I have this printer. I bought it a couple of years ago and, it was problematic from day one. I recently got an Creality Ender 2 so, I used that to print the parts for this mod. I replaced the Y-axis, by using this excellent tutorial video. I also replaced the extruder mechanism with one that I found on Thingiverse. I didn't replace the hot-end but, I may do that in the future. I got it all put together today, and used your Slic3r settings to slice the filament guide that you use on yours. I leveled the bed and started the print... it printed very well, on the first go! 😎 It used to to take me 5 or 6 tries to even get the first layer to go down properly. I really want to thank you for sharing the mods, and the settings that you use for this printer. Now I have two decent printers.
Just finished the mod, although I underestimated my board size 210mm was to small need 220mm, MY fault, so I completed the mod with the wood bed. Very pleased with the result and a new aluminium bed ordered to complete.Thanks Steve
I did the y axis mod, and my printer works better, thanks. I printed a mirror image of the Y axis motor bracket and screwed it to the back of the motor (needs some 40 mm M3 bolts to pass through the motor), seemed a better way to hold the motor square.
I agree with Ian. I've got a Belfast accent. It's great to hear someone with a "local accent" explain things without all the transatlantic razzamatazz.Keep up the great work, Steve.Alan.
Hi mate. Great video. At 12:00 minutes, when you're fitting the smooth rods over the end pieces with the tie-wraps, would it be of any benefit to have the tie-wraps loose until the rods are seated and then tighten them up?Cheers......Alan.
Ah. A fair point. But definitely something for me to keep in mind for when I apply this mod to my own printer. BTW, where can I get the files for the parts that need printed. Did you download them or model them yourself? Alan.
I'll do a short video on it once it's done. There's a lot to print to get it swapped but all the parts are out there. The wiring and board mounting are the biggest issue really.
This is a great video so thanks for sharing. Why not add the cable ties after the smooth rods are installed? Have you thought about going to a aluminum bed so you can set up induction bed leveling?
Take a look at this one. www.aliexpress.com/item/Latest-and-Top-quantity-reprap-MK3-Aluminium-heatbed-220-220mm-heat-bed/32672517626.html?spm=2114.13010308.0.0.ePSfAT
Hi Bill, I have been following Toms "MK2 Clone live streams" I'm inspired to make a super cheap PLA only 300mm cube i3 thing out of mdf. I also plan to try out the MK2 X carriage and extruder on my ebay printer.
Hello, very nice work for the Y-axis mod. Would it be possible to use this parts to extend the Y-axis to 300mm ? maybe the back wood plate should be removes, and the printed brackets in the back changes to include a support for the ends of the vertical struts. and move them 50mm back, and the front 50mm in front, and use a 200x300mm plate and heater that are already on the net. Or do you know of an alternative mod that allows for extending it to 200x300mm for this printer in a similar way ?
Hi, Thanks for the great videos. I've just ordered one of these cheap Prusa i3 Pro B printers as my first intro to 3d printing machine, and was wondering if there is anywhere i can order these upgrade parts from pre-printed, so i can do the upgrade as i build the machine, rather than having to go back and retrofit it after the fact? Thanks Tris
Hiya Steve, i've just ordered my first 3d printer, the one you have modified in this video, the CTC Mk8 Prusa i3 clone. I was curious and wanted to ask, does the printer show unuseable print quality with no modifiations ? And is it good as a frist printer to have ? Thanks for making this video, gave me huge insight into the world of Extruder and print head modifications, as I didnt know that was much of a thing, great video, keep it up :)
Hi, I bought this printer to see how crappy it was out of the box. I have to admit I was surprised by it from day one. Before I did any mods I found it hard to level the build platform as the wood base would bend if the springs were compressed even a little. The first print I did was a geared cube. It took 6 hours to print at 30mm / sec using the supplied PLA. It had a lot of z banding but it printed fine. This printer is a great 3D printing learning tool. It's far from an Ultimaker but if you want to get some hands on experience setting up a printer then, in my opinion, this is well worth the cash. I've been asked which Marlin version I use and what my Slic3r settings are, so that'll be a short video that's coming very soon. happy printing Steve
Thank you very much for the resposns ! Good to know that is does indeed print at an aceptable level for beginners. I was scared that I had just blown my christmas money, anyhow, thanks a lot for uploading this mod, as I will definatly try it, since the materials aren't to costly. I'll be looking out for that video.
steve what bearing did you use in your y - belt tensioner bearings as the ones on ours are plastic cogged bearings. Your help is appreciated. i know you said the ones that were on your printer but ours are different. or is the bearing inside the plastic ?
