So the Creality Ender 5 is/was my first and only 3D printer. Over the years, as is tradition with Creality products, you replace parts and install upgrades here and there.

In the latest iteration only the frame is original. Everything else has been replaced.

Some of the highlights (screw AI for ruining that word)

-Cartesian -> CoreXY, inspired by the MercuryOne project.

-X strut replaced with two 10mm steel rods. The print head is in between the rods so that the reachable area can be increased.

-Redesigned toolhead allowing for a Phaetus Rapido UHF and Orbiter 1.5 or 2.0 extruder, as well as a BLTouch bed sensor.

-New bed, 314x314mm instead of 235x235mm.

-The bed motion system is placed outside the frame instead of inside. The bed will be raised to just below the top of the frame. The toolhead can freely move over the frame, the fan ducts will not hit the frame but the nozzle will.

-Oversized rails on the Y axis, 24mm rails of 530mm length. I got these from discarded lab equipment at my old job. They allow the toolhead to go over the frame bounds and allow the nozzle to reach the whole inside of the frame.

I now have a 260x310 usable print area, up from 220x220 with the stock unit. There is still room to improve and I believe 314x314 is also possible.

The FreeCAD design file is available here: https://www.printables.com/model/1867046-ender-5-radical-redesign

  • mojofrododojo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    16 days ago

    I have to figure out if the thermistor is actually damaged from a botched hot end job or if I’m just too fuckin stupid to hook it up right.

    ironically the cad side is mostly easy (been using autocad since 1993 and solidworks/tinycad/freecad off and on)… the design stuff isn’t the hard part, it’s the electronics side that challenges me. started with a stock cr10, upgraded the bed heater, ran it mostly off usb/octo pi for years… but when I tried to upgrade the hot end for tpu and other stuff things went sideways.

    • Rolivers@discuss.tchncs.deOPEnglish
      2·
      16 days ago

      A thermistor is just a resistor that changes resistance based on temperature. All you need to do is hook up a multimeter and wiggle the cable. If the resistance is consistent then it’s fine physically.

      Most hotends have an NTC 10k so at 25 degrees C the resistance is 10K ohms. The higher the temperature the lower the resistance will be.

      If you have a different type it will need to be configured in your firmware as well.