MakerBot Industries

Bad Y-connector on the left; good Y-connector on the right

We’ve discovered that one of the parts we’ve shipped with some recent Thing-O-Matic kits, the Molex Y-Splitter cable, isn’t up to spec. The copper wires in some of these connectors are thinner than expected, and has trouble carrying enough current to the power-hungry extruder controller. This can cause the cable to grow hot, or even burn out. Luckily, there’s a simple work-around for this problem.

How do I know if I have a bad splitter?

The bad parts all have bright white plastic shrouds around each connector. If you look at the 4-pin Molex connectors that are attached to your power supply, you’ll notice that the plastic is semi-translucent. If the connectors on your Y-splitter are noticeably Whiter and Brighter™ than the ones on your power supply, and the cables say “20 AWG” in tiny characters on the side, you probably have one of the problematic ones.

Bright white (left) == lame, translucent (right) == sweet

What do I do if I have a bad splitter?

Don’t panic! There’s a workaround. Although the under-spec Y-splitter can’t handle the power delivered to the extruder controller, it can handle the power required by the stepper controllers without too much trouble. All you need to do is unplug and rearrange the power connectors inside your bot:

1. Turn off the power to your bot and unplug if from the wall and USB.
2. Open the bottom of your bot.  You’ll probably need to disconnect a few of the wires, particularly the endstop cables, to open it all the way.
3. Disconnect all the 4-pin Molex connectors from the stepper drivers and extruder controllers.
4. Plug one of the 4-pin Molex connectors that come straight from the power supply to power your extruder controller.
5. Use the Y-splitter(s) to hook up your stepper controllers.

Please note that if you have multiple Y-splitters, you shouldn’t chain them– hook one up to each power connector coming from your PSU.

That’s it! You should now have a much happier bot.

We’re still in the process of diagnosing this problem, so if you’ve got some input (or you’ve already burned out your Y-splitter) please drop us a line and we’ll get in touch as soon as we can.

While Makerbot Operator “Babs” was attending the Solidworks World 2011 expo and conference, he stumbled on an unused booth. Where many of us would have seen the lonely table & chair and thought: “Aww, no demo of cool stuff there!” before moving on,  Babs — flush with MakerBot community spirit — saw a unique opportunity.

He seized the table, whipped out his laptop,  fanned a stack of homemade Makerbot fliers, and operated an unauthorized Makerbot stealth-booth!

Babs on what lead him to take MakerBot evangelical tablemanship into his own hands:

Well, I attend Solidworks World Each year and thought we needed a Makerbot representation. So I took it upon myself to find a place to setup flyers to educate the Solidworks community about Makerbot. I was afraid of being shutdown, but no-one realized that I should not have done it. (Success.)

We are loving this story at the Botcave, and are grateful that Babs helped us expand the number of expos that Makerbot could “attend” by one this year.

Babs' Homemade Makerbot @ Solidworks Flier

Top Ten Reviews caught us at CES and made a video!

Doorknobs? I think I need some new ideas for things to make with a MakerBot. What are your best examples that you say when people ask you what you can make with a MakerBot?

Maintenance of your 3D printer

This is the fourth in a series of how to get better print results from your 3D printer.  The first three posts focused on calibrating hardware, upgrading hardware, and calibrating software.  If you are just tuning in to this series, check out the list of prior posts at the end.  And if you’re only following along via an RSS feed, you’re really missing out.  There have been literally dozens of amazing comments with many many more suggestions from other roboticists.  Even if you think you know every trick in the book, you’re guaranteed to find something you haven’t thought of before.  And if you’ve got an idea, a hint, trick, or hack – leave a comment and help out future roboticists!

• Maintenance. A well treated 3D printer should give you years of trouble-free printing. ¹  Here are some suggestions on how to keep your pet 3D printer well maintained.

1. Oil your X, Y, and Z rods.  I do this about once a month.  Since the Cupcake uses plastic bushings, I see a black plastic residue accumulate over time.  I wipe this off at the same time I oil the rods.
2. Periodically tighten nuts and bolts.  Again, monthly.
3. Periodically test and tighten belt tension.  I check and adjust belt tension rarely – usually only after I see a printing problem develop.
4. Periodically test your filament tension.  There’s a sweet spot to filament tension that’s a lot easier to set with a MK5 style plastruder than it was with a MK4 plastruder.  Too tight and you’re putting extra strain on the extruder motor.  Too loose and you’re not really getting the best extrusion possible.  As plastic filament actually has a slight variation in its diameter, this is something I monitor whenever I am printing.  It’s partially a way for me to fuss over my robot as it is happily printing away. ²  If I notice that the extrusion is suddenly too thin, a quick adjustment to the filament tension screw will fix this.  I’ve heard that adding a second nut to the filament tension screw prevents the screw from loosening slightly over time.
5. Repair or replace.  Having a 3D printer means that if a part breaks or wears out you can actually replace it.  Just accept the fact you’re going to bend, pop, snap, crackle, or pop a part.  When that happens you’ll need to rig or hack a temporary solution while you print up a replacement part.  One benefit to a solid plastic replacement part to a component that’s assembled out of layered plastic and/or plywood is that there are no parts to loosen over time.
6. Floss extruder gear.  Use something soft-ish like a toothpick to pop the plastic bits out of the gear’s teeth.
7. Clean out the plastruder.  The plastruder can accumulate very small plastic chips which fall out from the extruder gear.  If you leave your hot too long, you can develop a blockage that will cause plastic to ooze up into the plastruder.  Disassembling the plastruder is the best way to pull the extra plastic out.
8. Keep firmware updated.  The firmware has come a long way and I’m pretty sure it to go even further.  Don’t forget to update the extruder firmware too!
9. Keep software updated.  ReplicatorG is constantly under development.
10. Replace warped build platforms or build surfaces.  A flat even build surface will ensure nice flat builds without having to worry about the extruder head crashing into the platform.
11. Keep your plastic in a cool, dry place.  As mentioned above, the filament’s diameter can very slightly.
12. Check wire connections on any moving axes.  The cable clips attaching motors, endstops, and various other bits to the XY stages can work themselves loose after time.  I check these whenever I see that a cable might be working itself loose.
13. Cupcake – Clearing extruder nozzle blockage.  This is really only relevant to the MK4 style plastruders.  I’ve never had a bad blockage after running a MK5 plastruder for the last six months.
14. Thing-O-Matic – Clear the inside of your robot of any plastic boogers that might get wiped off.

1. And, if you’ve build the robot yourself, you can make sure that it will be running forever!  Isn’t DIY great?! [↩]
2. Just think of it as the roboticist version of a mom dabbing a corner of napkin and wiping your cheek. [↩]