Hi Paul. My Y and X tensioner bearings are both the same. Each one has 2 bearings. The rough size of a bearing is 12mm dia by 4mm thick and it has a 4mm hole. I printed a plastic sleeve that they fit inside of. It stops the belt riding over the side. Hope this helps
StevenQ-NE-UK yes we've (me and father in law) have follows your parts list in the description to a T but our kits and bits he bought (like toms has done) seem to have plastic gears to drive the belts around. But having the sizes is perfect will find bearing to fit inside the sleeves! Cheers steve
Well put both designs in tinkercard for the y axix tensioner and the bearing holder that you linked separately and they don't seem to fit in each other. also don't want to go ripping sorry the printer with still needing to print on it to find out if there are bearing inside out plastic gears. (Excuse my shite grammar) haha I printed both parts but plastic sleeve for the bearing doesn't spin around freely.
Try rubbing the sides of the bearing guide on some sand paper. You can try rubbing the insides of the Y axis tensioner with sand paper too. You can see they fit together at 14:39
Hi, I found the original CTC extruder would skip steps all the time. This was due to bad temperature readings so I had to change the thermistor. Once I changed it, it printed ok.
Hi! sorry to bother, but can you tell me your slicer configuration for this printer when using PLA? I haven't manage to get a good print out of it, they always get kinda "curvy surfaces" on the sides maybe every 5 layers. thank you
Hi, there are 3 things that I would look at. 1. Are the Z axis threaded rods and the Z motor shafts in the flex connectors correctly. Both should be inserted just past the locking screw. Their should be a gap between them in side the flex connector. 2. Are the Z axis threaded rods wobbling at the top where they go into the wood. They should be a really good fit in the wood. 3. Are the Z axis threaded rods bent? This is more of a problem on the thinner M5 rods. This printer usually uses M8 (or something around that size) rods, but it's still worth checking them. Hope this helps Steve
Hi, the cork helps direct the heat from the PCB into the glass so the glass heats up quicker at the start of a print. It also maintains it's temperature better during a print. I wouldn't go over 110 deg C for ABS as the bottom of the print will get too hot and show signs of melting. Also, I only ever print onto glue stick. It works well at 110 deg C. I would be VERY careful with other products at that temperature.
haha, you don't have a boring voice mate. got my da vinci printing the bits now ... then its onto ebay to get a e3d clone (money's tight, but such is life)
Sick Lad Hi, the original wooden parts would twist and warp while trying to level the glass. As soon as the springs started to compress everything would move. Once this mod was done the whole y axis becomes much more stable and the glass is easy to level and stays level for longer.
the wood warps, if u tighten the y tensioner a lot the motor mount bends and at high speed prints the bet jumps teeth, worse pops off the pulley completely...
Paul C Johnson it stops the whole y axis bending when you level the bed. Originally this printer would need the bed leveling before every print. After this mod I only level it once every 20 prints or so
Can't help but wonder, by the time people go to the trouble of making all these "modifications", to their i3 clones, whether they wouldn't have been better off, to have just purchased an Original Prusa i3, in the first place. No name hot ends, flexible couplers, rather than integrated lead screws on the stepper motors and substandard components.
Hi, I found the Geetech pro i3 B firmware works really well with this printer. So I started with that and then tuned it to this printer. It's not 100% but it's much better then the stock firmware
I don't think you have a dud. When I first started 3D printing I could not get my computer to talk to the printer at all. I had to allow "unsigned drivers" in Windows. Once I did that it connected fine. You could be seeing the same thing.
i am just happy i got about 100 quid off because it had printed like 2 items (12m of filament ) Think of it as a i3 made of sheet metal. it comes with a Mk10 but it needs an E3D IMO. i got it to replace a CTC i got for my 30th ( now sent back for a refund ) the CTC is a joke if it came with something decent like an MK10 it would be fine as the construction itself is good.
