Modular temp sensor and heater

[chenci 3]

Hi, i'm trying to maker a modular printhead easy to change without disconnecting the cables from the mainboard. The fans are easy, but how should i do it with the temp sensor and the 35W heater. What types of connectors should i use for them. I want to put all the connector in the "Print head top" so they are easy to connect and disconnect when i switch from one to another. Someone must have done it before me.

Thanks in advance

[horizoncdr 0]

Something like this?

[chenci 3]

Something like this?

 

Yeah, you seem to read my mind. Do you have more information about it?

[neotko 1,417]

That's a Jennyprinter head 3 or 4 model.

I would stay at light years from that guys. If you actually read their assembly manual you will fell chills about their board. The photos look ok of the last model, but their assembly manual shows all the monsters. Also long ago I bought a full hotend from them, and was the most horrible piece of crap I ever got on aliexpress.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Guest

[ultiarjan 1,223]

The idea of a modular head is nice I think, here's a few old ones....

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ulitimaker-orig-modular-printhead-merlin-ubis

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/modular-printhead-for-ultimaker2-v2-2

If you need to mount a different head to an ultimaker2, also keep an eye on the Mark2 dual extrusion system, you can couple basically anything to it with magnets...

For connectors I would have a look at stuff used for remote controlled cars etc... think the connectors they use for batteries could be good.

[chenci 3]

Hey nice idea the remote control, i figure that i can use the PCI express 8pin power cable (a have a lot of them from broken PC power supply) and mod that to take all the cables. 8 cables:

2 for heater

2 for sensor

2 for hot end fan

2 for shroud fans

It's also easy to connect

[chenci 3]

Anyone tried something similar?

[ultiarjan 1,223]

No expert at all, but was more thinking of connectors like this, made to plug and unplug a lot, which is not the case for PCB type connectors.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/xt30-power-connectors-for-30a-continuous-applications-5-pairs.html?___store=en_us

I once had a setup myself with screw terminal blocks at the back of the printer, but that's not the nicest solution.

[amedee 349]

I am using the XT connectors @ultiarjan points out for the heater, and small JST XH for the fans and temperature control.

[tigertooth4 17]

I did some modifications to the original UM2 hotend. I had the same thought with you, aimed at making the head easily interchangeable, modular and more compact in size. In order to do that, I've inspired by a lot of community posts, and designed mine from the ground up. I made a lot of the parts CNCed. I'm quite satisfied with the result I've got. Here's some pics of my work. Hope you find something interesting.

[chenci 3]

Man, your mod is awesome! I won't be able to do something so cool (I don't have access to CNC machine).

1) Do you have the link to the original post?

2) Did you just use PCI-E 8 pin connector?

3) You got to help us with more pics and stls haha

Thanks for taking your time with the photos.

[neotko 1,417]

I did some modifications to the original UM2 hotend. I had the same thought with you, aimed at making the head easily interchangeable, modular and more compact in size. In order to do that, I've inspired by a lot of community posts, and designed mine from the ground up. I made a lot of the parts CNCed. I'm quite satisfied with the result I've got. Here's some pics of my work. Hope you find something interesting.

Looks great! I seen a lot of your work on instagram. Any plan to release anything public?

[tigertooth4 17]

Sigh! I just lost a long editing  ... Feels heart broken :(

But anyway, thx very much @chenci and @neotko and other guys! I definitely like to share everything!

This modular printhead was a part of my DIY UM2 go sized printer, called DINKY. But turns out it fits UM2 as well .

My intention for it was to make multi-purpose, easy to change, fully functional and compact tool-heads. With this design, I've significantly increased the build volume for UM2 Go (it has 125mm x 113mm x 140mm build volume within the 271mm x 235mm x 289mm of overall size). Here's the exploded graph for this printer.

You can find the original post for DINKY in G+

https://plus.google.com/114890721423630794211/posts/8gi446PtiaR

A lot of pics and some vids can be found inside the post there.

