All Black Voron 2.4r2 350mm Formbot Kit

[CocoMonGo]

This is a build log for my Voron 2.4r2 that is already "complete", but I figured that I share my build for anyone who might be interested especially now that I am doing a major upgrade. Please note that this is my first Voron build and this is more of my opinion.

My build was going to be all black - mainly because I started with eSun ABS max filaments (due to it's fire retardant nature and supposed higher strength vs regular ABS+) and I did not want to buy other ABS colour filaments I know I would not be using otherwise. So all black it is.

Model: Voron 2.4r2 350mm
Base: Formbot - Nov 2022 (purchased from their website)

When getting a kit, the common question is between a LDO kit or Formbot (yes other vendors also offer kits, but from my research these two stand out). In summary and LDO kit costs much more than a Formbot, but for me the deciding factor was actually the fact that the Formbot kit was a "BOM in a box" (a term I picked up from the Reddit page before it went dark) which was initially meant as a negative remark, but one which I view as a positive. Mainly because this means you do not need to flip between the official Voron manual and the LDO version. Building a Voron is hard enough and knowing which page to switch manual is just added complexity. Unboxing went fine and two gripes I had was:

1. I wish the back, deck and bottom panels were ACM rather than Acrylic
2. Formbot included some nylon(?) injection molded parts like the Afterburner, exhaust/carbon filter holder and Mini12864 Display. I rather they excluded these and just reduced the cost.

Oddly enough, Formbot had parts for a Z endstop and a pre-made Z endstop. Not sure what is up with that. The rails that came with the kit is usable - but then again I do not have enough experience to say if they are bad or good. The kit came with a lot of spare screws, heat inserts etc; so much so I thought I was missing stuff. One of the Z drive belt loops seemed excessively lose couple of months in when I had the chance to check them. Not sure if it was lose on install or loosened over the few months of use. The other 3 belts were ok though.

The whole build was interesting but (fortunately) uneventful. No short circuit, burnt parts etc. There were some missing printed parts that I was missing but the core build was done within 1.5/2 months. One thing to note is that I implemented mods from the get-go. This included:

1. Stealthburner
2. CANBUS (mellow fly-SB2040)
3. Umbilical + Repositioned Y endstop
4. Voron Tap
5. The Filter - https://www.printables.com/model/334276-the-filter-for-voron-24
6. Snap latches - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/9Rdnf5vD2oaJLmR7BpAuQ
7. Sturdy Handles - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/EAM1ZiQJCUzXznvOA767w
8. ACM deck panel - I could not get my hands on fire resistant ACM panels and had to use regular ones. But I would recommend you get those if you can.

I tuned the system per the official guide. And at the end I was getting Max acceleration of 5500mm/s2, reduced to about 3500mm/s2 for normal printing and Print speed of 250mm/s. The speed is limited due to Dragon HT hotend I was using which max out at about 31mm3/s. I purchased the Trianglelab T-volcano heater block and plan to test it with a Dragon HT and ST heat break. This should get me to 400-500mm/s print speeds. I am using Trianglelab ZS series nozzle which so far does the job. I also do no run the exhaust fan; because the "carbon filter" element supplied by Formbot is dodgy as hack. This combined with the fact that I live in a warm climate country (day time temperatures of 35C or higher) might have the cause of some melted parts such as the SB and Tap plastic parts.

