Replace cracked y-corner in fully assembled printer
Hi all!
Having never assembled anything more complicated than an IKEA shelf, I managed to crack the front-right y-corner. It's cracked at the top part, that's supposed to keep the smooth rod stable in the y-direction. The printer is fully assembled at this point.
You can see traces from my failed attempt to glue the crack closed.
I am at this moment holding the crack closed with a custom designed part and it seems to be doing the job for now.
But I'd like to fully replace the y-corner with a new 3d printed part. How can I do this? How extensively do I need to dissassemble the printer?
Thanks, best regards!
Panos
Re: Replace cracked y-corner in fully assembled printer
to replace the cracked corner, you nearly need to dissasemble the whole y-frame.... and need to align everything afterwards again.
but have you tried to glue the corner part ? because it's printed with abs, you should be able to glue it together very reliable with acetone or "UHU plast special".
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: Replace cracked y-corner in fully assembled printer
Thank you very much!
I wish I had known this when the cracked first happened instead of trying to glue it with the glue they recommended at the hardware store... 🙁 I am completely new to 3D printing.
There's too much residue from the silicon glue I used and the part has been strained by the pressure from my workaround part, I am afraid it will be a poor result.
I think I'll include a y-corner in my next order from Prusa. What if I:
a) Remove the y-belt and both the smooth rods, I should now be able to lift the heatbed out of the way,
b) Rotate the two small threaded rods (x-direction) out of the corner. I know this can be done because that's how I adjusted the position of the y-motor. I just have to untighten all the screws on the two small rods. I probably have to remove the LCD as well.
c) I can now remove and replace the corner.
d) All that would be needed then would be to adjust the position of the corner on the long rod and the x-distance from the the left front corner. All other connections including to the frame would be untouched.
How does this sound? I don't want to risk further damage to the printer!
Re: Replace cracked y-corner in fully assembled printer
...
How does this sound? I don't want to risk further damage to the printer!
sounds quite feasible for me and I don't think that there is a risk of further damage to the printer.
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: Replace cracked y-corner in fully assembled printer
I have two Y corners that have cracked a bit, but I have left them in place without any issue for now. So my advice is to keep it that way unless you experience some troubles while printing 😉
Re: Replace cracked y-corner in fully assembled printer
You could consider printing the replacement parts and keepinf them on one side in case the split starts to cause problems.
Regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
Re: Replace cracked y-corner in fully assembled printer
You could consider printing the replacement parts and keepinf them on one side in case the split starts to cause problems.
Yup, that's what I did. A couple of days ago the gap had started increasing again, so I replaced the corner with the one I had printed. Calibration worked, prints are coming out as before, and I even kept my Live Adjust Z setting close to its original value. I should probably take apart the y-frame eventually to make sure it's perfectly aligned, but I am leaving it as is, at least until my multi-material upgrade ships. Overall I should consider myself lucky with this assembly since it was my first one and I've been reading about more serious problems in other posts. Now to print something! 🙂 Thanks everyone.