I can alludar am new to 3d printers my English is not very good I apologize for that I have a printer of this model and delete the firware not and could calibrate the printer in an optimum way and can not find how to calibrate the engines without I print with the default DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {79.0123, 79.0123, 2560, 94.6000 parts} // default steps per unit for Ultimaker #define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {400, 400, 2, 45} // (mm / sec) DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION} {5000,5000,50,5000
Hi. I have the following setup #define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {80,80,2560,100} #define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {400, 400, 2, 45} #define DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION {5000,5000,50,5000}
I have this printer. I bought it a couple of years ago and, it was problematic from day one. I recently got an Creality Ender 2 so, I used that to print the parts for this mod. I replaced the Y-axis, by using this excellent tutorial video. I also replaced the extruder mechanism with one that I found on Thingiverse. I didn't replace the hot-end but, I may do that in the future.
I got it all put together today, and used your Slic3r settings to slice the filament guide that you use on yours. I leveled the bed and started the print... it printed very well, on the first go! 😎 It used to to take me 5 or 6 tries to even get the first layer to go down properly.
I really want to thank you for sharing the mods, and the settings that you use for this printer. Now I have two decent printers.
Just finished the mod, although I underestimated my board size 210mm was to small need 220mm, MY fault, so I completed the mod with the wood bed. Very pleased with the result and a new aluminium bed ordered to complete.Thanks Steve
I did the y axis mod, and my printer works better, thanks. I printed a mirror image of the Y axis motor bracket and screwed it to the back of the motor (needs some 40 mm M3 bolts to pass through the motor), seemed a better way to hold the motor square.
David Pilling nice one. I've seen some people jam a spacer behind the y motor to stop it twisting. Might try fitting one
Well done pal nice video nice to see someone covering things properly in English so I can understand step by step how to do stuff
glad you like it. I do worry that I go on too much
I agree with Ian. I've got a Belfast accent. It's great to hear someone with a "local accent" explain things without all the transatlantic razzamatazz.Keep up the great work, Steve.Alan.
Dziękuję za twoją wiedzę.
Hi mate. Great video. At 12:00 minutes, when you're fitting the smooth rods over the end pieces with the tie-wraps, would it be of any benefit to have the tie-wraps loose until the rods are seated and then tighten them up?Cheers......Alan.
Alan _B Yes, mine were tight as I'd already built and tested the build before making the video
Ah. A fair point. But definitely something for me to keep in mind for when I apply this mod to my own printer.
BTW, where can I get the files for the parts that need printed. Did you download them or model them yourself?
Alan.
Alan _B Links to the files and everything else you need is listed in the video description
Excellent!! I'll deffo be doing this mod, very well explained! Thank you Steve!
Good luck with it. I'm on with changing the wooden frame for a 6mm thick Aluminium one. I don't think it will make much difference but who knows.
That'll be an interesting mod. Will you be doing a video on it?
I'll do a short video on it once it's done. There's a lot to print to get it swapped but all the parts are out there. The wiring and board mounting are the biggest issue really.
Brilliant! looking forward to seeing the video! I'm hoping my Prusa I3 will arrive tomorrow!
This is a great video so thanks for sharing. Why not add the cable ties after the smooth rods are installed? Have you thought about going to a aluminum bed so you can set up induction bed leveling?
Bill Karoly Hi. I plan on adding the prusa mk2 extruder with z probe once I find an aluminium bed
Take a look at this one. www.aliexpress.com/item/Latest-and-Top-quantity-reprap-MK3-Aluminium-heatbed-220-220mm-heat-bed/32672517626.html?spm=2114.13010308.0.0.ePSfAT
Have you watched Thomas Sanladerer's Prusa i3 mk2 build? Your upgrade is similar to the i3. I kind of want to do the same but with a 200 x 300 bed.
Hi Bill, I have been following Toms "MK2 Clone live streams" I'm inspired to make a super cheap PLA only 300mm cube i3 thing out of mdf. I also plan to try out the MK2 X carriage and extruder on my ebay printer.
Have you seen the itopie? Use that frame idea.