I am currently in the process of making major upgrades to the printer. These includes:

1. Bedpan - https://github.com/Midnite3DP/voron-bedpan
2. GE5C mod - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/eB5T2RNQcYI4o6cilhpXEg
3. Pin mod - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/C8XJJ0fBGfBFKQZctjKeA
4. CNC Tap by Chaotic Labs
5. Hidden cable belt cover - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/LzEFU0RDHXUarF7y69x2Q
6. Angry Cam - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/RYpQW53mtem8Nj1JKqiSQ
7. LED lights + Corner covers - https://www.printables.com/model/84735-led-strip-holder-for-voron-24 + https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/zBJTvWc9vSnnQoDDP0hyYw
8. VEFACH - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/aLS5rOxzGybD4FhVzCKNQ
9. Moons (17hs19-2004s) to LDO (42sth48-2504) motors for the AB
10. Self deploying fire extinguisher in electronics bay

If you notice most of these mods are more QOL rather than performance mods. Before year end I hope to install the following to focus more on getting better performance speeds especially with the Dragon HT+Trianglelab T-volcano which I am mostly limited to right now:

1. 48v system for AB using the Mellow TMC5160 pro
2. vz-hextrudort extruder + ebb36 + xol
3. Self designed VOC+particulate/hepa filter
4. VOC monitor
5. BTT Smart Filament Sensor v2
6. Light weight aluminium gantry + XY joint + AB drive mount
7. Additional fans in electronics components bay and closure of most of the skirt's opening
8. AWD (unlikely but it looks cool?)

So kids this is why I do not have money to do drugs.


***I am either missing a lot of my build photos or did not bother to take much it seems.***

 

[CocoMonGo]

An overdue update.

Mar 2024 - Full rebuild of the 2.4 - and I do mean a full rebuild; frames, gantry, electronics all taken apart and rebuilt. Rebuild completed in Jun but the process has been delayed to due life. This was triggered mainly due to the "ls: cannot access '/dev/serial/by-id'" issue, and getting my CANBUS devices wonky. Tuning is still ongoing but I am in no hurry.

Completed Mods:

1. Clicky-Clack Door - https://github.com/tanaes/whopping_Voron_mods/tree/main/clickyclacky_door
2. U2C/UTOC + CANBUS Tool Head + Umbilical
3. ACM Back and bottom panel
4. Voron v2.4 Sturdy Handles - https://github.com/VoronDesign/VoronUsers/tree/main/printer_mods/jeoje/Sturdy_Handles
5. Chamber LED - https://www.printables.com/model/84735-led-strip-holder-for-voron-24
6. The Filter - https://github.com/nateb16/VoronUsers/tree/master/printer_mods/nateb16/THE_FILTER
7. 48v AB (UMellow Fly HV TMC5160 Pro) + Stepper Driver cooler - https://github.com/Rasksasa/DoubleTMC5160Mount (own mod)
8. Titanium Backers
9. Repositioned Y endstop - https://github.com/RepRapster/Voron2.4-Rear-Gantry-Y-Endstop-Mount
10. Electronics Backpack for 2.4 - https://github.com/RepRapster/Voron2.4-Rear-Gantry-Y-Endstop-Mount (own mod)
11. Bedpan - https://github.com/Midnite3DP/voron-bedpan
12. GE5C mod - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/eB5T2RNQcYI4o6cilhpXEg
13. Pin mod - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/C8XJJ0fBGfBFKQZctjKeA
14. CNC Tap by Chaotic Labs
15. Hidden cable belt cover - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/LzEFU0RDHXUarF7y69x2Q
16. Angry Cam - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/RYpQW53mtem8Nj1JKqiSQ
17. LED lights + Corner covers - https://www.printables.com/model/84735-led-strip-holder-for-voron-24 + https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/zBJTvWc9vSnnQoDDP0hyYw
18. VEFACH - https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/aLS5rOxzGybD4FhVzCKNQ
19. Moons (17hs19-2004s) to LDO (42sth48-2504) motors for the AB
20. Annex Panel Clips - https://github.com/Annex-Engineering/Denali/releases/tag/R1.1
21. Z Drive Belt Clip - https://mods.vorondesign.com/details/UrXS8J4mIe1K3XGGagS5Q
22. VOC Scrubber - https://github.com/Rasksasa/VOC_Scrubber (own mod)
23. Tethered BTT 7" HDMI v1.2 Holder - https://github.com/Rasksasa/BTT_HDMI_7_v1.2_Screen_Holder (own mod)

