Anycubic Linear Plus upgrade.
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I am a Delta Kossel fanatic. Have Scratch built a couple, etc.
There is so much interest in the AKL+ on this Duet forum that I decided to buy a kit. It arrives today. I already have a Duet. I will be converting it to Duet, and posting in a (new) thread on the forum, as well as creating some WiKi pages.
I plan to to do, and document, three things:
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Convert the Trigorilla (included controller) to Duet
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Convert the include effector to a smart effector.
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Convert everything to Hayden Huntley magnetic-end rods.
I will write up all the detail that I can, as I go.
Delta / Kossel printer fanatic
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First detail: What effector?
First, let's define terms.
- Extruder
The thing with the motor and the toothed hob that pushes filament is the "Extruder". An AKL+ conversion can continue to use the stock Anycubic extruder. It is "OK".
Alternatives include an E3D Titan, a Bondtech, and many, many clones. My personnel experience is that the E3D titan is not all that much an upgrade over the Anycubic. Therefore, personally, I'd either leave the extruder alone, or go all the way to Bondtech. Obviously, there is a price point consideration. Clones are in the $10 to $20 range (no motor). Titan is about $85 (no motor). Bondtech is $85 (no motor). Bondtech will print flex filaments; Titan won't.
- Diagonal Rods
The real question is to stick with stock rods, and the "ball joints" that come with them, or upgrade to a better joint. Delta printers are INCREDIBLY sensitive to any mechanical slop or play in these joints. Consistency of rod length across all six rods is also important.
The upgrade generally considered "best" at this moment consists of carbon fiber diagonal rods that have magnets in them that pull a steel ball into a cup. These have near zero play. The "cup" can be printed plastic or CNC delrin. CNC is better.
Therefore, the "best known" is a delrin CNC rod end with very strong magnets and very precise steel balls. A person named Haydn Huntley is one source known to be high quality. His rods are also marketed as "Blue Eagle Labs".
- Effector
The thing that moves around at the end of the diagonal rods, is the "effector". It has a sub-part that heats up, called the "hot end". Various effectors can/can't carry various hot ends. On an AKL+ upgrade, you can continue to use the stock effector and hot end with upgraded diagonal rods, via printed adapters, or swap to a different one.
The natural choice when upgrading to a Duet controller is a Duet Smart Effector. It also has the HUGE advantage of a built in z-probe, wherein the nozzle tip is the probe. They are also set up to work best with magnetic-ball-end rods.
The Duet Smart effector is designed to carry an E3D V6 hot end, and comes with a slightly modified heat sink (that is actually made by E3D for Duet/Escher). To fully implement a Smart Effector the way it was intended to work combination, you need all the other piece of a V6 hot end. These can be from a newly-ordered V6, or from one you are using now (assuming you are willing to take it apart).
Delta / Kossel printer fanatic
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A good thing to know is that you can convert the bed heater to 24v. There are solder pads provided for this on the heated bed. With 24v my heated bed is 170w.
I now have: Duet ethernet+Smart effector+Haydn Arms+Metal Corners+Nimble+16t pulleys+24v mean well led psu
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@barracuda72 Hello, barracuda72.
You're right, an extruder instead of an effector is my typo.
Thanks for the explanation with the hot-rod. Thanks to you, I can save a "few bucks". I plan to change the extruder as well, but so far these are my plans for the future. I also agree with you about the temperature, MOSFET has already installed.
Regards. -
@danal Hi, Danal.
Thank you for your detailed reply.
"I will write up all the detail that I can, as I go".
It would be very cool for everyone like me...
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By the way, why didn't anyone say anything about the panel with the screen?
Will I be able to connect my old (Anycubic) screen?
Are there any tips / recommendations?
Regards. -
as far i know you cant use it. You have to get a paneldue..BUT..if you have a stable WiFi connection theres no need for the panel, because die DWC ( the web interface) offers lots of comfort...the panel is just a nice to have..
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@vapvap said in Anycubic Linear Plus upgrade.:
By the way, why didn't anyone say anything about the panel with the screen?
Will I be able to connect my old (Anycubic) screen?No.
Use a nearby computer and the web interface. Or, if you really want something on the printer, an old phone or tablet, and the web interface.
Or... if you are in the mood to spend about 1/2 to 2/3 what the whole printer (now) costs on a screen, a PanelDue.
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@danal Hi, Danal
Thanks again for your great tips, but could you explain something to me about extruders?
I just do not understand why they are sold without a motor.
Will I be able to use my old one, or is it better to buy with a new one (and which one will be better?)?
Thank you. -
even if im not Danal...
You dont need a new extruder motor..my old anycubic motor still works great even with a bondtech extruder now
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Thanks for the excellent answer, Barracuda72!
Do you have right-handed or left-handed?
What is the difference? -
doesnt matter if you only use one
I have a flying extruder setup here and took a right handed..
all depends on the setup..or on a multimaterial printer if you want a mirrored extruder setup.The extruders are sold without motor, because you have to decide what you need.
More torque or is a pancake motor sufficient?I got my Anycubic Delta for Christmas last year. Honestly, there's nothing left of the Anycubic except for a few screws.
Meanwhile the frame is 1m high and has a print bed of 300mm.
Flying Extruder with Bondtech, DuetWifi Board, Smart effector, DIY Magnetic Rods.I love working on it.
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@barracuda72 said in Anycubic Linear Plus upgrade.:
I got my Anycubic Delta for Christmas last year. Honestly, there's nothing left of the Anycubic except for a few screws.
Meanwhile the frame is 1m high and has a print bed of 300mm.
Flying Extruder with Bondtech, DuetWifi Board, Smart effector, DIY Magnetic Rods.
I love working on it.
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Um, now I do not understand anything about "Bondtech BGM" (just received) ...
Earlier I just loaded the filament into the tube and started the print program.
Now with the new extruder I need:- heat the hot end
- run the script to load the filament
- heat the hot bed
- Start the print program ...
Could you please explain why everything is so complicated ???
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@vapvap you do not need to use scripts to load the filament and its fine to have the code that heats your extruder and heated bed in your start gcode (as I assume you did before if this happened automatically)?
Load and unload filament scripts are useful for some people who have bowden setups and want to be able to have a macro that acts differently depending on the type of filament (for example maybe you want to go nice and slow with semi flexibles..) this is definitely an optional part though.
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Yes, i have "bowden",
but I'm sorry that at the moment I absolutely don't understand how to easily load a filament before printing.
How can I do it correctly / conveniently?
Regards. -
@vapvap You mentioned "load the filament into the tube and start the print program" so I assumed that on your current machine you manually load the filament though the extruder and advanced it until it was coming out the nozzle. then start the print?
Basically there are two separate processes going on.
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Setting up the printer so the filament is in the hotend, and ready to print
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starting a print
sorting out 1) involves getting the filament through the extruder, down the bowden tube and into the (hot) hotend. You can do that by manually setting the hotend to the appropriate temperature, loading the filament into the extruder, and then using the printer controls to push the filament down the bowden tube. until it comes out the nozzle. Or you could to that through some automatic "load filament" mechanism. In our case we have the ability to automate that through a load filament macro.
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