Why does the XL Splitter Board have a 6th Dwarf (Nextruder) Connector ?
Does anyone know why the XL Splitter board has a 6th Nextruder connector? The first two Nextruder connectors are on the Main PCB, and if you have, or upgrade to the 5 Nextruder setup, they add the XL Splitter Board, which will use 3 of its 4 connectors. Is there a proposed future upgrade to 6 tool heads, or some kind of future add-on accessory, or is this a spare connector just in case you have a failure with 1 to 5?
I don't think it's a spare, the reason is, the Trinamic stepper driver chip is on the Nextruder "Dwarf" Board, so it's not like the old-days where a soldered-in stepper driver chip burns up on the controller board and your now buying a new controller board.
Any thoughts on this or did I miss some previous announcement?
Thanks - mp
RE: Why does the XL Splitter Board have a 6th Dwarf (Nextruder) Connector ?
Only Prusa engineers will know for sure. However consider that the splitter board could potentially be used with a different main board, say one that only has a single extruder driver. In that case the total system would then still be 5 extruders. We know that Prusa also have the other farm printer that we have seen at shows. Its likely there's part interchangeability across their systems as that's good design practice really.
RE: Why does the XL Splitter Board have a 6th Dwarf (Nextruder) Connector ?
Thanks for offering an opinion, it made me realize something. Personally I don't see Prusa offering a Sandwich Board (Main PCB) with only one Nextruder connector. There's no reason to create a 2nd SKU for the main pcb if the first version covers most purchases; the 1 and 2 extruder models. The Splitter Board "dwarf" connectors are labeled 3,4,5 and 6, and the fuse amperage is the same as the others (2A), so it's highly probable it's for a Nextruder. Possibly their original design called for 6 Nextruder's and the final production width of the extruder assembly turned out to be too wide and therefore we now have a max of 5 Nextruder's. So maybe my quest here is in vain 😉 ty again