Upgrades
Now that I’ve gotten a good feel as to what the Robo 3d r1 + 3d printer can do for me and what it cannot, it’s just about time to see what I can do for this fine machine to reduce its limitations as much as possible and bring out its full blown potential.
Soft Upgrades
There’s all sorts of downloadable 3d printable upgrades for many machines on thingiverse for instance. Prusa i3, Phineas, MakerBot etc. Which all help to improve your printers performance and streamline the overall user experience. This post is Robo 3D specific, but the basic ideas would be similar to any machine.
Quick Change Top Spool Holder:
Creates the shortest path and least resistance to your materials reducing the odds of a clogged extruders. make sure to print the actual holder vertically or it’s gonna give you the wrong friction and create MORE resistance increasing the odds of a bad print.
The matter control touch holder makes life easier than you think and the tablets not on the floor anymore.
These stackable printer feet can allow the bottom fan more room to breathe, give you space to store stuff under the printer and make sweeping easier.
A very important upgrade and a personal favorite. The thread stabilizer reduces printer shake which can result in less noise and better prints.
Deck hole cover:
keeps me from shoveling my smaller prints into the chassis of the printer…Lost it in the underbelly of the printer as soon as I installed it and never saw it again.
Extruder Upgrades
But when the time is right, you’ll want to consider upgrades to your extruder. If you’re using the default extruder, you may realize before long that it becomes a pain to work with as it’s functionality degrades (rather quickly) with use and the type of materials you run though it.
My solution to this was the E3dv6 extruder kit:
E3D is the top of the line when it comes to extruders. More efficient in design with better heat dispersal, a bowden tube to better guide material and prevent clogs, and a thoughtfully considered nozzle that smooths out extrusion which also helps against clogs as well as make it easier to print with more exotic materials such as Ninja Flex or carbon fiber. These factors work together to make the E3dV6 an all around upgrade to your 3d printing experience and above all, it makes your machine more reliable and conveniant.
That said, It’s pretty fun and very straightforward to assemble especially now more than ever as E3d tends to make small updates to their gear over time.
Has plenty of Parts and Upgrades with just as much community support and highly detailed installation guides.
The hard part to me, is the wiring as it involves actually opening up your machine to install/arrange them. But thankfully! there are adaptors and alternative wiring solutions out there if you don’t like the idea of opening up your machine just to install a couple wires. Just make absolute certain that the wires you buy comply with both your 3d printers voltage and extruder specifications. The first ones i got were wrong and my printer kept heating up until it started damaging the print bed. So do your research and be weary of knockoffs.
Rough Start with E3d
The default extruder decided to finally die on me before i was able to print out the parts necessary to fit the v6 and i did NOT know what i was doing so i ended up breaking off the temperature sensor due to collected material all over the hot end area. My lucky day 🙂
But i refused to let that stop me so if you’re in a similar predicament, check out what i did:
-I tightened both screws on the release plate so the extruder was firmly in place. It wasn’t perfect but it was sturdy.
-I plugged in the new wires into the old ones which weren’t designed to connect but they’re staying put just fine.
-I took out the old fan holder and left the fan itself dangling.
-I used the old thermistor so I wouldn’t have to open up the printer.
-And I used the new temperature sensor as I broke the old one. Bootleg as hell but..
It’s printing out fantastic!
Huge sigh of relief on that one. Now! I can print what parts i need to fit this on my machine naturally so i can move on to updating the firmware which will grant my printer with the full capabilities of the E3dv6.
First thing I printed was the e3dv6 quick release plate:
which was designed specifically to fit the v6. Fits like a glove.
(Side note: even without the upgraded firmware i can still see some of the v6’s benefits. It prints better for one and doesn’t clog every few prints like the default extruder did.)
Next I’m getting a new fan holder so that the old one doesn’t dangle anymore.
Some optional upgrades include a new shroud for style. This one’s compatible with both versions of the R1+.
Herringbone gears also for aesthetic mostly but I think they offer more efficient extrusion somehow. They come with a new carriage designed to better fit the e3dv6 extruder nozzle. But so far I don’t see any reason to replace the old carriage at the moment.
And that’s just about all you need to get started on upgrading and customizing your Robo3D R1+! I hope i saved you some time and headaches with this one.
As always stayed tuned for updates and Please like and share, comment if you have and questions and please consider a donation or show support by buying some Sanitizer if you found this post useful. Your gratitude aids and abets my tech obsession and helps me get more gadgets to research so i can share more knowledge with the world. Thank you for finding me. Cheers! 🙂