First time build.

[The_boarder]

Printer Model

Voron 2.4

Extruder Type

Other

Cooling Type

Other

Hi,

Thank you in advance, to all of you on this forum. Who take the time to help news out.

I am planning a 2.4r2 (350) build and would like some feedback on the electronics I am considering.

Raspberry Pi 4b 8gb
BTT Octopus Max EZ
BTT EZ5160Pro drivers, maybe just EZ2209 ( depending on feedback)
BTT TFT70 or HDMI70 Interface.
Looking for stepper suggestions.

I am wanting to build a future proof printer. So, as latest tech as possible, to allow many years of effectiveness and the ability to adapt to new materials and such for the foreseeable future.

This printer will hopefully have CANbus and Clicky from scratch. And plans to implement input shaping too.

Any ideas on hotend (Phaetus Rapido UHF), Extruder and anything else would be awesome too.

I am in Australia and have huge amounts of cnc and manufacturing knowledge, just the coding and electronics side I will most likely ending up leaning on the community a fair bit.

Again, thank you.

The Boarder

 

[clee]

Raspberry Pi 4b 8gb
BTT Octopus Max EZ
BTT EZ5160Pro drivers, maybe just EZ2209 ( depending on feedback)
BTT TFT70 or HDMI70 Interface.

Pi 4B 8GB is overkill but should be fine. Just make sure you have some sort of cooling fan nearby because the Pi 4B can run warm, and the electronics bay in a Voron can get pretty warm too.

I haven't used the Octopus Max or any of the other EZ MCUs, and I don't use screens, but hopefully the above info is a little useful.

 

[tillin9]

Similarly, the Octopus EZ Max is extremely overkill with 10 steppers. With CAN you need fewer steppers on the mainboard, not more. I'm also not really sold on BTT's EZ step sticks since they can't be used in that many boards. Kinda the opposite of what you want in future-proofing as unless BTT explicitly releases an EZ version - you can't use any future stepper driver. The likelihood that a plain step-stick is released is much higher.

I would recommend the Manta MP8 (1.1) for a V2. This gets you CAN and you can use a Pi CM4 or CB1 and have a 1 board solution. I would suggest an SB2040 for the tool head since BTT's CAN tool head board for Stealthburner is larger/ heavier/ designed for their silly Stealthburner screen. I have 3 SB2040s (2 V2s and one on a modified Prusa) and other than explicitly needing a pullup in the config for the probe which wasn't documented that well when I was doing this the first time, I have no complaints. They are small, cheap, high quality, and have a few extra pins for expansion if needed.

5160s are entirely useless unless you want to go 48V - and really you only want this for A/B. The step-stick ones aren't that great for this - tool much risk of frying the mainboard since while an Octopus or Manta is usually built to handle 24V shorts to places it shouldn't be (ground, data pins), 48Vs is too much and breaks things. When the 5160s pop, they take out other parts of the board - I have sadly had this happen and was not happy with the amount of money needed to buy new boards and stepper drivers (the 2209s I had on the board also fried). Besides making my printer a little louder, I also didn't really see much benefit from 48V even at fairly high speed so while I have a 48V PSU, I have my A/B 5160s currently set to 24V. I do admit I like that I can go back to 48V with changing a couple of jumpers. I purchased upgraded 5160s (the new PRO 1.3 models) so maybe these are more resilient than the ones that blew. At 24V there is no real difference between 2209s and 5160s other than how they are wired and the resulting Klipper config.

There are standalone 5160s - basically a step-stick adapter to a larger 5160 board as well as CAN options like the DFH party in the back which is a CAN A/B motor board with two supersized 5160s, designed to mount to the extrusion between V2 motions. I personally have not tried these options, but if I was starting to get serious about 48V again, I might. If you know you are going with the DFH party in the back and SB2040, you technically can run a V2 off a Manta MP5. I would suggest a CAN ERCF board too (the only other other reason, well that I can think of, why you wanted more stepper slots) as well.

A note on size - I have a 350 V2. 99% of the time, I am not making use of the fact it's 350mm and hence for my 2nd V2 built a 250mm one. Every now and again I do run into a project where having the added size is useful but unless you know you are going to need that, or happen to have a large amount of space for your hobbies, I would advise against it. The biggest downside besides taking up a lot more space and being heavier/ harder to move around is the 350mm printer takes a lot longer to heat up. I will admit my 350mm was easier to tune (the general feedback is actually the reverse) and is quieter (all that mass dampens vibration) than my 250mm. So not necessarily suggesting you don't go 350mm - just be aware of the pros/ cons.

Agree with clee on the Pi. Manta would take a CM4 (and you can use a breakout board to use a CM4 as a "standalone" Pi) which is overkill. I do actually really like the CB1s. The original version had some issues with WiFi, but newer ones work well. A CB1 is basically a Pi3 in CM4 form factor (although it takes a slightly different image) and more than enough for a V2 with multiple CAN accessories, webcam, etc.

