GeeeTech LCD bracket for Printrbot Play by TychoSchenkeveld

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Bracket for a cheap (Chinese) Geeetech Ramps 1.4 LCD controller to mount it on the Printrbot Play (http://www.geeetech.com/reprap-ramps-v14-smart-2004-lcd-controller-with-adapter-p-615.html)
Please note there is also an official Printrbot LCD controller which will no doubt fit better. But printrbot's shipping is so expensive to Europe so it was a bit cost-prohibitive. And it looks like it's out of stock at the moment.
I mounted it on the right-hand side panel because it's easy to route the cable from there (the printrboard is at the bottom of this panel). I usually have it on a table so the 45 degree angle gives me a good view of the LCD. I briefly considered putting it at the front below the print bed but the bed would obstruct the view when it moved. This way isn't really ideal either because the controller is wider than the printrbot play is deep, but it does the job and the existing screwholes make for easy and solid mounting.
The support on the right-hand side is bigger to provide enough support for pressing on the rotary controller. Also, the left-hand side has a lot more sticking out at the back so I couldn't do the same there.
This prints fine on the printrbot play. Mount it with 4 M3 bolts - you'll need longer ones than the ones provided with the printer so you will need to replace the factory ones. I used 10mm long ones, they were slightly too long (but don't cause a problem).
The display itself I mounted with the same bolts and 4 nylon M3 locknuts. Holes in the brackets are big enough to fit.
I did get some warping on this design (even though it was printed in PLA), I don't have the optional heatbed so that's probably why. There's some stress on the controller board due to this but it doesn't seem to cause a problem.
You WILL need to make a custom cable for this! Here's how to wire it.
Printrboard EXP2 Side LCD Side
--------------------- --------
Pin 1 (GND) EXP1 - Pin 9
Pin 2 (5V) EXP1 - Pin 10
Pin 3 - Not Connected -
Pin 4 - Not Connected -
Pin 5 (D7) EXP1 - Pin 8
Pin 6 (D6) EXP1 - Pin 7
Pin 7 (D5) EXP1 - Pin 6
Pin 8 (D4) EXP1 - Pin 5
Pin 9 - Not Connected -
Pin 10 (E) EXP1 - Pin 3
Pin 11 (RS) EXP1 - Pin 4
Pin 12 (ROT_A) EXP2 - Pin 5
Pin 13 (ROT_B) EXP2 - Pin 3
Pin 14 (ROT_SW) EXP1 - Pin 2
Some people have done this with a custom board - I just wired the wires accordingly to IDC connectors and crimped them. No active parts or splits needed so why bother with more.
The SD card reader on the LCD controller doesn't work, but it doesn't matter as you can use the microSD slot on the printrbot itself. Nor does the buzzer (at least I've never heard it do anything).
Enjoy and just send me a message here if you have any problems.
PS Make sure you rotate them on their side with the little side tab lowest to the bed, that way you will only need support for the side tab for approx. 1cm which is not a lot. Printed fine like that here.
There's a few little flaws in it, some tiny strip gaps that didn't quite match up but because they're so close they link up fine anyway in the actual print. This is because 123D Design doesn't allow sketches to snap together if they're in different planes (or at least I haven't figured out how to do that yet!). But it worked fine like this and suited the purpose so I left it like this.
Took about 2x 1 hour to print. Gap left for the SD card reader on the back (slightly too large because on my first go around it was slightly too narrow so I overdid it a bit as I didn't want to waste another hour's print time :) ).