Heated Bed Cable Snagging

Hello Everyone,
I just got my Lulzbot A101 working last night (ordered used from Aleph Objects on Ebay). One issue I am running into is the heated bed cable keep snagging at the back. Anyone else have this issue?

I was think about just printing some sort of guide but don’t want to reinvent the wheel if the problem has already been solved. :smiley:

Also does anyone have a copy of the original configuration files? I found some on the download section but I am not sure which one to use. :confused:

Have I got a thingy for you!

Presenting: the heated bed cable pinch prevention retrofit clip device thing of doom - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:182028

I ran into that same issue. This is designed to fit on the A-100 or A-101 bed and is held in place by friction on the bed plate, and the zip tie on the cable itself. It seems to work fine on my printer, let me know how it works on yours.

Alternativly, someone else also made one for the Aluminatus that might also fit.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:68292

regarding the configuration files, the stuff in here: http://download.lulzbot.com/AO-101/software/current/ should be a good starting point. I would reccommend switching to repetier host http://repetier.com/ over prointerface, and updating slicer inside of repetier to the 1.0 version, but everything else should be fine. Depending on how you have your printer set up, there might be some modificaitons you will want to make that will require updating the firmware. To interact with that you’ll just want the latest build of the airduno interface http://arduino.cc/ and the base firmware to modify from the lulzbot folder (things like the extra 60mm print height increase modification in the development folder require altering the firmware, etc).

You will also want to look at putting a belt tensioner on the X axis, reinforcing the Y axis motor mount http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:66777 and if you have any banding issues on parts, potentially looking at the AO-TAZ modification if you are feeling adventurous http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:164054

Welcome to the AO club!

Piercet,
That worked great. (See pic below) Also I moved to Repetier and its also working great. I like how you can rotate the models. Thought I have to figure out how to work Slic3r better. Though I have my setting set to heat my bed to 110 and my extruder temp to 230 it doesn’t generate it in the code.

I like the suggestion for the height increase. (Maybe then I will reinforce the Y Axis. I am going to start printing out the part for that 60 mm height increase. Does the quantity of infill or printing with ABS vs PLA make difference when you are making frame parts?

Not sure exactly what banding looks like still new at this…

Lastly is there a belt tensioner that you know works well? Found a bunch on Thingiverse.

Glad it’s working for you!

there are repetier heating settings that are separate from the slicer heating settings. the slicer ones are actually kind of annoying because the printer will not print until it gets to exactly that temperature, which can be annoying if you are close enough on a larger part and just want it to print.

The height increase works very well, and also makes the printer easier to access for part removal. You definitly want to print at a high-ish infil for long term duration parts. it makes them heavier, but also more durable in the long run.

Banding is when you print something and the layers seem to be shifted back and forth slightly so they don’t line up exactly. it’s caused by the entire X axis shifting slightly when the carriage goes up a thread on the Z axis rods, which is often referred to as “wobble” The AO-101 has a threaded ACME nut that is in a pocket that allows it to move to compensate for this slightly, but in my case it was not effective enough, so the AO-TAZ mod came into existance. if you aren’t seeing any banding at all, you can ignore that mod for now.

The X carriage belt tensioner I am using is either this one: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:209483 or very similar to that one. Basically you stick a nut in the hexagonal hole, and a bolt to match that fits in the little blunt nose cap. You route the belt around it and then tighten the bolt to add tension.

The Y axis motor mount is the only one that I really found would flex slightly. You can actually replace the entire Y axis motion segment with a linear rail and move the motor inside the frame later on if you decide to compact the machine some, which also gives you enough room to mount the power supply inside the frame. I’m in process of doing that on mine at the moment. If your Y axis motor mount isn’t flexing on print you can probably ignore the reinforcing mount for now.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:67855

Is that the one you ended up going with? Saw it in another post you made.

I would like to see some pics of your machine for the modification you have utilized. I am a much more a of a visual person.

Also some up close shots of your prints if possible. I want to see if the result I am getting are close to normal.

