Replicator 2 Mightyboard

[John Barkan]

So, long story short, I fried my motherboard after doing some tinkering. Wondering if I'm stuck dealing with makerbot support or is there a replacement board I can use? I would like to install sailfish and have the same functionality as the OEM board. I'm pretty sure I'll have to deal with makerbot, but any advice that can save me from that is appreciated.

[Ryan Carlyle]

You can buy a clone Mightyboard (RevE) from a number of vendors. MBot and FlashForge come to mind. But they are not drop-in replacements for your Rep2 board. Some "minor" modification is required. How comfortable are you with basic soldering and stuff?

[John Barkan]

Not great, I have a Hakko soldering station and a Panavise with circuit board holder, if its minor I would probably be ok. It looks like the Mbot board is $169, so not the end of the world if I screw it up. Any good resources that explain what needs to be modified? Thanks for the help Ryan.

[Ryan Carlyle]

If you get an MBot board, you need a new power supply to provide 5v (or create a regulator sub-board to do it). This is extra work/cost but I have heard they're shipping with 2560 chips now, which is nice if you want to play around with extra Sailfish features.

FlashForge USA sells them with the normal 1280 processor for $165 as the Creator model, or $185 for the Creator X model if you want the nozzle blower fan FET pre-installed. The FET is kind of a pain to install so it's worth the $20 if you're not super confident soldering SMD components.

I think the biggest compatibility issue is the LCD screen 3.3v leg. I forget the exact details, but if you mix the MBI RevH/RevG board LCD screen with the FF board (or vice versa?) it will cause a nasty short due to ribbon cable pin mismatch. The simplest solution is to get a new LCD panel and button board to match the new Mightyboard. But I don't know how well that will fit the Rep2 case.

[John Barkan]

Hmm, it might be quicker to go through makerbot support, I cant seem to find much info out there.

[Ryan Carlyle]

Downside is cost. A replacement from MBI is, eh, something like $350? Unless you can get it under warranty. 

There are people around the boards (like Jetguy) who can tell you exactly what you need to do to use a clone board. I just haven't done it. 

[John Barkan]

I looked for some posts of users that have tried it before, couldn't find anything. It looks like the connectors for the stepper motors need to be changed. It's hard to tell what else is needed because I can't find a schematic for the Rev H mightyboard. If I knew what it would take I'd probably give it a try. I'll keep looking for a day or two before making a decision on what to do. I appreciate you taking the time to help out.

[Jetguy]

Well, sorry for coming in late but you have your answer.

There is NO schematics for the Replicator 2/2X rev G or Rev H boards.

The connectors are totally different between boards and further, there were both male and female power input connectors at some point in the changes.

The LCD/SD/Button interface is completely incompatible with Rev E mainboard and will damage the mainboard if you plug it in.

Basically, to swap, you would have to replace EVERY stepper wire harness, the mainboard, the LCD button board, and the LCD itself.

Quite frankly, even with skills, time and parts, not exactly easy or cheap.

Your only support option is MakerBot or roll your own. Given all the recent comments and forum shutdown, I wish you best of luck trying to get that board replaced by them.

I'm not trying to be rude about it but give fair warning to anyone thinking of buying a MakerBot or modifying a used one.

You are likely to be SOL very soon given the "New" MakerBot. Quite frankly, I've abandoned all hope for the company.

They have one mission right now, and that is to sucker as many folks as they can into buying a 5th gen and keeping it past the 14 day return period.

They don't care about anything else- how much more of a hint than shutting down the google group do you need?

On Sunday, August 17, 2014 10:33:02 PM UTC-4, John Barkan wrote:

[John Barkan]

Yeah, that's the conclusion I was coming to, I was hoping for an easy out. It took Makerbot support 2 weeks to reply to my request about a clogged nozzle, luckily I found my answer in the operators group. The strong community is why I bought a Makerbot in the first place. Honestly, I think the corporate turn MB has taken could succeed if they sold products that actually work. Unfortunately they sell a machine that starts to act up after a few 10's of hours of printing, requiring support, maintenance and upgrades only available from users. I can't imagine why they would alienate that group. Anyway, I guess I'll see where I get with Makerbot support.

[John Barkan]

Hey Carl, what board did you use? There seems to be so many variables that it makes trying to find the right parts difficult. It looks like it would take a board, lcd screen, sd card reader, input buttons, and connectors to make it work. I would also have to modify the enclosure if the lcd, buttons and sd card reader don't fit.

[John Barkan]

Thanks for the write up Carl, I'm tempted to try it. I'd have to decide if I wanted to replace the lcd or risk it. I'll wait to hear back from Makerbot support to see what makes sense.

[John Barkan]

Well, I called Makerbot support on Monday and they said the Mightyboard is $315, but they would replace it under warranty. I received the board today, back to printing.