Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
While I'm waiting for my Mini to come in (ordered 10/14), I've been pondering a couple things:
1. Would there be any issue with using a longer ribbon cable (maybe twice as long as the current one) in order to mount the display board on the outside of an Ikea Lack enclosure? It looks like a simple .1 inch pitch IDC ribbon cable, 2x7 pins, right? How long is the current one?
2. Does anyone have a Mini inside a Ikea Lack cabinet yet? Is the inside height sufficient to not be crimping the bowden tube as you get towards the maximum height on a print?
3. I keep seeing issues with filament getting stuck when unloading, because the end expands slightly in the hotend and can't feed back through the bowden or fitting. What about clipping the filament where the bowden enters the hotend, unloading the filament and then having the new filament push the old filament through the hotend and nozzle to purge it? Of course, this would require disconnecting the bowden from the push fitting on the hot end to cut the filament, or installing a cutter of some sort in between them. Does anyone see any downsides to this? Does anyone know the size and thread pitch of the push-fitting for the bowden to hotend connection?
Mike
RE: Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
While I'm waiting for my Mini to come in (ordered 10/14), I've been pondering a couple things:
1. Would there be any issue with using a longer ribbon cable (maybe twice as long as the current one) in order to mount the display board on the outside of an Ikea Lack enclosure? It looks like a simple .1 inch pitch IDC ribbon cable, 2x7 pins, right? How long is the current one?
2. Does anyone have a Mini inside a Ikea Lack cabinet yet? Is the inside height sufficient to not be crimping the bowden tube as you get towards the maximum height on a print?
3. I keep seeing issues with filament getting stuck when unloading, because the end expands slightly in the hotend and can't feed back through the bowden or fitting. What about clipping the filament where the bowden enters the hotend, unloading the filament and then having the new filament push the old filament through the hotend and nozzle to purge it? Of course, this would require disconnecting the bowden from the push fitting on the hot end to cut the filament, or installing a cutter of some sort in between them. Does anyone see any downsides to this? Does anyone know the size and thread pitch of the push-fitting for the bowden to hotend connection?
Mike
I'm interested in this as well, although I ordered mine much later.
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do with all your might!
RE: Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
@burtronix
Some fast release coupling would come in handy here, rather than screwing/unscrewing it.
RE: Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/ekookt/mini_in_a_prusa_lack_v2_cabinet/
RE: Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
@gordon-w
Wow, it seems like the filament holder is using half the footprint. I suppose if you using a Lack that hardly matters.
RE: Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
Regarding point 3. The Mini does not have push fittings. However, what I do is run a purge first, then I unload the filament. I'm not sure I have to do this anymore after rebuilding the hotend of my Mini, but it hasn't failed me yet so that's what I do.
Prusa Mini Silicone Bed Leveling Mod: https://bbbenji.github.io/PMSBLM/
RE: Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
WRT filament jamming on unload.
My mini has the same problem as others have said - that if I take too long to unload after stopping the print the filament tip jams in the distal end of the bowden tube.
The only work around I’ve found so far is either unload immediately the print stops before the head has had time to cool or if you miss the window of opportunity then do a purge and then immediately hit unload. This will do a ram and then retract the filament while it’s still hot. That gets around the issue.
Otherwise detach the bowden tube at the extruded end then hit purge. It will push the filament out about 5 cm or so. Then snip off the enlarged end then hit unload and it will retract. You might find the filament stops retracting part-way back so just do another unload.
I’ve just acquired some bowden tube with a 2 mm ID and some Festo connectors so thought I might try that and see if it gets around the jamming but probably just move the jam up to the gears instead. I’ll report back when I’ve tried it.
RE: Longer ribbon cable to display board, clipping filament near the hotend
Regarding an IKEA Lack based enclosure for the Prusa MINI: I adapted the enclosure designed for the MK3 ( https://blog.prusaprinters.org/cheap-simple-3d-printer-enclosure/ )
Modifications:
1. I used 3 tables, shortening the legs on the bottom table
2. I installed levelers on the legs
3. Filament reel is on the middle table, filament comes up through the table to the printer