Yeah, that’s the X Carriage I’ve been using. it works great, and having a removable “quick fit” extruder is really handy. Bam (one of the lulzbot people) also made a stabilized “official” upgrade carriage for the AO-101. It’s not quickfit, but it is an improvement over the one your unit probably came with. https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/ao-10x-x-carriage-mod/273/1 The 3 bearing vs 4 bearing argument is compelling. Eventually, after I get a few of the more immidiate projects finished, a carriage modification based on that one will probably be what I end up using, but with a quick fit component and modified for an auto bed leveler arm and a fan

My machine started out life as an AO-100, so it has the older style nozzle and RAMPS controller, so it will look a little different than your AO-101. That being said, i’d be happy to put up some pictures of my machine. Basically anything that isn’t printed in black is a replacement part. If you want more detailed pictures of a certain angle or whatever, let me know. There’s also a ton of pictures in the development section of things in progress that aren’t actually on the machine yet.






You should also take a look at the lulzbot HQ pictures and some of the configuration they are seeing on their machines. I’d hazard a guess that my machine is one of the more modified AO-100’s around at the moment aside from the one that makes pizzas, and most of the modifications I consider to be overall improvements in general, but some of the things like the removable extruder piece you will want to ask yourself what you want to do with your machine going forward. Is dual extrusion something you plan on attempting? if so, you might want to go with a dual extrusion plate from the start even with just one extruder, etc.

Modifications I have done to this machine from stock AO-100:
1 Upgrade all parts to AO-101 standards except the control interface and nozzle
2. 60mm height increase
3. reinforced Y axis motor mount
4. Quick fit compliant extruder and X carriage
5. RAMPS cover (not applicable to your machine)
6. The Taz style X ends
7. Widening the entire machine to mendelmax 1.5+ specifications to have room for the wider quick fit x carriage.
8 Swapped out the entire Y axis mechanism for a trinity labs linear rail, single layer plate, and much beefier Y axis tensioner
9. DIY spool mount out of PVC pipe and aquarium tube leftovers

Future upgrades in process:

  1. Adding a linear rail on the Z axis
  2. Sheet aluminum top deck plates and covers for the Y rail to prevent things from falling into them (mostly done, just waiting on mounting hardware)
  3. Moving the power supply under the chassis in the empty space where the Y rods used to be
  4. Adding feet to the frame
  5. Theoretically moving the RAMPS controller under the frame and re wiring everything using cable chains, but thats going to be a pain
  6. Adding the ring light and the gantry lighting, as well as a dedicated fan to the machine chassis where the power and RAMPS controllers are
  7. Addding the quick disconnect to the extruder wire harness
  8. Finish enslosing the sides, front and back with aluminum plate. Possibly a belly pan too,

and here are some print quality shots:
These are an overall and then tooth detail shots of a gear from this marble toy: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:65251

Ignore the jagged white bits at the bottom of the gear teath, thats the leftovers from the brim I was printing with that I had not cleaned off yet. You can compare that to the earlier prints of the green parts on the X axis that I printed before the upgrades (well, they WERE the upgrade heh.) and you can see it has come along ways. I still have lots to learn though, especially on smaller thin walled parts.



Piercet,
Thanks for all the great pictures and detailed explanation. Where do I find the Lulzbot HQ picture, that show the different configurations?

I don’t plan on doing to many modifications because sooner or later I want to build my own machine.

I think a chamber around my machine might be one of the most beneficial improvements because I got some pretty noticeable shrinkage when I built that fan enclosure you recommended. I just need to see if I can find a 3D model of the AO-101.

Thanks again.

You’re welcome!

Most of their pictures are in the devel.lulzbot.com FTP archive. the fleet is specificlaly in http://devel.lulzbot.com/photos/

An enclosure is probably a good idea. I still need to build one of those, but I print indoors in a conditioned space so I don’t see too much shinkage.

An AO-101 is basically a mendelmax 1.5 slightly narrower so if you can find a mendelmax model you like you can use that as a general guide. If you do build an enclosure, make sure your power supply and controller are outside it, and also consider adding fans to the NEMA motors.

I made one in FreeCAD, I could export it to STEP but it’s not complete, it’s missing most of the harware.

Let me know if you’re interested.