Is the bed wire still safe to use?

I've been thinking about that forever. BTW that was a very long message.

Tonight I went ahead and attempted to circumvent the clip completely. while I was prepping the ground and Vcc wires for a direct connection I noticed that they popped right out from the clip on both the printer and bed end without any force. So that actually made me pissed off. Just the thought that I was going to probably wait 2 weeks for a "fix" and then get back the bed and have the same exact issue angered me.

Any way the wires are now soldered and glued to the build plate and insulated at the solder joints by Liquid Tape.

Its extremely messy but works for now. I am worried thought that either the glue will come loose or I will have a short from the constant movement. Im probably going to pour hot glue all over it.


A quick question. Maybe someone knows. Did ROBO 3D use hot glue or silicone gsterken said. I'd like to know.


I also think that the wire gauge that robo used is way too high for the current flowing through. Im using 12 gauge. and it doesn't get hot but theirs does.

 

BTW I dont mind having the bed stuck on the robo because I never remove it anyway. It sucks for people that do.

At this rate my robo 3d should be completely broken in 3 years. it seems like every other day the printer has a new problem.

But its my retarted baby

 

Yeah, that looks messy indeed... But mine doesn't look much better, due to the many failed attempts at sealing the clip in place with red and black high-temp (gasket) silicone, and subsequently scratching it off again.

Just wondering: Why did you only bridge the heater wires, and kept the thermistor wires in the clip? I thought it would've made sense to eliminate the clip altogether (since, on my end, that's the part that keeps coming off, and blocking the Y-axis carriage).

From what I understand, and in theory, only high-temp silicone should be used (it's usually red or black). Hot glue will supposedly soften when the bed heats up. However, when my printer was delivered, I found bits and pieces of broken silicone in the box, and the entire silicone job looked quite messy. The clip had apparently come loose, and been reattached (with what looked to me like hot glue) in a different location. So my guess is that silicone had originally been used, but then someone (either at their manufacturing site in China, or during final QA at the RoBo HQ) re-attached the clip with hot glue as a desperate quick fix (or, literally, hot-fix).

 

Looks like they used hot glue AND some sort of epoxy?

Also, when you get your bed, you want to reinforce the glue holding the magnets. 2/3 of mine came off.

 

The reason I didnt remove the connector was a was a stupid one. I thought about the idea "If it ain't broke don't fix it ". I realize that this will cause me trouble at one point so I will probably remove it completely in a few days.

 

If you don't remove it in a timely fashion. Double-insulate between the wires right where they come out of the connector and before they reach the jacket... The wires get hot and melt/crack through the existing insulation and then short out since they're next to each other.

 

I don't understand, the two wires in the connector are just sensor wires. Therefore, they don't get very hot. also I added a big glob of glue before the connector to reduce stress.

Its been a few days since my "fix" and the Vcc and Gnd wires barely get hot anymore and the glue doesn't become soft even after an 8 hour print.

 

Okay thanks alot

 

@gstercken by the way, some people are still waiting for their beds with orders placed all the way back in April! So, don't be angry for 2 week delays...

 

Thanks, Mark, for the picture. It's now 5 weeks that I haven't heard back from Jerry, so I'll just go ahead and fix the bed myself. My plan is to use the same kind of zip tie anchor, and eliminate the molex connector on the bed. I'll just add a more robust connector towards the other end of the harness (under the printer, where it's out of the way of the Y-axis movement).

Just two more questions:

1. Are those zip tie anchors glued to the bed using their original double-sided tape, or high-temp silicone?
2. I wonder why you had to add the second zip tie anchor. Does it help guiding the cable through the slot in the base plate at the correct angle, without getting in the way with the free movement of the Y-axis?

 

Well... I already played the waiting game when I ordered my printer, back in March, and it took 9 weeks to ship, instead of the announced 4-5. Now it's the same all over again for a replacement of a faulty part... It's now 5 weeks that I didn't even get a reply to my latest email. I'm not angry, just frustrated. It's a pity to see that an otherwise excellent 3D printer gets so much bad reputation over a few manufacturing flaws and failed communication.