Planned Mods (as of Jul 2024):

1. Cartographer (if/when the contact feature works)
2. BTT SKSM - Completed but using Mellow3D KMMP module instead
3. 9mm AWD (CNC)
4. Full sized heated bed silicone heater (most kits silicone heaters do not cover edge to edge)
5. Rear mounted Angry Cam
6. 3mm Tempered glass + security film (to prevent having a million glass pieces on the floor) panels

Impact from the rebuild has been getting my Y IS from about 3400mm/s2 to 4000mm/s2 accel.


Top Recommended Mods:

1. Clicky-Clack Door - Greatly improves the poor sealing of the original plain acrylic doors and really gives it a premium feel
2. U2C/UTOC + CANBUS Tool Head + Umbilical - Greatly simplify/reduce wiring to the gantry and parts that is actually required
3. ACM Back and bottom panel - Prevents heat from the build plate from causing the panels from deforming. Suggest to use fire retardant rated ACM panels if you can get your hands on them
4. Chamber LED - More lights. No one will ever complain about being able to see better.
5. The Filter - A toss up between this and Nevermore. While generally the same, The Filter is shown to speed up chamber temperature stablisation compared to Nevermore and the direction of air flow just makes more sense IMO (i.e. not pulling hot air from under the heated bed).
6. Annex Panel Clips - Less parts than the screw and TNut of the original design
7. VEFACH - Many believe the exhaust is of no use. But I think most are running it wrongly. If I was to print PETG, it should run 100% to keep the chamber cooler, while when printing ABS/ASA it should not be running. However once the printing has completed, it should be ran at 100% to exhaust the dirty air through VEFACH carbon pellets and how have hot air hit you in the face when you open the doors.

Mellow 3D KMMP Module
Chances are if you are using a Raspberry Pi 4B like me you will have the "Low Voltage" detected warning when using the standard 5v PSU from the Voron BOM. I tried new thicker gauge wires and upped the voltage to 5.125v but neither worked and seemed to be a design issue. One of the "potential" ways to address this was to add a capacitor to the RPi terminals to smooth out the dips in voltage, but at some point it occurred to me that either the BTT SKSM or Mellow3D KMMP module with their capacitors built to function as a 15s-30s UPS while the RPi shutsdown - should be able to address the RPi's power problem. It turns out this is partially true... but the problem with the RPi4 power input design is still the problem; but the problem with getting the "Low Voltage" warning is dealt with finally. On the mellow3D site they seem to indicate two different ways to connect the KMMP module to the RPi - either through the XH2.54 to GPIO pin OR the USB A to USB C. But when I connected through the:

1. XH2.54 to GPIO pin - The "Low Voltage" warning does not actually goes away
2. USB A to USB C - I no longer the the "Low Voltage" warning (yay!) but I suddenly had issues with my USB chamber camera which I suspect was due to low amps

My solution was to connect both the XH2.54 AND USB at the same time. It then solved the "Low Voltage" AND camera issues!

BUT... when I measured at the GPIO pins of the RPi, I am reading 5.3v! Which is a concern.... but so far nothing has broken... yet. More testing is required.

Conclusion on the KMMP
Pros
- Technically solved my "Low Voltage" warning issue on my RPi4B while giving me the function to safely shutdown the RPi on powercut.
- Compared to the BTT SKSM which I initially wanted to use, the KMMP has officially documented "Power Failure Resume" functions which is a big plus to me
- Small LCD screen to show the system status

Cons
- The LCD screen is in the electronics compartment and cannot be seen in normal operations... which kinda moot the point of having it. Also I am not sure if it is just my unit, but it does not always work. I have to disconnect and reconnect it multiple times to get it to display anything. Not sure if it is a defective unit or poor design being at play here.
- Supply voltage seems out of spec (to be further verified) at 5.3v vs 5.1v I am expecting
- For some off reason Mellow3D refused to give me or create a 3D model of the KMMP. They dont even have 2D drawings of the module for reference. Instead they ask you to download their 3D housing model from their site which has absolutely no instruction on how it is to be used. So you either have to whip out your calipers or use their housing model as base for further design - which is a dumb thing to do in this day and age.
- Instructions is not clear; am I supposed to connect the XH2.54 AND USB at the same time or only use either 1 at a given moment? What is the 5V-Out connector for? Again I cannot find these answers as I dont have/cannot find the schematics.

