bad and i only have one room for it and it the same room as my layout in the house. the boss might not like it smelling up the place....ya i could build a vent for it . (im still pondering the idea ) im not sure i can justify the cost as i can print most everything with the ender 3
    I like your take on the camera . I have a similar camera (wireless that rotates ect ) been in the box for a few years (9 to be exact) . i was thinking about adding it to my layout and have it viewing from the pi4 monitor (in a small window ) to keep track of the locos at that end of the room.
     
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  3. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    I'm about ready to find out about the smell. I've had the printer for almost a year and I'm finally getting around to actually trying it out :(. I have a couple different resins to try after reading a lot about them. Hopefully the one that smells the least will also print well. I'm interested in the print quality though since as you mentioned the Ender does quite well with print quality.

    [​IMG]

    I printed the grate above the other day and as one can see the detail is quite good. Actually for N stuff and viewing from 10 inches or more are you really going to see detail under 3" or so. If one picks the model up and looks at it at 6 inches then yes you can see rivets and such but for normal viewing of buildings and such the FDM Ender is quite sufficient.

    So got the resin printer to print stuff I'll probably not look at much. I'll see how I deal with the smell, the liquid resin, the cleaning up and curing steps. Will I have enough patience for that???

    I printed the item in the image above in the main living area 3 feet behind me and took it off the build plate and could of painted it next if I wanted to. I'll bet money that the Ender is still my go to printer and it prints much larger objects....

    [​IMG]

    .... when needed.

    Sumner
     
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  4. SLSF Freak

    SLSF Freak Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I've always wanted to do a camera for my Ender. Failures can be spectacular if not caught early and a camera can help keep a situation from getting too crazy. Plus it would be fun to watch the progress and see when it's done without having to trek out into the printer room. I'm pretty stoked you've dusted off the resin printer. If you max that thing out like you've done the Ender we're going to be seeing some extra-amazing things from you soon. No pressure! :D

    Cheers -Mike
     
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  5. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    The smell isn't really that bad. If you're worried about the smell, try a plant resin like Anycubic's Eco resin. They have less volatile compounds. It still has a vaguely chemical smell, but it's pretty much masked by the smell of isopropyl alcohol when you clean the prints.

    Honestly, the smell thing was overhyped. I use my printer inside too, and it hasn't been a big deal. All the forums and videos online made it sound like you would be suffocated by the most rancid and horrible smell, but it's pretty manageable and you can go nose-blind to it.
     
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  6. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the imput Mr. Trainiac . Im thinking the resin printer would be good for truck,cars , tractors ect to get the details of those. Im just wondering if the cost is really worth it as it can only produce small items . (maybe it is if one plans to sell the items )i find it interesting either way.

    Sumner im looking forward to your use of the resin printer. Im for sure going to keep track of this to see exactly how you feel about the whole process.
    From all my reading and looking over post of these it sounds like lots is involved in the finale processing.

    SLSF Freak the camera would be good for slow motion videos of the printing process too. It was nice to watch the printer on the computer monitor while i was working on other stuff .
     

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