Voron TAP comparisons

[ChicagoKeri]

OK, it's been about 6 weeks with the Mellow CNC TAP running. This is in a fairly warm chamber with long-ish ABS prints, the heat of which apparently sapped the magnet's  strength of a Chaoticlab V1 CNC TAP.  

The Quad Gantry Level  has been creeping up in "retries" again, maybe needing 3 or 4.  So, while installing a Revo Voron and a Galileo 2, I took a good look at the Mellow CNC TAP while it was exposed.   

Unlike the Chaoticlab V1 CNC TAP, the Mellow's magnets still engage solidly, and the Mellow TAP has no perceptible slop in the engaged position. Also, all of the screws remained tight. Great!

Unfortunately, the Mellow's LDO Linear Rail was quite stiff and sticking, while the Chaoticlab had still moved very nicely after a month. They had both been lubricated with the same grease upon initial assembly.  While a better solution would be to disassemble the TAP, clean out the linear rail and start over with fresh grease, I just applied a small amount of DeOxit oil from a lubricator pen without disassembly, which had the desired effect of easier, more smooth action.  

Although the  oil is not likely to last very long, it did improve QGL which now completes in 1 or 2 retries. When the retries count creeps back up, I'll know it's time to deal with the linear rail again.

But overall, the Mellow CNC TAP seems pretty good so far.  The use of a standard Voron TAP linear rail and sensor  means that it a failure occurs replacements will be easily available. The only thing I don't like is that it shifts the Extruder a few millimeters forward, just like the standard Printed TAP.

 

[Dirk]

@ChicagoKeri Thank you very much for writing this comparative evaluation of 3 separate TAP's and then also doing a mid-term follow-up in a real life situation  

The first thing after building my BOM-list Voron 2.4, was getting rid of the Omron probe. I did buy a TAP kit with an optotap (+- 25 euros). Ever since I built that, I have been happy with it. It performs much better than the Omron probe. I have read about the loosening screws and falling-off magnets elsewhere, so I check the screws once in a while when I also check other screws and belts that are exposed to the heat of +- 50 degrees centigrade and the ABS fumes. But the TAP, once I got it to work, performs still well... As you say, 1 to 2 retries for the QGL.

I have also seen the CNC-TAP and the Aluminum TAP come by, for prices at least double what I paid. When I just checked after reading your post, I also saw a Carbon Fiber TAP for a bit cheaper than the CNC'ed parts. 

The reason that there is so much talk and so many different versions of TAP, are to, apparently improve shortcomings in the design. You name improved stiffness of the aluminum TAPS, and carbon fiber even improves on that. It should be stronger and stiffer than aluminum. 

But the shortcoming also as you find, has to do with the screws, magnets and moving parts.

But when I look at the prices I can buy these super shiny aluminum / CF TAP's they are actually equal to the price of a Beacon3D. A device that would not have the problem of moving parts, or of size or of extra weight. It would just require a new carriage for the stealthburner.
As I read the research done by the producer, not very susceptible to heat, at least not as much as the Omron probe. (And @mvdveer is very enthusiastic about it )

So, I think I will replace my TAP with a beacon probe instead of a shiny TAP when it fails.

[7milesup]

10 hours ago, Dirk said:

Beacon3D. A device that would not have the problem of moving parts, or of size or of extra weight. It would just require a new carriage for the stealthburner.

It says that it is not for use with oversize magnets.  So, is the Beacon useable with a magnetic steel sheet or are they just talking about something like the MandalaRose bed with the individual magnets?

[mvdveer]

38 minutes ago, 7milesup said:

It says that it is not for use with oversize magnets.  So, is the Beacon useable with a magnetic steel sheet or are they just talking about something like the MandalaRose bed with the individual magnets?

The normal magnetic sheets for PEI plates are ok.

It is the MandalaRose plates that are a problem. There are macro's that exclude the magnetic area of these plates but I do not trust those, so better not to use. 

[claudermilk]

@Dirk to be honest, regular maintenance of tool head is something that should address loose screws (well, at least the ones on printer). I just did a regular maintenance on my Trident and addressed my long-neglected tool head. It's a current-revision Stealthburner with the printed r8 Tap. Every single screw on the entire thing had vibrated loose. After getting everything snugged back down performance returned to new-built. I have a nag notification in Home Assistant via the Moonraker integration to bug me every 500 hours of print time; I've skipped the tool head the last few because it's a little more hassle, but no more.

[Dirk]

On 12/14/2023 at 3:21 PM, claudermilk said:

@Dirk to be honest, regular maintenance of tool head is something that should address loose screws...

Point taken  Completely agree.

I have seen on this forum that printers are compared to cars a few times. I see a resemblance. I wish I would regularly check all screws in the printer between long prints, like I check oil and water when I drive to Spain for a vacation. (about 1700km one way) and back. Even though I do check regularly, there is a chance that the ECU warns me about low oil / water levels. Last time we even had to return by plane. So I am now looking at an electric car. The only plus above all the hype around 'better for the environment and fuel-cost', to me, is that the electric car does not have as many moving/vibrating parts as the combustion one. Thus much less susceptible to damage of those parts. Thus much less costly in maintanance.  And less likely to leave me on the road because of moving parts failure  
This is my line of thinking.

I love my (printed) TAP, and the improvement it brought to my first layer and QGL. Just like I loved the sound of my V8 BMW. But I just bought a Chinese beacon clone, CAN version. Because I had nothing on CAN, also an SB2040 V2 (because you guys told me to in other posts) to connect it to. No idea how it will work out, but I will surely let you know