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Heated bed plug for ribbon cable

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Greg Thomas, Sep 21, 2015.

  1. Greg Thomas

    Greg Thomas New Member

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    Has anyone considered putting a plug on the ribbon cable so that it can be disconnected without removing the bottom cover of the printer? I was looking at it this weekend and was thinking that a plug there should not be that difficult to install. Anyone know a reason why a standard 10 pin IDC type ribbon connector wouldn't work? I am not sure what kind of juice is getting pulled through the 8 power wires so that is the only thing stopping me from trying it myself. I have made plenty of ribbon cables in my time the connectors are really simple to use.

    I would love to be able disconnect my be and clean it away from the printer.
     
  2. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Be sure you get one rated to 15-20A
     
  3. Greg Thomas

    Greg Thomas New Member

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    Thanks that is what I was looking for. I will have to see if I can find one rated for that.
     
  4. LoKout

    LoKout New Member

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    I've been wanting to do this since the day I got my R1. I'd love to know if you find an appropriate connector and what it takes to install.
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The smaller style (20 amp) Anderson Powerpoles or 20amp rated DEANS connectors are fine.
    Other high-current R/C style connectors would work too.
    Just make sure that whatever you use is rated for at least 20 amps.

    (I used powerpoles on mine since we had them from previous projects, plus they snap-lock together very well).
     
    WheresWaldo likes this.
  6. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    I have a bunch of Anderson Powerpoles as well as Amass XT60 connectors, hadn't thought of using those. That is a great idea. I also have some EC3 and EC5 connectors, so I have a variety of options.
     
  7. Greg Thomas

    Greg Thomas New Member

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    while any of the hobby type connectors would work I was thinking something smaller and more contained like a single 10 pin plug. There has to be something out there we can use that would not be huge when all 10 wires are connected. Even if you used the XT connectors 5 of those would be pretty large. Or are you suggesting since they are bundled just use one connector for power and one for thermistor?
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    There are really only two wire pairs needed. A small one (milliamps, 22 gauge would do) for the thermistor and a heavy one (15-20 amps, 16 gauge would do) for the heater. Previously this is what they had (and then they added the ill fated connector).
    I assume they switched to the ribbon cable as a way of running less current in a single pair. I have not looked to see how they are connected to the ramps (don't have a current R1 to dissect).
     
  9. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    They use 4 wires from the ribbon cable per terminal for the heater, so 4 (+) 4 (-) then 2 for the thermistor.

    The wires are soldered together for each terminal before entering. This allows you to distribute the load without needing a thicker cable

    You can use an 10 pin connector where each pin is capable of 5A. Or a single connector capable of 20A for the heater. The thermistor is in the mA range so any connector is fine.
     
  10. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Then, I would think that any 10 pin ATX style connector would work, Like the kind used for ATX Power supplies. I think the only reason Robo split the wiring like they did, was that this is what their supplier had ready access to. Any sheathed cable with enough amperage capacity would also have worked.

    The wires are a larger AWG than IDC ribbon/connectors, so that will not work in this situation. I had been thinking about going back to Robo's original way of wiring but putting them in a flexible sheath, Maybe Techflex, or maybe even Paracord with the inner thread removed. Paracord is a lot more flexible than TechFlex, but it won't expand as easily so two large AWG and two smaller AWG cables might be a tight fit in Paracord.
     
  11. Greg Thomas

    Greg Thomas New Member

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    I think part of the reason for the ribbon cable is the motion of the bed. I would imagine that the ribbon cable moves much better than a normal larger cable would. I like the way the ribbon rolls with the bed. I just want a connector. I have a bunch of hobby connectors laying around my workbench from several of my drone projects, I think I may just use one of those for the power and a smaller two wire fan connector for the thermistor. I will put this just outside the body so the cable can still move unencumbered. Though I found a pretty nice over under chain I may install on it.
     
  12. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    This was exactly their thought process.

    I thought it would be nice to have my bed on connectors but it seldom comes in handy and certainly not a very important thing to have
     
  13. lichaem69

    lichaem69 Member

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    i was looking at this, and was curious if you could link the connectors for this upgrade. i would love to easily be able to remove the bed from my printer, and i have someone who can do all the wiring, but I just need to know what parts exactly. I wouldn't want to fry some electrical part.
     

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