Suggestions on easy & effective improvements to Rep2

[Spencer Wright]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a list of aftermarket improvements that a tinkerer (me) can add to a Rep2 in order to improve print quality. I'm open to any suggestions! Also if anyone has general thoughts about the most common failures with the Rep2, I'd love to hear those too!

thanks,

Spencer Wright

Brooklyn

(PS if anyone's got thoughts and is in NYC, coffee/beer is on me - seriously!)

[Michael Goyette]

I recently took possession of a rep2x and I am looking for the same advice.  I have barely begun to print and I noticed the bed arms appear to be tilting inward, so as I started browsing the forums I started to make a list of upgrades.  The first is a set of Bottleworks aluminum arm upgrades...which are on order.

Curious what should be next - while I am not feeling confident in pulling everything apart, I certainly want to make sure I get the best printing and logevity out of my rep2x - as it seems a lot of people are unhappy with the life of it. 

Hoping i didn't make a huge mistake in getting the 2x.

thanks for any thoughts.

[Kyle Huebner]

Hi,

Here is another thread which asks about which one upgrade is the most useful, thought you could find some good upgrades in there: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/makerbot/H0YTWrVvp7c. For me personally, the extruder upgrade has significantly improved the quality and up-time of my Rep 2 (I got mine from makerbot, but there are parts on thiniverse that could work if you can print them), but there may be slight differences depending on what you are printing and the slight differences in the machine, but I feel like this one upgrade has kept my machine running much better than before.

[Jay]

I have both....

As far as "needed" ?

1. Extruder upgrade....some of the newest R2's already have it installed but if you don't that's #1

2. X cable needs to have the roll pin removed. You can let them dangle and use some of the 3/8" black corrugated wire loom covering (25 feet is like $6 at Harbor freight

That's what's needed for you to run parts fairly reliably. 

Extra to improve the machine...

Carls Alu-Carriage

Bradley (bottleworks) aluminum arms

My R2 with aluminum arms and carriage showing

My R2X with carriage (in this pic it didn't have the arms yet but they're on there now)

Then there's the extra extra parts :)

Carls Aluminum X-ends

Dheadrick's 3in1 extruder upgrade (and there's someone else making there too now)

On my R2 I have done all but the 3in1 upgrade but added phenolic build tray...(very flat and sturdy)

Here's my phenolic plate on my R2 and a Nylon part I printed on it...for PLA I cover it with the blu-tape sheets...works like a champ...

One of the BEST upgrades I did was switch my R2 to Mk7 nozzles...I have had no jams or clogs since I did this..>!!!!!< (and you can 10 nozzles for $30 on ebay)......

I just got Carls heater block and new T-blocks for the R2X...so i will soone be purring that on and it will allow me to use the MK7 nozzles instead of the MK8...

and...for the 2X I suggest the .005" thick Kapton from McMaster.com...VERY heavy duty...others have tried this and like how well it holds up...

I'm not saying this is the be all end all..but it works great on my R2...I have printed almost 1000 hours on mine and it just prints and prints and prints...

For example almost 6 foot long Submarine I made on my R2

and 8 hour dualstrusion...notice I did it before they improved add wipe areas...which 'should' make it easier now..but then it was hard to do...

CHEERS!

Jay

[Jay]

OMG! Spell check is horrible on this new W8.1 tablet!!

Jay 

[Michael Goyette]

very helpful!
I have already ordered the bottlework aluminum arms and dheadricks 3in1.   I have no previous experience using or even seeing a 3-d printer work - I just got one, and I haven't been having any problems (that I can tell) I have made a few cosplay replicas for some folks and we were both happy with the output.

We will see what the new parts help improve.

[Robo]

While all the upgrades mentioned will improve the reliability of your printer and yield better results, be sure that you are getting enough experience printing in the meantime so you get an idea of what's what. There are so many variables involved in getting a good print that you don't want to confuse things even further with questions about the new thing you just installed. And I would recommend that you only install one at a time and get used to how that affects the system before you move on to the next.

[Joseph Chiu]

Yeah, one of the best way to upgrade the printer is to upgrade the operator.  You learn a lot from watching the entire print start to finish.  My wife has more than once remarked that she has found me in the same place staring into the printer over a long (hours) span of time.  Someone else (Jay?) said that he looked like a cat following the canary in the cage!  :)

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[Jay]

AHAHAH....Yeah that was me Joseph!

My wife actually said "...you look like the cat watching the goldfish bowl..." but same difference...

Cheers...

Jay

[Ken Hecker]

Michael, I would repeat what Carl told me, that you should use your MakerBot for say a month before you start replacing things.  I have installed Bottlework's aluminum arms and Carl's alu carriage dual, and have David's 3in1 on order.  When the 3in1 (which I am using the printed version of on my right extruder, and it works very well) arrives, I'll install them on my 2X, and Carl's cooling block dual as well. 

There is something about these upgrades that seem to make the printer run better.  Maybe just the idea of change, and maybe they do help tighten things up a bit.

Ken

[Ken Hecker]

Joseph, now that you've shown me how to generate and even edit the .gcode, I find myself watching a print, and relating to what is on the computer screen.  I think it is a good part of the learning process to understand what the computer has sent to the printer, and what command causes what action.

Ken

[Michael Goyette]

I have been using the printer quite a bit, since I got it about a month ago or so it has been running almost everyday (except weekends)  I have had to alter very little to get things to run so I am going to keep it running and alter small settings to see what does what.

Overall I am pretty happy with everything so far.  I also have the Makerbot Digitizer and that is just plain neat.

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[Jay]

Michael,

Yeah...learn the machine. I can tell what mine's doing by the sound now...

One thing I would check/obsess over is the X cable. I have had it fail in every machine that I didn't fix immediately. Lot's of info on here. Since you have a newer R2 you 'should' already have the stepstruder update.

I printed hundreds of parts before I started upgrading to the aluminum bits...and that was so I could print a lot of hotter temp filament. You don't even 'need' to do this if you only occasionally print them. Even then you could still probably get by with just replacing the carriage (since the R2 is an open air design).

If you start having nozzle clogs...you might want to look at using the "Mk7/Mk8 clone nozzles"....they're less expensive than the OEM ones and seem to clog a LOT less...

Have you joined Thingiverse.com yet? I'm JayNC on there...lots of designs and several REALLY large prints. Most done on my R2.....(see this : http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:151435 )

Cheers!

Jay

[Joseph Chiu]

For the folks that don't care about how it works, it's enough to run a slicer at default and hit print.  But knowing exactly what's happening under the hood, and being able to tweak that, makes a huge difference in what you can achieve, especially if you're going to experiment with non-standard feedstock, mods to the printer, etc.