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Heated Bed ribbon cable

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Fraser Simpson, May 30, 2017.

  1. Fraser Simpson

    Fraser Simpson New Member

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    Hi all,

    Now I know there's been a few threads about this with users wanting to do a similar thing, but none I found had a clear solution in there.... just plans.

    I have what seems to be a hybrid machine between the original kickstarter machines and the R+. I have a heated bed attached with magnets, but with the old grey cable and I'd like to upgrade to the flat ribbon cable type as I've never had an issue up till now, but recently started finding that the cable has been jamming the bed and causing me to lose prints............

    I can handle chopping cables and putting connectors on etc, but I wondered if anyone can point me in the right direction of somewhere I can buy a ribbon cable like the one that comes on the later Robo's that's quite stiff and obviously higher capacity to take the amps..... can find all sorts of ribbon cables, but none really the same as what Robo uses......

    Any help is much appreciated as always !! :)
     
    #1 Fraser Simpson, May 30, 2017
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    If you are going to all that trouble I wouldn't use a ribbon cable, rather I would use two properly sized silicone insulated multi-strand wires. They will be very flexible and have the ability to withstand high heat. The flexibility will prevent it from stopping or hindering the bed movement. Here would be an example:

    6' 14 AWG silicon wire pair (Amazon Prime) other gauges and lengths are readily available.

    With regard to connectors, while I prefer Anderson Power Poles, a lot of people have used XT60 connectors that are popular with the RC UAV Crowd. Such as these.

    XT60 Male/Female Connector Pairs (Amazon Prime)

    In both these cases the links are not an endorsement but rather the first that come up[ on a simple Amazon search.
     
    #2 WheresWaldo, May 30, 2017
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  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The R1.

    The early R1 had normal wires just like the Beta did for the bed power. Then ... someone had a meltdown and they switched to ribbon cable.
    The R1+ always had the ribbon cable.
     
    #3 mark tomlinson, May 30, 2017
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  4. Fraser Simpson

    Fraser Simpson New Member

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    WheresWaldo, thanks for that......... I just assumed that if Robo thought that was the best idea they'd have done that, so figured that I should be aiming to replicate what they did instead, but I have plenty of that wire and powerpole connectors so that's even easier.

    Do you run the cable through the original hole to underneath still ?? I found that was the biggest issue really vs having a flat ribbon cable out the back.......... seemed like it was less likely to get caught up. Are there any photo's etc of what others have done ??

    Mark, yeah, that's what I was trying to say..... I knew the R1+ had the ribbon and the beta had the grey cable, but there's parts of my machine that are newer than the beta, but not as new as the R1+ so it's somewhere in between....

    Thanks again for all the help guys.
     
    #4 Fraser Simpson, May 30, 2017
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You can use either you want, just use wire rated for what the powerpoles will carry (15* amp for the smaller ones).
    I am not sure how they ran them myself, @Geof can let us know -- he actually has an R1+


    *The bed heater really only wants 11 amp, but that gives you some headroom
     
    #5 mark tomlinson, May 30, 2017
  6. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    @Fraser Simpson Robo did whatever was cheap to manufacture . The two wire solution is much easier to attach to the RAMPS board than doubled up ribbon cable.
     
    #6 WheresWaldo, May 30, 2017
  7. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    They run under the rear bed rail through the cooling fins on the back of the printer to the ramps. Use tape as a strain relief on the underside. The r1+ has an annoying braxket on that rear rail but i removed on bith my +s
     
    #7 Geof, May 30, 2017
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