Anet A6 x carriage upgrade - e3d, cube type sensor mount, cable chain + mounts, plus configuration file for skynet by gadget_man

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

see the auto-levelling in action, short video of my printer with all my various mods (so far!) - https://youtu.be/Wc_7ZG5BG_k
THIS IS AN ONGOING THING AND I AM STILL TWEAKING IT, just incase thingverse hasn't already shown that its a work in progress.
New to this and this is my 1st attempt at modifying http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2171816 anet a6 x carriage. I have the cube shape type inductive sensor for auto levelling and need a way of mounting it without gluing something on as an after-thought.
I have added a mount block so the sensor can screw to the front of the carriage as you look at the printer.
I have also created a flat area with a pair of screw holes on the top front of the carriage so that a cable chain can be anchored. Idea being that the cable chain comes off from the carriage to the right and sweeps up and back along to the left z axis block/assembly.
Tried printing this out last night only to get up this morning to a failed print euth an error message about thermal runaway. Upon closer inspection ive found that the connector on the heated bed has basically fried itself! Hace seen others warn about this but until now i hadnt got around to soldering the wires directly to the bed! ANET A6 USERD BE WARNED....THIS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A FIRE. SOLDER THE BED WIRES DIRECTLY TO THE BED AND AVOID THE RISK!
Attempting the print again this evening, will update tomorrow.
I shall also try and include a configuration file once I have edited it and calibrated it to suit.
6th may -
I have now printed the carriage successfully and have gone through the procedure of striping down my A6 and modifying it to this e3d carriage etc. I finally have it up and running, but the sensor is a little too close to the bed - with it all the way up on the slots the sensor is sat barely 1mm above the bed, so although it does clear, I'd rather it had a touch more clearance, so will edit the design when I get a chance.
The 2mm screw holes also need to be enlarged to 2.5mm so that 3mm screws can screw straight in, as they are at the moment I have had to use a thread tap to thread the holes for the 3mm screws
as for functionality, yes it works, but I need to edit the screw hole placement for the sensor mount. this I will try and do tonight, along with releasing the updated config file......although I need to get the fine tuning sorted so that I'm happy with it, as at the moment the 1st layer looks like crap and isn't quite right - more config tweaking needed!
I have also realised that I forgot to include the extended fan duct that is needed for this carriage.......the standard length duct is too high and blows onto the side of the heater block.
7th may, 1am - have just finished creating a cable chain mount bracket for the x axis, it mounts onto the x axis stepper motor, going to set it printing now and see how it turns out before I put up the stl file, have uploaded a couple of screen grabs of it for now to give you an idea of how its intended to go together.
7th may:
I have now finished designing the cable chain motor bracket after several variations and edits.
For the x motor cable chain mount you will need to replace the existing m3 x 12mm screws that secure the motor with m3 x 16mm screws.
The bracket mounts so that it is sandwiched between the motor and the acrylic frame, this means that you will also need to move the belt pulley further out on the motor shaft by approximately 3mm so that it lines up with the x axis belt.
For mounting the ladder part to the bracket you will need:
m3 x 6mm (for the interlocking arm on the front of the bracket)
m3 x 8mm (for the upper of the 2 flange holes, this leaves just enough to get a nut on the inside)
m3 x 10mm or 12mm (for the lower flange hole, this screw just tightly threads into the bracket)
All the above screws should be a tight fit in the parts, so you could assemble them without putting nuts on the screws as they should get enough bite on the plastic, but I have put nuts on just to be sure they don't come loose.
I have also edited the carriage so that the cable chain anchor point is now flush with the top of the carriage (it was siting slightly low before) and I have also edited the screw holes for the sensor and moved them up a couple of mm, as well as created some slots for nuts to be inserted, as after a couple of days use, the prototype carriage I printed is now a bit loose on the sensor screws and the print has started to crack between layers very slightly. I have also added a piece on the bottom for a bit of led strip to illuminate the nozzle. have uploaded the latest version of the carriage, cable chain bracket and ladder piece, but my print of the latest carriage version is still ongoing, will update when its done and been fitted.
I have also uploaded my configuration.h file for any that want it, but just remember to calibrate the z offset for your sensor, due to manufacturing, nozzle/hotend, or assembly differences/variations, or just the height you attach the sensor to the carriage it is unlikely that the calibration for the z offset on my printer will also work for yours. if you dont know how to adjust the offset you can either follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcGFLwj0pnA
or you can adjust the offset on the printer itself - control>motion>z offset
9TH MAY:
Realised that when i created the cavities/slots for nuts i forgot to enlarge the screw holes to 3mm, which has now been done, and the file updated. Haven't yet had a chance to test the latest version of the carriage as the print went proper tits up the other night....it warped badly, lifting off the bed by quite a bit, but when i noticed it was starting to lift I tried in vain to dab superglue around the print where it met the bed in order to try and stop it lifting further.....which worked. But then i left it overnight to continue printing and when i came back to it in the morning it had delaminated between layers in at least 5 places! Guess I'll scrap that 1 again then! attempting to print again tonight with different roll of abs and at a higher temp, and as an extra measure Ive even given the bed a coat of abs juice as well! fingers crossed!
I have also included the cable chain files i used to print the chain as i realised i had forgotten all about including them, but can not remember where i got them in order to reference them