Upgrading a LulzBot TAZ 5 to TAZ 6

From a TAZ 4/5, you can re-use your RAMBO, lead screws, Z nuts, Y and Z smooth rods, Y axis motor end plate, steppers, half the chassis extrusions, hotbed, power supply, toolhead- adding the bed leveling sense wire, and (maybe) control box- you’d need to creatively re-purpose the second extruder plug for the additional wires the X/Y/Z max limit switches and auto leveling systems add.

We have no plans for a "complete kits"
Our convenient collection of TAZ 6 parts are at https://itworks3d.com/product-category/parts/taz-6-parts/
From time to time we have sub assemblies available. Look for them on the TAZ 6 parts category, and join the waitlists for the parts or assemblies you’re interested in for notification if we get more in, or we build them up based on demand.

The mechanical parts you’ll need are:

ALL will require significant re-wiring We may have completely wired control boxes from time to time, LulzBot may also sell a kit. Both will be premium priced per the considerable labor savings. We don’t plan to build wiring harnesses. There may be enough demand if someone else is interested in building some.

**Auto leveling requires the addition of a wire from the heater block to the control board

"Why can’t I only do just this one upgrade?":

Upgrading a prior TAZ to a TAZ 6 has a number of dependencies that limit piecemeal upgrades.

“bed plate, wiper and auto calibration washers only”
Blocking Issue:
Aluminum Y idler plate needs to be replaced with a Y Motor plate, print new motor and Idler mounts and Y corners, print new Y belt mount
Requires control box with more wires outlets
Need min and max switches for all 3 axis
Custom DIY solution: considerable DIY rewiring. CUSTOM FIRMWARE

“Y carriage, bed assembly, wiper and auto calibration”
Blocking Issue:
requires control box with more wires outlets
Need min and max switches for all 3 axis
Custom DIY solution: considerable DIY rewiring, considerable custom Z max switch add on work

“ZX, Y carriage, no control box”
Blocking Issue: requires control box with more wires outlets
Custom DIY solution: considerable DIY rewiring

“X/Z only”
Blocking issue: no Z min stop
Custom DIY solution: Stick with TAZ 5 firmware, make your own Z min switch solution

“12mm rod upgrade only” Good news, you CAN do this one pretty easily! We should have the rods and bearings soon, or you can order them. Here’s the printed parts you need: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1392011

We could always just part them out completely and list the parts, but want to help out those that want a kit of the hard to source parts without missing “the one thing that’s sold out”

Yes, parting out the chassis should yield a few extra of the new aluminum corner brackets too :slight_smile:

Your thoughts? Please suggest additions and corrections. The “blocking issues” listed are by no means comprehensive, for example.

Alephs’ disclaimer:
“WARNING: At Aleph Objects, Inc. we respect your freedom to modify your LulzBot 3D printer. It is important to know that any modifications or attempted repairs that cause accidental or intentional damage are not covered under the Warranty.”

I would be interested in buying an upgrade kit. How much would it cost?

I would be interested in an upgrade kit as well.

I’d also be interested, but mostly for the individual parts. I’d be happy with just a bed plate and ninjaflex parts really.

I am interested as well.

I’m interested, but only in a partial kit since I did the openrails upgrade.

I’d definitely be interested in an upgrade kit, but not a single, 100% complete kit.

I’d love to upgrade the bed to autoleveling/nozzle cleaning, and the extruder with the new fan setup, but I have no desire to replace the controlbox/PSU and do the rewiring. The 12mm rod kit would be nice aswell as a separate option.

I would also be interested in an upgrade kit from Taz 5 to Taz 6, but would like it possibly to be available in a couple of stages.
I’m 1st most interested in the auto-levelling and head cleaning features.
2nd Additional rigidity from 12mm rods.
3rd Change to control box, but is this really necessary to achieve the other improvements?

I would be interested. I want to update the bed and possibly the electrical cover. I have already updated my extruders and some kits to further upgrade my current unit would be awesome.

This is definitely a great idea. I think it s/ be broken up into 4 kits plus an all-in-one for a total of 5 kits.

