I3 Upgrades

Hey guys, finally actually doing what Nog suggested and making a thread for the i3’s.

The plan is to upgrade all the non-Pelrun i2’s to i3’s, which I’ve started. I’m using the aluminium frame we had sitting around, along with some parts from the i3 Rework and P3 Steel - Toolson Edition, depending on what suits our needs. Once I’ve got this printer up and running, I’ll take it into work with me (as I can’t really get over to the Space regularly) and print off another two lots of parts, then laser cut the Sgraber Laser Cut Frame to convert the currently running i2. After that, we’ve got 90% of the parts left over for ANOTHER i3, so we’ll have printers coming out of our ears.

More updates when I remember to take photos

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Want some help with 3D printing parts for these? If you post a list of stuff to print (on here or trello?) I’d be happy to chip in with my machine at home!

I thought we already had 3dprinters coming out of our ears…?

Sweet! I’m just printing the X carriage, and I think aside from a Z end stop that’s it for the first one. I just need to start assembling now; I’m currently cutting the 10mm frame so we’ll be ready to go when we’ve got a new batch of parts.

We’ve got the Taz, which is currently out of filament, an i3 (which is set up for all of our 1.75mm ABS) and an i2 (which is set up for 3mm PLA). There are various other printers around such as Pelruns i3, but I’d rather not tinker with his.

We have dozens of rolls of ABS and PLA in both 3mm and 1.75mm, so realistically we need a printer for each so we’re not changing plastic type over and can utilise our massive filament stores.

Update: I unfortunately just don’t have any time to finish this off, and have had a spare on unsuccessful prints the few times I’ve been over to the Space (4 attempts at the damn X carriage - and nothing even close to being right). We do have the Taz sort of back in action, but somebody has been using it every time I’ve been there.

Aaron is going to take over finishing this off, and I’ll try to spend some time upgrading the current i3. It prints ok, but has terrible Z banding and poor layer adhesion. Yesterday the RAMPS power connector melted, so I’ve done some rewiring so it’s back in action

I’ve had some time at the Space lately so I’ve been working my through getting one of the new powder coated frames ready to go. The Z axis on the i3 is pretty rubbish, however I can’t currently do long unwarped parts on the Taz so we’re at a bit of a crossroads. I’ve rewired the printer and tidied most of the wiring up, however it still needs a lot to make it consistent and reliable.

Basically everything aside from one Y corner is printed in terms of structure and I’ve repaired the other RAMPS board (I threw it out originally as I’ve got a spare here, but after James rescued it I thought it would be worthwhile fixing). We just need a set of electronics (or can transplant from one of our existing printers), motion parts (or transplant) and a hot end/extruder.

If it’s one which I’m ok to borrow to print more parts, then I’m happy to use my Re-ARM and BPS v4 on it for now while I’m printing with it. If we sacrifice an existing printer as a donor, I’d prefer not to leave this stuff at the Space

Updates:

Changyi i3 > Changyi i3r (fancy I know).

Done - new frame, bed, bearings, entire X/Z axis (including threaded rod) and limit switch holders.

To be done - fit X/Y belt, new small extruder gear, make Z series stepper harness, firmware, confirm Y bolt lengths correct, tidy up wiring, make new screen mount

Dynam-i3 > Dynam-i3r

Done - new frame, bearings, rebuilt extruder, X carriage, Z series stepper harness and replacement Z steppers.

To be done - replace bed base, fit X belt, make new screen mount, fit Molex connector to PSU feed.

I’ve also got everything I need to upgrade the Space i2 to an i3, including new rods, bearings and all the Rework parts

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