Hi, I love the kit but there is one thing that really annoys me and that is the wiring. Having the small service hatch and all the cable bundles sticking out is confusing and messy. Being a former "cable guy" I have experience in wiring thousands of cables and wires in server/patch rooms and alarm systems. Just adding a U bend to all the wire meshes before they come out of the frame strut would give us the possibility to push back the too long wires out of sight and it would make it easier to open the bottom later with a bit of slack. Even better would be to have a much bigger service hatch or a secondary one over the area where the cables enter the box and the empty space to the right. Suggestions for future enhancement: Slightly longer wires enabling a nice U-bend of the wires would ease cable management. Adding a service hatch in the rear part over the cables entering the box and towards the right. Adding small connectors to all the wires from hot end and extruders. Like the PT100 connector but longer wires before the connector as the plug gets in the way of wire routing. I'm very tempted to dismantle the lower plate and having someone to cut out a new hatch now before I have finished the printer completely. Regards Stian
A second service hatch makes a lot of sense. Would you put it on the top or the bottom? From a wiring perspective had a crazy idea when watching Richrap's May review of the BCN Sigma printer in which he explains why he has built a structure to mount the spools & motors ABOVE the printer (more accessible + Bowden tubes now as short as possible + no noisy extruder motor vibrations on back plate). It occurred to me that, if I did that then the back would be totally free and I could mount all the electronics there in vertical formation. The wiring would not only be accessible but really easy. Of course there might then be a dust problem to resolve!
From a power supply Pi and electronics point if view I would prefer this to be a separate box that just plugged into the printer. The box could then be free-standing, be hung on the back, placed underneath etc. depending on your space availability requirements. What it would provide would be unfettered access to the Rumba, USB connections, monitor and power to the Pi etc. Easy access to inserting SD cards would be another benefit. If the lower front of the printer didn't have a front piece, i.e. was just like a shelf then this unit could just slot in there either plugging into a big edge connector (not my favourite but an option) or have one or more cables to a connector leading to motors, limit switches etc. ---------------- A way to mount spools say above would be good too.