Great video and very well explained throughout.
Thanks Steve
Thanks. Glad you like it :)
Hello, very nice work for the Y-axis mod. Would it be possible to use this parts to extend the Y-axis to 300mm ? maybe the back wood plate should be removes, and the printed brackets in the back changes to include a support for the ends of the vertical struts. and move them 50mm back, and the front 50mm in front, and use a 200x300mm plate and heater that are already on the net. Or do you know of an alternative mod that allows for extending it to 200x300mm for this printer in a similar way ?
Great video Steve, Just ordered the latest CTC Prusa I3, will be doing your mods.
Hi, Thanks for the great videos. I've just ordered one of these cheap Prusa i3 Pro B printers as my first intro to 3d printing machine, and was wondering if there is anywhere i can order these upgrade parts from pre-printed, so i can do the upgrade as i build the machine, rather than having to go back and retrofit it after the fact? Thanks Tris
Hi, if you PM me through TH-cam I'll give you some options :)
Ps love that abs colour I have exact same and prints come out bang on with it
Yeah it's a great colour and the prints are very accurate
Hiya Steve, i've just ordered my first 3d printer, the one you have modified in this video, the CTC Mk8 Prusa i3 clone. I was curious and wanted to ask, does the printer show unuseable print quality with no modifiations ? And is it good as a frist printer to have ? Thanks for making this video, gave me huge insight into the world of Extruder and print head modifications, as I didnt know that was much of a thing, great video, keep it up :)
Hi, I bought this printer to see how crappy it was out of the box. I have to admit I was surprised by it from day one. Before I did any mods I found it hard to level the build platform as the wood base would bend if the springs were compressed even a little. The first print I did was a geared cube. It took 6 hours to print at 30mm / sec using the supplied PLA. It had a lot of z banding but it printed fine. This printer is a great 3D printing learning tool. It's far from an Ultimaker but if you want to get some hands on experience setting up a printer then, in my opinion, this is well worth the cash. I've been asked which Marlin version I use and what my Slic3r settings are, so that'll be a short video that's coming very soon.
happy printing
Steve
Thank you very much for the resposns ! Good to know that is does indeed print at an aceptable level for beginners. I was scared that I had just blown my christmas money, anyhow, thanks a lot for uploading this mod, as I will definatly try it, since the materials aren't to costly. I'll be looking out for that video.
steve what bearing did you use in your y - belt tensioner bearings as the ones on ours are plastic cogged bearings. Your help is appreciated. i know you said the ones that were on your printer but ours are different. or is the bearing inside the plastic ?
Hi Paul. My Y and X tensioner bearings are both the same. Each one has 2 bearings. The rough size of a bearing is 12mm dia by 4mm thick and it has a 4mm hole. I printed a plastic sleeve that they fit inside of. It stops the belt riding over the side. Hope this helps
StevenQ-NE-UK yes we've (me and father in law) have follows your parts list in the description to a T but our kits and bits he bought (like toms has done) seem to have plastic gears to drive the belts around. But having the sizes is perfect will find bearing to fit inside the sleeves! Cheers steve
Let me know how you get on :)
Well put both designs in tinkercard for the y axix tensioner and the bearing holder that you linked separately and they don't seem to fit in each other. also don't want to go ripping sorry the printer with still needing to print on it to find out if there are bearing inside out plastic gears. (Excuse my shite grammar) haha I printed both parts but plastic sleeve for the bearing doesn't spin around freely.
Try rubbing the sides of the bearing guide on some sand paper. You can try rubbing the insides of the Y axis tensioner with sand paper too. You can see they fit together at 14:39
did you have any extruder issues with this printer? if so how did you fix it? thanks for your time!
Hi, I found the original CTC extruder would skip steps all the time. This was due to bad temperature readings so I had to change the thermistor. Once I changed it, it printed ok.
Hi! sorry to bother, but can you tell me your slicer configuration for this printer when using PLA? I haven't manage to get a good print out of it, they always get kinda "curvy surfaces" on the sides maybe every 5 layers. thank you
Hi, do the "curvy" surfaces match the Z Axis threaded rods? If so then you may need to adjust the Z Axis a little.
yes actually!, do you know what should i adjust?
