That looks like a really neat arrangement, with the position indicators on the females lined up. I can't tell from the photos, but I hope that there is a matching indicator on the males - we use Amphenols at work which are all-metal, good and rugged but without any visible (to me) indicators, so connecting up a dozen or is an exercise in frustrated twiddling! When I first saw your descriptions, I also assumed you were going to be using zip ties: it is a bit embarrasing to realise, um, no, you can 3D print a much neater solution...
Finally I received the missing 12 PIN socket. In the meanwhile I redesigned the upper X carriage and the left and right cable holders to be able to use a hook and loop fastener: Because I will not cut the cables at the head it self I have to be able to attach and remove the cables from the head when I switch hotends. So I thought it would be nice not to have to cut cable tie every time. I just increased the size of the cut out for the cable tie to fit the fastener. On the holders I combined both cut outs for the ties to one. Following the discussion about broken arms for the IR or fans I thought it could be a good idea to try the magnetic approach. Took me two prints of extruder X carriage to get it right even I did prints of the mounting area cutting away the most of the part to get the fit right. Three in total because before thinking about that I could change it I did a stock print.. On the first one I had the depth of the hole for the IR sensor magnets wrong, I though I could live with it but then I glued the fan magnets the wrong way in... So here is the result:
Wow alex, this is great stuff. Nicely designed, also great print! How open are you to other people sharing their "Pluggable wires" in this topic? I'd be happy to share my work I previously shared on G+ here. By the way, what filament is that? It looks like ColorFabb XT or perhaps PET?
@JvdP no problem. But maybe for the structure of this section we probably should have separate threads for different guides even if they cover the same topic but different goals and ways to achieve them?
If a separate topic for each type of mod is sensible, then this topic should include "Alex" in the name of the topic to help location of the right mod.
Great stuff indeed. On reflection, the magnetic thing should probably also contain a cutout switch. The printer can't keep going if the fan is dangling on the print bed...
Yeah I was thinking about how to achieve this but I have no solution yet. You would need something like endatops. All in a row maybe if one breaks the circuit is cut and the printer stops... Yeah well, the thing is this community is just starting, @Mike Kelly seems to be the one who tries to organise a bit but there should be guidelines before this really lifts off... I like the guide some posted, the well structured ones but on the other hand a forum thread might not be the best. For this for example, I post a progress, I didn't think everything to the end. I post something, then we discuss, the next update might be 10 posts later. Maybe on the end all should be written in the first post for others to be able to follow the guide. Or we just use this as a place to discuss, to show progress, to develop. And when it is finished we put it in the wiki...
It's never finished But yes - I see your point. In practice, these things are fun to discuss when you're in the throes of invention, and somewhat dull to document when what you want is to get on to the next invention.
It might be that the conductivity between magnets will be sufficient for your switching circuit. In which case all 4 magnets could be daisy-chained in a series connection with a transistor - if necessary - to improve sensitivity / switching. However it's true that - since your magnets look quite powerful - the fan could detach and then partially reconnect. In which case to make the above circuit work one could varnish most of the magnet surface so that electrical contact required precise alignment between two small areas.
I think it would be fine if this is just the general "make your cables pluggable" thread. There will be many people who do it many different ways. That's exactly why it's interesting to be able to have them in one thread and scroll through it.
I know what you mean but the discussion we doing right here now is distracting for someone reading this... I can say what I hate most when searching something is clicking through 100+ pages of a thread picking all the info I need to accomplish the task... That sucks... Maybe I am going to register for the Wiki and post my guides there or on my own Wiki...
Does any one know where they sorced the plug they used on the heat, I bought some .092 molex connectors but they seem rather too large.
Yep, I bought mine to do my X-Carve. Their crimp tool is too big however for the micro fits BTW... (crushes the little pins that hold it into the plastic)
Kind of a dumb question, but is it a LOT easier to change the whole printhead than to change a heater block (v6-volcano) and or nozzle? Meaning don't you have to get involved in the motion system, unscrewing the X belt etc.? Doesn't that start to complain about constantly being bitten by the grub screw? I guess you don't have to wait for the whole hotend to warm up... But then maybe you do, to take the filament out in the first place? Have never done it....
That is a downside, but if something goes wrong and you really need to remove the x carrage, or you really want to swap from single to dual. It would be nice if there was a solution to the grub screw.
@Alex9779 I have a bad PT100 so if nothing else I want to make that cable pluggable so I dont have to rerun the entire cable. From the looks of it there are 3 wires but two are paried so I should only need a 2 pin connector for the correct? I have some microfit connectors comming in soon thankfully.