The connector it used was a clone of molex 43025 series connector, with 3mm distance between its pins, the original one can be found here:

http://www.molex.com/molex/products/listview.jsp?query=43025&path=43025+inmeta:CollectionName%3DImpulse+inmeta:category%3DCrimp%2520Housings%26requiredfields=(engineeringnumber:43025%7Coldpartnumber:43025%7Cproductseries:43025)&offset=0&autoNav=0&sType=s&filter=&fs=&channel=products&encode=true

A 8-pin model is suitable for the single nozzle printhead. BTW the pins can be retract using a pin removing tool, which makes the printhead repair easier.

The original printhead design and the DINKY printer design as well, were shared via Fusion360 hub I believe. (However, for some reason I cannot access to the online hub right now. I'll update the link later). I've found the link:

http://a360.co/2aE4NGz

You should be able to download the whole design of DINKY via fusion360 hub ;-)

The pics I've showed above were my first and second iterations of the printhead design. The black one was the my first version. It still uses the UM2 PTFE tube, spring, steel heatbreak and olsson block. It works fine for PLA printing. But later on I found some under-extrusion problem due to the lack of sufficient cooling for the PTFE and heatbreak. The whole printhead feels hot (feels like 60-90 degree C) because of the cooling problem.

So I designed the light colored one. This time I redesigned the housing of heatsink, and used an E3D kranken-clone heatbreak . I also redesigned the heatblock, to make it more like a E3D volcano-style heatblock, but with UM2 heater and PT100 mounted. This two parts were held in place with a single M3 screw, just like the UM2 heatblock. But with the heater and PT100 mounted vertically to the horizontal, I can make the wire path more straight, and the overall size of the printhead was reduced.

The heatsink improved the overall cooling! Now I can print with PC material in 260 degree C, with the whole printhead feels touchable during a 4-6 hours print ( It feels between 40-70 degree C), and therefore improved the extrusion. Here's the explode graph for the second version of my design.

The pros for this modular printhead are its size and the freedom to change between different types of tool heads. For example I can change from .4 -nozzle printhead to .25-nozzle printhead, with the ease of unplug one connector and unscrew two m3 screws. I can mount different types of tool head as well ( such as a ball-pen head for 2d sketch, a gauge for tests and calibrations, or even laser engraver heads (which I'm hoping to do if I have time) ).

My nearest goal is to make it easy to change between 2,85mm printhead and 1,75mm printhead (and I had a plan for multi-extrusion head as well). In order to do that, I have to add the second feeder, or, make one universal feeder for switching between 2,85 and 1,75 filaments  

The printhead design files are not well-organized right now. I'm planning to re-organize the files and share them later.

Also, if someone wants to try out this printhead, I can make the CNCed parts as kits and try to deliver to you. Because I'm living in China, I think I can access to CNC guys easier and the parts should be cheaper.

So just message me if you guys need more help with this printhead!

Thx very much!

Edited May 8, 2017 by Guest

[chenci 3]

Man that's sick, i can see you really love modding your printer.

By the way, it seems you were the first to use the molex 8pin! I stole your idea.

Dude, we want to see your step files!!!hahahaha

Thanks for taking your time.

[neotko 1,417]

Thank you @tigertooth4 really cool mod!!!!

[nilrog 103]

Nice printer you made @tigertooth4

[tigertooth4 17]

Hi guys,

I've found the fusion360 hub link: please see the link below to view/download the whole DINKY design there:

http://a360.co/2aE4NGz

Thx!!

[meduza 191]

@tigertooth4: Is that fan shroud printed in Formlabs High-Temp resin?

[tigertooth4 17]

@tigertooth4: Is that fan shroud printed in Formlabs High-Temp resin?

@meduza No, the white one was PETG, the black one was PC. But I've tried some resins, one was orange and fragile, the other one was clear and flexible, both works fine ( I've not printed for over 240 degree C, the clear one had some deformation at the bottom but ok in general). They are all un-identified Chinese resins, (actually I found someone printed them for me, so I don't know the brand they use) .

[meduza 191]

Yeah, i was thinking about the orange one, it looks a lot like the Formlabs High-Temp and that one is also pretty fragile, but can take very high temperatures

Edited May 9, 2017 by Guest