  1. Y axis auto bed leveling kit.
  2. X/Z axis upgrade kit.
  3. Extruder upgrade kit.
  4. Electronics box upgrade kit.
  5. Everything.

Depending on price, maybe the Y axis auto bed leveling and X/Z axis kits could be combined and might actually spur someone to do them both that originally only wanted to do one or the other.

The reason for the suggested two kit options is that one upgrade tends to require another, making it pretty much “all or nothing”. We’ve had discussions about what can be done one upgrade at a time, and it’s really pretty limited.
Apologies that I can’t summon all the details at the moment, but there’s often a whole chain of “doing A, requires B, which requires C, etc,etc”
You CAN upgrade to 12mm rods on your TAZ 5, There are printed parts on thingiverse that allow you to replace just the X motor and Idler mount.
Adding auto calibration is a whole system of parts that support the new minimum and maximum limit switches on all 3 axis that a RAMBO with TAZ 6 firmware is looking for, along with adding the wire from the heater block to the RAMBO that tells the RAMBO when the nozzle touches the corner washers.

We have the ninjaflex bed corners for sale https://itworks3d.com/product/taz-6-ninjaflex-bed-corners/
We’ve printed, and will soon post the ninjaflex Z washers
Bed plates are coming as well, but qtys are limited, so they’ll probably go as part of a kit.

These kits probably won’t be as expensive as you might think. Hopefully I’ll have time to work out pricing next week.

Mostly we wanted to chat about what’s needed and why here, along with what people are looking for so we make a good offering.

For me I would need all the parts to upgrade a 4 into the 6 except for the PEI which I did already.

I would be interested in a complete upgrade kit as well.

Me too, ditto what Nim said. I like the idea of having different kits to select from.

I also would be interested in a taz 5 to 6 upgrade kit.

Me too would be interested in a complete upgrade kit!!

Thanks. I’ll hold off on ordering the new rods/switches/etc and printing ABS parts until I see what kits your make available.

More info I’ll merge into the original post along with other minor updates.
Here are further details about the two options, and why they are that way:

ALL will require significant re-wiring We may have completely wired control boxes from time to time, LulzBot may also sell a kit. Both will be premium priced per the considerable labor savings. We don’t plan to build wiring harnesses. There may be enough demand if someone else is interested in building some.

The kits:

“Required hard parts”:
X/Z assembly: 12mm rods, toolhead carraige, 12mm bearings, X motor mount, X idler mount, 2 Z upper plates (L&R), 2 Z motor mounts (L&R), ninjaflex washers, Y front and rear endplates, y motor mount, y idler mount, 4 Y corners (2 ea L&R), Bed plate, ninjaflex bed corners, bed washers, bed standoffs, bed mount screws, Y belt mount, bed bearing holders, control box, min and max limit switches for X/Y/Z

“Complete mechanical chassis, wiring not included
Required hard parts kit, PLUS: extrusions, Z threaded rods, 10mm smooth rods, aluminum corner brackets, all assembled. Basically an assembled chassis without electronics

"Why can’t I only do this one upgrade?":

“bed plate, wiper and auto calibration washers only”
Blocking Issue:
Aluminum Y idler plate needs to be replaced with a Y Motor plate, print new motor and Idler mounts and Y corners, print new Y belt mount
Requires control box with more wires outlets
Need min and max switches for all 3 axis
Custom DIY solution: considerable DIY rewiring. CUSTOM FIRMWARE

“Y carriage, bed assembly, wiper and auto calibration”
Blocking Issue:
requires control box with more wires outlets
Need min and max switches for all 3 axis
Custom DIY solution: considerable DIY rewiring, considerable custom Z max switch add on work

“ZX, Y carriage, no control box”
Blocking Issue: requires control box with more wires outlets
Custom DIY solution: considerable DIY rewiring

“X/Z only”
Blocking issue: no Z min stop
Custom DIY solution: Stick with TAZ 5 firmware, make your own Z min switch solution

“12mm rod upgrade only” Good news, you CAN do this one pretty easily! We should have the rods and bearings soon, or you can order them. Here’s the printed parts you need: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1392011

Any word on pricing?