Stan

Hey, Great Work!
You made a lot of progress in improving the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of the PP machines.
Yeah, the – what to make – and how to make it cost effectively (molds) is the next step to go beyond educational demonstrations.

I’m curious who your customers were (categorically) education/universities, government or NGO…[Read more]

Nice design. I think if you were to reduce it to basic functionality the cost would be pretty low. All the 3D prints and bearings are nice but could be done in other ways. Printing the timing pulleys and the grinder mount is convenient. Here the grinders can be bought for $15. You can skip the chuck if you are willing to size the hole in the…[Read more]

It is hard to tell, but if the white wires are going to your load, it looks like you have going and returning to the same connection (1) on the PID, instead of what is shown in your second diagram.

If that is the common online  PID bundle, with the BERM brand PID, I don’t think there are any PID parameters to adjust. But you don’t need to for this.

It is difficult to see your wiring in the photo. This discussion may help you.
https://davehakkens.nl/community/forums/topic/injection-machine-help-on-electronics/

If it is a smooth sphere, for a low cost mold you could try one of these, Carefully cut it in half and encase each half in something strong like mesh reinforced concrete and a steel box.
https://www.banggood.com/search/1050679.html?from=nav
I’m not sure how you avoid bubbles or voids. I think the compression approach would do several flat…[Read more]

If you are going to use an injection machine, there is a lot of pressure. Even if you encase the mold in something rigid, I’m not sure you can hold shape or detail.

Also, a 12 cm sphere is about 900 cc. That is a lot for an injection machine.

You might check with the local gardening people. Depending on what the local soil is like, it can be used as a soil additive. We just put ours into our compost bin. I’m sure the worms work faster when they hit the espresso grind.

The PP approach to mounting the TC to the tube may not be the most reliable. Take a look at my suggestion (April 21 post) in this thread and see if it makes sense.
https://davehakkens.nl/community/forums/topic/injection-machine-help-on-electronics/
Good luck

Just to confirm, When you use the screw type temperature sensors (type K thermocouples) that came with the controller, you have them attached blue to 9 (-) and red to 10 (+). Also your controller model number has a K after the F, indicating it is for type K thermocouples. I can’t tell what your other temperature sensors are but if they are…[Read more]

Interesting, Could you provide the steps. Are you using plaster and a bakeout oven?

Did you buy the temperature sensors with the temperature controllers as a kit? Does the temperature controller part number call out the type of sensor you are using? Take a picture of the sensors, the part number and your connection. Something is not matching up. If you are using thermocouples, are the tips undamaged?

Hopefully, since both are…[Read more]

Yeah, I noticed the other day that the only activity was a spam post to a spam topic.
Agreed, there was some good discussion and excitement when this forum was active.

Nice, thanks

Looks great, what force does the cylinder produce?

I believe you. For general purpose, large area compression you need lots of force. The thought was for the relatively small, pyramid shaped mold that a 2 ton jack  might work. 3 broken jacks say otherwise.

Those look really great. I really like your “engineered with what’s cost effective locally” approach to building your machines.
Would a motor (drill?) driven scissor jack work as a replacement for the log splitter?

Thanks for the update.

I am not personally involved in these efforts so I don’t have any direct information but here are a couple of links to get you started.
https://davehakkens.nl/community/forums/topic/3d-printer-for-pet-particles-no-filament-ever/

https://vanplestik.nl/en/about_us/

Sorry but if you search the forum, there have been several attempts at working with PET. The only successes I remember are the finely shredded PET used in direct 3D printers. The general observation appears to be that PET is both moisture and temperature profile sensitive and may be too difficult for simple DIY recycling.

@ha-ng I would set those 110V heaters aside. At 220V you would be pushing 4X the power through them. If they have not fried yet, they will. Before you wire everything up, I would check things individually. The PID controller should work just fine with just the thermocouple attached. The displayed PV temperature should look right and respond to…[Read more]

There should be drawings and a bill of materials in the download kit. The important thing is what is available in your area. The inside one (piston) is usually a solid rod, though if you find a way to close off the end and the walls are thick enough so it does not bend, you could make a tube work. The outside tube and the band heaters you can find…[Read more]