1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Bed upgrade for $30 + your filament

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by tonycstech, Aug 23, 2014.

  1. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    Here are the photos of my printer bed. The first shows the plywood, PCB heater and borosilicate. The plywood is screwed to the drawer sliders, and everything else is held in place loosely by some 3D printed clips (seen at the four corners). That wasn't sufficient so I used two binder clips on the right side to hold everything more securely.

    The second photo shows PCB heater with the glass removed, and the third photo shows the underside of the PCB heater.

    I don't recall seeing any other printers with this exact setup for the bed, but since Robo3D loosely calls everything an R1, it's hard to distinguish versions. Any help is appreciated.

    IMG_5417.JPG IMG_5418.JPG IMG_5419.JPG
     
  2. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2014
    Messages:
    632
    Likes Received:
    342
    Um wow. I think your best bet would be to get a new on from Robo3D, possibly the whole y axis upgrade.
     
  3. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    Can you elaborate on your statement a bit more? Is my bed pre-beta or something? And does that make it totally unworkable for this linear motion upgrade?
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,962
    Likes Received:
    7,344
    Yours is a Beta. You should be able to do the bed upgrade.
    Mine (also a KS version) looked pretty much exactly like that before I did their bed upgrade.
     
  5. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    Mark,

    Did you buy the upgrade from Robo3d or print it out yourself?

    What parts did you use/reuse?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  6. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2014
    Messages:
    632
    Likes Received:
    342
    My Robo must be a later model being an international backer. It had the 3mm glass bed with kapton heater mounted to the rails via bolts with spacers. Mark and Mike would be the better to advise on your bed.
     
  7. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    Yeah that's one of the very first kickstarter ABS printers. You should buy a replacement glass bed then you can do the mods to get it like tony's
     
  8. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    What's the best place to buy a replacement glass bed? What are my options for the heating element? Reuse the PCB heater or use a Kapton heater? Does anyone make a heating element that match the XY bed dimensions of the Robo?

    Thanks guys, your knowledge is very helpful.
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,962
    Likes Received:
    7,344
    I bought the upgrade from Robo3d. The parts list described in the first post in this thread will work however.
    You can get regular borosilicate glass from many places, if you want the bed like Robo provides....

    http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-pri...qid=1420148166&sr=8-1&keywords=3d+printer+bed

    That is a good start. You will need to adapt mounting to fit it onto the linear rails.
     
  10. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    2 people like this.
  11. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    Mark, Mike, thanks!

    Mark, do you have the dimensions of the SainSmart PCB heater by chance?

    Mike,

    You suggested the Robo replacement glass bed. Will this bed fit Tony's linear rail upgrade? It would be great if Robo posted dimensions of their products for fitment verification.
     
  12. Stargrove1

    Stargrove1 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2014
    Messages:
    75
    Likes Received:
    77
    The bed fits to the linear rail system. I designed the original one to update the stock system without exchanging the bed. Tonys remix uses the exact same size.

    Edit: You can find the bed size in the comments at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:386602/#comments (254 x 384mm (+/- 1mm))
     
    #52 Stargrove1, Jan 1, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 1, 2015
    3 people like this.
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,962
    Likes Received:
    7,344
    This heat bed is 214mm by 214mm (8.4" * 8.4").
     
  14. tonycstech

    tonycstech Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2013
    Messages:
    606
    Likes Received:
    196
    Measure your borocilicate glass. It should be about 254X383mm
    If it is, you are in luck.
    Rails attached same way from what i can see so all you need to buy is the bearings X4
     
  15. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    Tony,

    My boroglass measures ~262mm x 250mm. However, my plywood base measures out to ~254mm x 383mm, so I should be able to use that with this upgrade.

    My biggest challenge at the moment is getting the bed mounts to print correctly. My glass is slightly warped and the first layer requires constant attention and Z-rod adjustment, especially since the piece traverses nearly the whole diagonal. Nothing much to do that dedicate time to watching it and making the tweaks.

    Thanks again for the help.
     
  16. tonycstech

    tonycstech Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2013
    Messages:
    606
    Likes Received:
    196
    ooh man, i complained about warped bor glass for over a year. Then they finaly sent me a free replacement.
    Why dont you try to do the same ?
    They are not selling anymore bed on rails so they have plenty of old glass laying around. Ask them for one.
    Maybe pay for shipping i dont know....
     
  17. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    I ordered a new glass bed and printed out the linear axis upgrade. Until the new bed arrives I'll just use what I have. The bed I currently have is flexible/spongy in the sense that all the layers (glass, pcb heater, plywood) have some degree of give to them. This makes getting the first layer a tricky affair. I've tried shimming everything and it's now close but not perfect. I have printed a couple things on the new linear rods and really like the system. (And off topic a bit, I replaced the helical couplers which seems to have resolved the Z wobble on one side, but not the other. Will keep trying).

    Thanks for everyone's help.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  18. Thundersticks

    Thundersticks New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2013
    Messages:
    27
    Likes Received:
    6
    Hey ToM Robo, what did you get for a delivery timeframe on your replacement glassbed? I have asked them numerous times before ordering with zero response.
     
  19. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Messages:
    6,967
    Likes Received:
    2,278
    Try the chat feature during normal business hours
     
  20. ToM Robo

    ToM Robo New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2013
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    1
    I haven't heard anything about a delivery timeline yet. I believe they were at CES last week, so that might slow down response time.
     

Share This Page