 

[CocoMonGo]

Build Tips

<Recompiled overall build tips>

My tips for new builders:

1. Get a multimeter. This help confirm that you have done the wiring correctly and has helped me in more ways than expected. Use the probe to also check earthing continuity especially for the heated bed, SSR and with the actual earth plug pin.
2. I would have liked to use tread lockers in the frame screws but the I am equally worried about the time it took to get the frame squared vs the tread locker curing. Note that this is optional in the Voron manual.
3. Consider getting an electric screw driver. The shear quantity of screws to be driven is something to consider as a matter of convenience
4. Take your time with your build. I really enjoyed the build process and I liken it to an adult's Lego. There was instances where I did rush to meet some targets for the day (such as doing all 4 of the Z drives in one sitting) expect the build to take months. You probably will want to reconsider a Voron if you are expecting this to be a turn key solution.
5. If you kit does not include wiring casings, get some. I cannot imagine ever getting the electronics bay organised neatly without it.
6. Be realistic with your machine's expected outcomes - do not be enamoured by youtube videos showing other people's Voron running at "1000mm/s at 100,000mm/s2 acceleration". They are showing what their machine can run at without the motor skipping but says nothing about the hotend's ability to pump out that amount of plastic or how reasonable the finish on the end product will look like.

More advanced discussions & tips:

EDPM or NBR foam for sealing
The original Formbot kit provided 3mm EDPM foam which worked well. But for the clicky clack door mod due to the limited locking points to the frame (2 hinges and 1 door lock) you will want sometime softer and easier to return to form after being held under pressure. EDPM is supposed to be suitable up to 150C while NBR is about 120C. I have since changed all the foam tapes to NBR which should seal the chamber better as in the event of over tightening, it should still seal better.

Thermal Sticker vs Thermal Adhesive
I had quite some issue early on with the Mellow TMC5160 heat sinks not making good contact with the MOSFETs. I suspect it was due to unevenness of the 8 individual chips coupled with the thin thermal sticker on the supplied heat sink that did not allow for consistent and even contact. This resulted in overheat warnings and was very evident when looking at the thermal sticker with some areas having deep indentation while other areas had light or no contact at all. I solved this by getting thermal adhesives and decided to glue ALL the heat sinks on my stepper drivers. This should solve all sticker degradation issues including vibration induced loosening looking into the future.

Dust Management
I sealed off my electronics chamber and put in dust filters for the intake fans. This is some mainly by reprinting skirts with sealed holes. I did this because I noticed an awful amount of dust in the chamber when taking everything a part for a rebuild. This does not mean that the chamber is air tight, just less locations for ingress for dust. To mitigate the reduced airflow I also put in 2 fans on both sides of the chamber which the original 2.4 build already allows for. If need be, I will put a fan above the Raspberry Pi and MCU to circulate more air in that area if I notice any heat issues.

Heat Insulation
If I ever rebuild this 2.4 again, one of my top consideration is to have better insulation at the bottom panel separating the chamber and electronics. The base model only consist of a 4mm(?) acrylic panel which I already swapped for ACM panel to avoid degradation due to heat. However printing ABS/ASA or other high temperature materials really heats up the electronics chamber now that I have sealed it off (mostly). Currently in my mind, it would consist of an "ACM panel - Insulation Cotton - ACM panel" but this would result in reduced electronics chamber height of up to 1cm.