Microswiss Direct-Drive Mosquito Mount and Shroud 2 by susop

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This design was created because I bought a micro-swiss direct drive and later upgraded my hot end to a Slice mosquito. I didn't want to throw out my microswiss for a bondtech extruder motor, so I made this design. This new version features two 5015 part cooling fans, and re-uses the stock filament runout sensor for a no-compromises CR-10S modification. For hardware, I designed the shroud around several kits of metric internal-wrenching hex-headed metric screws I already had on-hand. If you are starting from scratch, I counted-up the following:
18 square M3 nuts
1ea 30mm M3 screw
8ea 20mm M3 screw
3ea 16mm M3 screws
2ea 9mm-10mm M3 screws
8ea 8mm M3 screw
2ea stock filament sensor housing screws (the bevel-headed ones)
2ea 6mm M2.5 Screws (optional, but may increase rigidity. The included mosquito fan screws will work if you purchased the mosquito with a fan)
2ea M3 8mm stock curve-headed hot end cage mount screws
2ea stock spool adapter screws
2ea M5 20mm screws
2ea M5 t-slot nuts
E3D extruder mount adapter for Slice Mosquito
Slice Mosquito hot end sock (a 24v nozzle heater will not be able to overcome the power of the 5015 fans)
Spare bowden tube
If you're upgrading from a CR-10 with no filament sensor, you can just buy a spare X-axis endstop switch and it'll work, along with 2ea M3 screws of any reasonable size.
Zipties
For printing, delete all supports for the square M3 nut gaps. If you forget, it'll take forever to clean out. I was not able to delete the need for all supports, so use your best judgement. The "Bottom" file is a bit slanted. This is because my MicroSwiss bracket has a slant to it. Without adjusting for this slant, my shroud kept hitting the bed clips or the bed heater strain relief.
For assembly, the exploded view pictures should get you 99% of the way there. I ended up sanding both top and bottom of the Filament Switch Pivot to ensure it can freely pivot without being pinched. The center sleeve is slightly taller than the pivot, but I still found the pivot would bind initially. I also had to remove some material from the slice E3D adapter to allow the mount hardware to pass through. The best way to do this is to mount the adapter onto the heatsink, then pre-install the hot end by sandwiching it in-between the Right body and the E3D rear mount, then drill through the mount holes to ream the adapter until you see two groves cut into it. Go slow or you'll likely cut more plastic than metal. Looking through the mosquito mount holes, they should be full circles and unobstructed. For those who like to have adventures when assembling Ikea furniture, have fun and good luck! For everybody else, below are the recommended assembly steps:
Test-mount mosquito with just the Rear E3D Mount block and two screws. This is to approximate the length of bowden tube. Do a rough size estimation, remove hot end, insert the cut bowden tube, re-affix the assembly onto the direct drive mechanism with the bowden fed into the hole, then trim excess in an upside-down "V" shape to match the two extruder gears. Remove the hot end again, the slightly ream out the entrance to the bowden tube to make it less likely the filament will hang up on the lip of the tube as it is fed by the extruder gears. Be careful not to allow debris from the bowden tube to enter into tube itself and down into the nozzle.
Remove the extruder motor, then pre-position the backplate and install square nuts into the backplate. Reinstall all extruder motor hardware except the bottom left screw.
Insert nozzle heater and thermistor onto the heat block, then install the sock.
Insert the Mosquito assembly into the Right body and sandwich it with the Rear E3D mount. (Optional) install the Mosquito fan mount screws in the lower mount holes (smaller than the main mount screws for the E3D mount). This is optional because the main mount method is to sandwich the E3D mount. The mosquito fan mount screws may provide extra rigidity as a secondary means of connecting the heatsink with the printed shroud.
Install the assembly onto the Microswiss Direct Drive. Ensure all hardware mounting the assembly to the direct drive remains loose.
Pre-route all wiring as-necessary, and install all square nuts on the assembly so far (except the top right mount nut for the 40mm fan). Install the left body in a way that ensures the wiring stays within the channel and is not pinched.
Fully tighten all mount hardware between the assembly and the direct drive. Then insert the top right mount nut for the 40mm fan.
Install both 5015 fans and route wiring accordingly. The front screws for the fans cannot be installed yet. The Left Fan Mount Spacer is shaped like a teardrop to act like a handle for installation. It can be oriented either up or down.
Install the hot end 40mm fan and shroud. Insert the square nuts and install the final two 5015 mount screws
Install the "Bottom" part cooling fan plate.
(optional) Install the Filament Switch Armature, Filament Switch, Filament Switch Center Sleeve, Filament Switch Pivot, Filament Switch Cover, and Spool Adapter (to the top of the frame). All hardware can be tightly installed except the Filament Switch Pivot/Sleeve thru-pin. The Filament Center Sleeve and Pivot will be mounted with a thru-bolt and square nut. The square nut will ride in a channel that allows for left/right adjustment. The spool adapter will align your spool in a straight line similar to a Prusa, and allow full print volume up to 400mm Z-axis.
Snug the thru-bolt and check for Filament Switch Pivot freedom of movement. If it doesn't move freely, remove it and sand the top and bottom again. Reinstall and repeat until tightening the thru-bolt does not bind the Filament Switch Pivot.
With the Filament Switch thru-bolt loose, load filament until it is just past the gears. Slide the Filament Switch Pivot until it just barely actuates the filament switch. Tighten the thru-pin, and check to make sure the filament switch actuates the switch when loaded, and de-actuates the switch when unloaded. This may take a few tries to get perfect. If your machine doesn't tell you when the switch is actuated or not, use a multimeter or continuity light to indicate actuation.
Test a few prints. To test filament switch actuation, clip the filament during a print. Once it stops, load new filament and resume print. After the print is finished, look for skin artifacting and tighten X-Axis belt as-needed. After 25 printing hours, re-tighten all hardware. Re-tighten again after 100 printing hours. This re-torques the printed "Right" body around the E3D adapter as the shroud relaxes and better conforms to the shape of the metal E3D Adapter.
For machine settings, I use X-min -44, X-max 38.5, Y-min -21.2, Y-max 24, Gantry Height 35mm.
I don't plan on any future updates to this design, but if you find you cannot get the filament runout switch rigging just-right, submit a comment and I'll alter the throw of the armature to actuate the switch more aggressively. I didn't have problems with mine, so I'm hoping the current version works for everybody.