Cubex Trio with Rumba and Marlin

[RudydG]

Hello,
I hacked this Cubex (terrible software, expensive cartridges), and tranplanted a Rumba board + reprap display, with Marlin firmware.
Fans, lights, extra relays for the endstops, everything working nice.
I am almost done with configuring 1 extruder extruder 1, the left of the 3), purging, going over the cleaning lip before printing.

But to get my other extruders dialed in, especialy for the cleaning / changing extruders, i was hoping someone can help me


Anyone the same configuration?

Open for questions, and ready for answers

Rudy

[BaudR8]

Awesome! If you could provide a few pics and maybe a quick instructional, I'm sure that would be really helpful to many who want to turn their expensive CubeX/CubePro 3D printers into actually useful printers!

At this point I would just run through the standard RepRap calibration process
http://reprap.org/wiki/Calibration

as yours is basically a repstrap now : )

[MichaelHerron]

Awesome! If you could provide a few pics and maybe a quick instructional, I'm sure that would be really helpful to many who want to turn their expensive CubeX/CubePro 3D printers into actually useful printers!

At this point I would just run through the standard RepRap calibration process
http://reprap.org/wiki/Calibration

as yours is basically a repstrap now : )

Congrats! I wouldn't even mess with the priming and cleaning lip--I don't do it anymore on my cube-pro. As more and more people go thru this process, it becomes a more compelling way to turn this expensive paperweight into a useful printer! Any photos or documentation you can post would be much appreciated!

[RudydG]

Give me a couple of weeks, And i will document the transformation. At this moment i am still fine tuning
Once my first extruder is perfect, i will try the dual extruder wizard.

[RudydG]

2 steps forward, 1 back

In the process of levelling the Z, i broke my first printhead. Want to change the 3 heads anyway, E3D is my favorite!!
I was almost ready printing 2 colors, used the profile Printrbod duo with HB, and tweaked it to get it succesfully working.
I am leaving on a holiday for the next 3 weeks, the project will have to wait..

But, as it prints now, 0.1mm layers, it is already beatifull, this printer rocks (solid)!!!

[RudydG]

Update:
Printer is running fine now,

Electronics:
-Rumba Board with full graphic display.
-The 2 Y motors are wired parallel, on 1 stepper output, works fine, rest is default, 1 output, 1 motor.
-Extruder lights and fans are wired parallel, of fan 2 output, they switch on when 1 extruder is above 50 degrees.
-Parts cooling fan is wired on fan 1 output.
-Heatbed (220V) is connected true a solid state on the default heatbed output of the Rumba.

Nozzles:
-Designed adapters for the use of E3D V6 on the extruders. With a spring around the shaft, so calibration of the nozzleheight is easy.
-Tried a combo of E3D V6 and E3D V6 light version, did not work optimal, you can't use the speed advantage of the full V6 version, (software only allows 1 speed for all the extruders), so changed to an all E3D V6 full version, works much better.
-Have to add, i removed extruder 3, just to reduce weight, and probably will never use it.

Software:
There is no Cubex profile for a Rumba / Marlin combo, so i had to build one myself. Had a lot of things to tweak, but in the end, works, super with 1 nozzle (more is a problem, explenation on the bottom of this post)


Overall:
-Removed the waste box and its 2 mounts, because the nozzles are to low, and can collide.
-Mostly feed the filament directly in the extruder; the pipes running true the machine are not so easy to use
-To remove filament, i always push out 10mm, followed by a retraction of 100mm, works fine.


To Do:
-drill holes (4.2mm) in the bottom part of the extruder, so the filament guide of the E3D can go up to the extruder wheels, needed for reliable flexible filament prints.
-Look for a solution to use a longer cable so i can put the display in place of the Original (now the cables are 30cm, not longe enough, and longer cables give a lot of problems)
-Program + wire an output of the Rumba for auto switch off.

And i have 1 issue with 2 color prints, which i think is a S3D related problem.
The second nozzle is not retracted after the purge, so you get a mess on the first layer from a leaking second nozzle, while first nozzle is printing . Once past the first layer all is well, oozeshieId an primecube works ok. I am not alone with this issue, i found a possible workaround, but had no time to test it out.

It was a lot of work, but in the end, the printer frame makes it worth it.

[BaudR8]

Update:
Printer is running fine now,

Electronics:
-Rumba Board with full graphic display.
-The 2 Y motors are wired parallel, on 1 stepper output, works fine, rest is default, 1 output, 1 motor.
-Extruder lights and fans are wired parallel, of fan 2 output, they switch on when 1 extruder is above 50 degrees.
-Parts cooling fan is wired on fan 1 output.
-Heatbed (220V) is connected true a solid state on the default heatbed output of the Rumba.

Nozzles:
-Designed adapters for the use of E3D V6 on the extruders. With a spring around the shaft, so calibration of the nozzleheight is easy.
-Tried a combo of E3D V6 and E3D V6 light version, did not work optimal, you can't use the speed advantage of the full V6 version, (software only allows 1 speed for all the extruders), so changed to an all E3D V6 full version, works much better.
-Have to add, i removed extruder 3, just to reduce weight, and probably will never use it.

Software:
There is no Cubex profile for a Rumba / Marlin combo, so i had to build one myself. Had a lot of things to tweak, but in the end, works, super with 1 nozzle (more is a problem, explenation on the bottom of this post)


Overall:
-Removed the waste box and its 2 mounts, because the nozzles are to low, and can collide.
-Mostly feed the filament directly in the extruder; the pipes running true the machine are not so easy to use
-To remove filament, i always push out 10mm, followed by a retraction of 100mm, works fine.


To Do:
-drill holes (4.2mm) in the bottom part of the extruder, so the filament guide of the E3D can go up to the extruder wheels, needed for reliable flexible filament prints.
-Look for a solution to use a longer cable so i can put the display in place of the Original (now the cables are 30cm, not longe enough, and longer cables give a lot of problems)
-Program + wire an output of the Rumba for auto switch off.

And i have 1 issue with 2 color prints, which i think is a S3D related problem.
The second nozzle is not retracted after the purge, so you get a mess on the first layer from a leaking second nozzle, while first nozzle is printing . Once past the first layer all is well, oozeshieId an primecube works ok. I am not alone with this issue, i found a possible workaround, but had no time to test it out.

It was a lot of work, but in the end, the printer frame makes it worth it.

Great work! Definitely making me consider throwing a different control board onto my CubePro...

[TomDMeeks]

The hardware of the CubePro family is really high quality so it's great to hear that you are able to get beyond the insanity parts of the design. I blog about the CubePro and have 3 that are essentially huge bricks right now. So, I am VERY interested in the details of your conversion for publication for other languishing CubeX/CubePro users.

[RudydG]

Sorry, but i left the Cubix about a year ago;-)
Was a nice piece of hardware. But in the end, the 3 heads on the same Z height where to difficult to master.
Went to an ultimaker 2+ mk2 and now also an ultimaker 3. Gone are the days of tinkering.