Ok, so I now have the parts to convert my mini to a mini 2. Finished tearing my machine apart.
Ok, so turns out I don’t ha e all the parts. I was mistaken in thinking that I could reuse more of the old parts then I really was able to. Am waiting for a few bearings and other hardware to arrive. I also needed to make a few custom chain ends for the chain I already have which is a little smaller then the one listed but should be big enough for this conversion along with the water lines for the new Titan Aqua I plan to run.
On tearing into the parts of my mini 1 I found that several parts had broken. The mounts for the bearings for the extruder hob bolt had split at some layers, and the eyelets if the tensioning arm had also broken. Since my Mini is KIA I’ve had to use my “other printer” (which shall remain nameless) for the new parts 
I got both the Ranbo Einsy and z-brake boards mounted up along with the heatsink I made for the Einsy. Got cables for the screen run but since I have the Tabsynth enclosure on my machine I’ve been drawing up plans for a custom mount to use existing screw holes and a MUCH smaller screen case.
sorry for the lack of updates on this. was waiting on a few parts to arrive and got tied up with other things. Will hope to get back on this soon. Taken some time for me to clean out holes for the bushings as Lulzbots models are designed with their finishing procedures in mind, and I dont have the tooling for their way of cleaning out parts.
Right now I am going over schematics of the Titan Aqua vs the Titan Aero to design up my own mount for them. will keep you guys posted on this as it progresses.
How is it going, any updates? I’ve got a mini 1 and would love to follow your lead upgrading to V2. Any help or a push in the right direction would be great. Hope it’s going well!!
Where did you get the black aluminum build plate? Lulzbot refused to sell me one for my planned mini 1 to mini 2 upgrade. So i bought a prusa mini flexible bed plate instead which i think will be much better than glass in the end anyway.
Did you ever finish your upgrade?
I would love to hear any updates if they exist. I was given a Mini 1 and Im thinking about starting this same update process. I could use the advice if you have it!
Any update to this? I’m thinking of doing a PCB order for the Z-Brake and just building one myself instead of ordering one. Much cheaper that way. Looks like i could probably build it for half of what Lulzbot is charging. Likely i would get 10 PCBs from China.
I have 10 brake PCBs in case anyone wants one to build their own.
Very cool! Nice of you to offer. What program did you use to make the schematic and generate the gerber file?
The files were found on lulzbot’s server in KiCad format. I normally use EagleCAD for my own projects.
I just bought a used mini 1.0.4 Looking to possibly upgrade it to a 2. Does the Z belt really make a large difference over the threaded rod? Also, the mini 1 I have already has dampers, does the new motherboard make it even quieter? I was a bit surprised at the X noise compared to my other printer (wanhao D5S completely rebuilt) which is extremely quiet with the dampers (was loud without them, not sure on stepper drivers but I’m sure they are cheap and not trinamic).
It seems like those are the big differences other then slightly more bed space if I’m not mistaken?
Any chance you already have a BOM of differences and parts to print? Just seeing if someone already did the work I won’t have to troll through the files to download.
Thanks!
Owning both (so still N=1), I would not spend the time upgrading 1–>2. My original mini (1.0.3) is stupid reliable. My mini 2 has been much more of a challenge to get reliable. Aside from personal anecdotal data, the v1 mini is just much stiffer and beefier mechanically. The quality the v2 can produce is good, but there are just better designs for the cost/effort delta of a conversion IMO. Note that I do prototyping and small part production, so I can’t speak to things like figurines etc. I value reliability and print consistency alongside print quality.
Noise on the original mini is an issue though. After adding motor dampers I upgraded firmware to klipper years ago, which improved my print quality and decreased noise substantially for free. Not trinamic quiet mind you, but demonstrably quieter. Klipper also allows you to upgrade the entire board (to something with trinamic drivers for example) with a simple reflash and editing of a config file, as opposed to dealing with a custom marlin build chain.
Additionally, flex bed upgrade for the mini is totally worthwhile.
If I were to upgrade mini v1–>v2, linear rails— or at least bigger rods with ball slides— would be a must to make it worth the effort.
Thanks for the input. Maybe i will try the motherboard at some point if I have the extra cash. I plan on trying to use it for more miniatures and my larger one for large prints. I would need a better fan design though (my larger one has dii cooler)
Another thing I was wondering is to go to 1.75 vs 3mm. I have 3mm bowden on my other printer but find the selection for filament is not always the same as 1.75. I have a 3 and 1.75 head for mini but 1.75 needs repair. Wasn’t sure what the aero head benefit was vs the current (i think 2.1) taz head.
I would look at the new m1.75 over the aero.I just built one, so no long term experience, but it is pretty impressive out of the gate.
hi, did you add dampers on x and y? for some reason lulzbots only sells dampers for Y, not that it’s hard to get dampers elsewhere. and i suppose they’re the same.
are you saying that you started using your Mini 1 with klipper or the Mini 2 only? If you run klipper on a Mini 1 I’d be highly interested in the klipper-firmare i.e. cfg-files you use. Are you still operating with the origihnal Mini Rambo board? My current challenge is to get a Mini with upgraded BTT SKR Mini E3 running under klipper and I failed so far…