Hi,
there are 3 things that I would look at.
1. Are the Z axis threaded rods and the Z motor shafts in the flex connectors correctly. Both should be inserted just past the locking screw. Their should be a gap between them in side the flex connector.
2. Are the Z axis threaded rods wobbling at the top where they go into the wood. They should be a really good fit in the wood.
3. Are the Z axis threaded rods bent? This is more of a problem on the thinner M5 rods. This printer usually uses M8 (or something around that size) rods, but it's still worth checking them.
Hope this helps
Steve
Hello, great vid
Why the cork and what temperature is safe?
Hi, the cork helps direct the heat from the PCB into the glass so the glass heats up quicker at the start of a print.
It also maintains it's temperature better during a print.
I wouldn't go over 110 deg C for ABS as the bottom of the print will get too hot and show signs of melting.
Also, I only ever print onto glue stick. It works well at 110 deg C.
I would be VERY careful with other products at that temperature.
Epic!!!
Thanks, hope my voice didn't bore you too much.
haha, you don't have a boring voice mate.
got my da vinci printing the bits now ... then its onto ebay to get a e3d clone (money's tight, but such is life)
I get an "Error 404" when trying to access the github link. Can you devise the link, please? Thanks
try going to www.github.com and searching prusa-i3-hephestos. The files are in the stl folder
Whats the benefit? Seem like alot of work for no real result? Would love to know why
Sick Lad Hi, the original wooden parts would twist and warp while trying to level the glass. As soon as the springs started to compress everything would move. Once this mod was done the whole y axis becomes much more stable and the glass is easy to level and stays level for longer.
My version is all arcrylic and stiff enough although it doesent like uneven surfaces, So they must of update them
Ah, when I picked mine up the acrylic version was quite a bit more expensive, hence the mod
the wood warps, if u tighten the y tensioner a lot the motor mount bends and at high speed prints the bet jumps teeth, worse pops off the pulley completely...
What is the point of this change?
Paul C Johnson it stops the whole y axis bending when you level the bed. Originally this printer would need the bed leveling before every print. After this mod I only level it once every 20 prints or so
Can't help but wonder, by the time people go to the trouble of making all these "modifications", to their i3 clones, whether they wouldn't have been better off, to have just purchased an Original Prusa i3, in the first place.
No name hot ends, flexible couplers, rather than integrated lead screws on the stepper motors and substandard components.
Hey how did you update the firmware?
Hi, I found the Geetech pro i3 B firmware works really well with this printer. So I started with that and then tuned it to this printer. It's not 100% but it's much better then the stock firmware
StevenQ-NE-UK I have trouble connecting it to the computer I have to do everything from the sd card
Ah, the only way to change the firmware I know of is to use the Arduino software which requires a computer to be connected.
StevenQ-NE-UK do you think I have a dud? Tried to connect it to the arduino software and nothing.
I don't think you have a dud. When I first started 3D printing I could not get my computer to talk to the printer at all. I had to allow "unsigned drivers" in Windows. Once I did that it connected fine. You could be seeing the same thing.
A very cool mod :) but i will stick with my 200 quid 2nd hand wanhao i3 2.0 that has only run 12m of filament when i got it .
Nice, I've seen those. The frame is all metal right? The wood is the big problem with this ebay printer.
i am just happy i got about 100 quid off because it had printed like 2 items (12m of filament )
Think of it as a i3 made of sheet metal. it comes with a Mk10 but it needs an E3D IMO.
i got it to replace a CTC i got for my 30th ( now sent back for a refund )
the CTC is a joke if it came with something decent like an MK10 it would be fine as the construction itself is good.
I can alludar am new to 3d printers my English is not very good I apologize for that I have a printer of this model and delete the firware not and could calibrate the printer in an optimum way and can not find how to calibrate the engines without I print with the default DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {79.0123, 79.0123, 2560, 94.6000 parts} // default steps per unit for Ultimaker
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {400, 400, 2, 45} // (mm / sec)
DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION} {5000,5000,50,5000
Hi. I have the following setup
#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {80,80,2560,100}
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {400, 400, 2, 45}
#define DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION {5000,5000,50,5000}
ok thanks served me