Things about "cheap" kits to keep in mind.

[bdejong11129]

I recently built a Voron 0.2 from a formbot kit.  Overall it was a great build and other than some of the hardware being a bit on the "cheap" side the printer performed well for several months. 

I am going to update the build thread with this but I thought it was a good topic to put out there as "cheap" parts are common.  Recently, while printing some replacement parts, I switched filament and noticed that the prints were not working well.  First layer was terrible, and the printer was exhibiting signs I have seen in the past when you don't have the pressure correct using the pressure screw for the filament on the toolhead (stealth burner variants).  after eliminating that as the cause, I switched back to the last filament that produced a good part and it had the same issue.  This eliminated the filament as the cause. 

I then focused on the filament path and the extruder motor.  I noticed, by holding onto the filament feed into the printer, that it would pause.  It would feed for a bit and the pause and then feed for a bit.  I swapped the motors but that did nothing.  I then tore down the extruder and cleaned and checked the gears and they were clean.  The issue still persisted.  As a last resort, I changed the actual gears, the one that have the filament contact points, with an old set, bondtech, from a previous build.  Go figure, the filament feed perfect.  Looks like the formbot kit included some very low quality extruder gears that wore out and could no longer properly grip the filament. 

Lesson here is to keep an eye on some kits that may use less than high quality parts for critical components like this.  I still love formbot, especially for their price, but will opt to change out some components on future orders. 

[Penatr8tor]

9 hours ago, bdejong11129 said:

Looks like the formbot kit included some very low quality extruder gears that wore out and could no longer properly grip the filament. 

You're bringing back old memories. 

Extruder gears have been an issue since very early on. So much so that vendors are selling precision extruder gear sets, etc. and the issue goes even deeper when you give people STL files to print and inserts to melt in which imparts a good amount of variability in part size, shape, strength and how well the fit and work together as an assembly. I have storage bin full of old after/stealth burners and other old extruders. I found that over time I'd need to unscrew the fan shroud and tighten everything down every so often as the stress, vibration and heat cycling from printing tended to loosen screws over time. Eventually I built a RatRig V-Core that came with a Bondtech LGX-Lite extruder which led to me swapping out the CW2 extruder on my Voron 2.4. These days I'm rockin' the Orbiter 2.5 with Orbitool o2s toolboard and Smart Filament Sensor. It's been a really good combo so far.

[natron734]

4 hours ago, Penatr8tor said:

... which led to me swapping out the CW2 extruder on my Voron 2.4. These days I'm rockin' the Orbiter 2.5 with Orbitool o2s toolboard and Smart Filament Sensor. It's been a really good combo so far.

I recently picked up the Orbiter 2.5. I like the Cable Cover door in this model. I have been looking at the orbitool board, or the nighthawk.

Do you have a link to this model for the cable cover? It wrapps fully over the top and I really dig that!

[bdejong11129]

Ditto, I wouldn't mind giving that a try as well. 

[Penatr8tor]

Here's a link to my 2.4 Refurb Build Diary...

The arrow in the upper right takes you to the CAD and STL's that you can download / modify to suit whatever you need.

So, a couple things to be aware of...

Print and use all of the parts as a set, they work together and you could have issues if you reuse old SB parts.

The front hotend fan is moved 1.5mm forward to clear the center hub in the extruder. The front cowl is also sized for standard length hotend or you can print the one that I recently created for @TitusADuxass that works with the Rapido UHF hotend.

As for the flip up door... It kind of flips up. What I mean is it used to flip up until the new smart sensor came out. It's a little taller so if you want it to flip up... it'll need a little 1-2mm trimming or you're welcome to edit the CAD model. TBH, I've never once had to open it or change the tension screw once I had it set and by set, I mean turn it in until it stops and then a 1/4 turn. It's also possible to unscrew the tension screw and rotate the tensioner out without even flipping up the door.

The design utilizes a generic Fysetc CNC Carto/Beacon mount. I'm pretty confident that any Voron mount would work, even the printed ones. In fact, the only Voron part you'll need to hund down and print is the hotend mount. Any of the ones on the Voron Github will work.

And lastly... I recommend taking a look thru the build diary. I designed some pretty cool stuff that's also on there like an upgraded rear filter box with activated carbon sheet and hepa filter, camera mount, full Fusion 360 tutorial on how to design a custom klipperscreen, etc.