I personally am not a huge fan of Klicky. I haven't really had much trouble with the stock probes other than a couple of them melting over the years. One was due to long-term wear, the other was due to a blob. They are cheap, buy some spares. With a tool head board like SB2040 it's easy to swap out if needed.

 

[tillin9]

As far as hotend - the general consensus is Revo Voron (lightweight, so faster/ better quality) or Rapido. I personally have Revos - I do kinda hate the price of nozzles and E3D's patent stance here. I get they are a company and need a return on their investment - but locking down the nozzles really stifles innovation. The cost of CNC lathing the standard nozzles is nowhere near $25 which is why there are AliExpress clones for $4. It's also a dumb thing to patent as anyone with a lathe, micrometer, and some gauge pins (threads are non-standard) can reverse-engineer and make one. I do feel they have some secret sauce in their hotend cartridges and have no issue with patenting that. Hotent cartridges are also not usually wear parts where nozzles are. Every time a $25 Revo nozzle of mine gets hopelessly clogged or worn out, it annoys me. And their specialty nozzles - for abrasive and high-flow are double the price.

If you are looking to go fast - Rapido with a CHT is currently the best you can do for flow rate (and it will be limiting). Stephan from CNC kitchen has a nice video about this here. I personally am a stickler for quality, so get upset at ringing and other issues long before I outrun my standard Revo.

As far as steppers - I'd recommend an LDO Rev C. kit. You can't really go wrong with LDO. Your A/B motors and your extruder motor matter - the 4 Z steppers, not so much. Any quality (LDO, StepperOnline, Moons) 1.8 or 0.9 will do. I have personally used StepperOnline 17HM19-2004S and LDO LDO-42STH40-2004MAH and no real issues with either. I initially went with the StepperOnline since someone had told me the LDOs caused bad resonance for them, but when I tried the LDOs they were fine for me. I tend to like 0.9 steppers for A/B since I had really bad VFA (Verticle Fine Artifacts) on my Prusa for ages and going to 0.9 steppers basically fixed that so I feel 0.9 will give better quality, but on a Core X/Y, it doesn't really matter that much. For the SB extruder, just avoid the short (14mm LDO) pancake or the Fystec 20mm (it looks a lot like the LDO but needs much more current), as both tend to overheat and break. I have had success with this Moons motor and most people have used the 20mm LDO (LDO-42STH20-1004ASH). I won't worry too much about it - any quality steppers for A/B/ Extruder will generally give you success. If you are trying to push every last bit out of your printer you will be swapping them out and experimenting anyway.

I should mention the SB2040 has an ADXL345 in it so no need to fuss with cables or separate boards, etc. Literally, you can measure resonances with a simple command after any major change to your printer.

Hope this all helped.

 

[The_boarder]

Thanks for both of your responses,

I have a lot to figure out, lots of bits and pieces to move on to make space in my hobby room for this project. I appreciate the input and the time taken to reply.

So, revised startpoint should be:

BTT Manta M8P
BTT 2209's
Will stick with a Pi, just drop it to 4gb (I have a contact)
BTT HDMi7 Screen
Which SB2040 ? This or This
Will probably Go with the Rapido for the hotend
Moons Steppers are easier to find in AUS but will look at options
What Extruder ?
best source for bed and heater, will probably have to import this bit

Thanks again for the help

BGH

 

[tillin9]

The 2nd link is actually an SB2040. That first one is just a toolhead breakout board (you need a ~20+ wire loom back to your motherboard and no ADXL). The 2nd is actually the Mellow CANbus board. I highly recommend a CAN toolhead board - I built my 1st Voron before they were an option and the rather long time spent running all the individual cables was one of the least fun parts of the build. I have since upgraded it to an SB2040.

As far as the extruder - I assume you are going with Stealthburner, so I would start with CW2 (Clockwork 2). As far as parts to buy, you only need the extruder motor and a set of BondTech gears. There are some lathed concentric ones (the normal setup is a pin and gear with a grub screw) if you want to splurge. There are also integrated helical ones (I haven't tried those yet). The theory on these fancy gears is here. I do happen to have the linked BondTech integrated gears in my CW2s - and while not night and day, I definitely see better quality, especially when you turn a part into harsh lighting and analyze Z stacking. While my CW2s handle TPU, if you are doing all flexibles all day, you might also want to look into the LGX Lite.

For a heater, Keenovo lets you order directly. My 350 V2 has a cheap Fystec, and my V2 250 has a top-of-the-line Mandaela Roseworks custom ultraflat. Maybe I got super lucky, but I honestly haven't been able to notice a difference. I got the same Prusa compatibility that Steve (from the Voron team) got from Mandaela - basically, a couple of extra screws in the bed so Prusa sheets fit properly.

Just a note about the Manta since I don't want to mislead - you can't use a "normal" Pi. You need to use either a CM4 (which is a genuine Raspberry Pi in a different form factor) or CB1 to fit the compute module slot. If you say already bought your Pi - my best recommendation would be an Octopus Pro. The main difference between the Manta 8P and the Octopus Pro is the CAN bus on the Octopus only comes in an RJ11 jack (for some reason) meaning you will need an adapter or custom cable. I really do like the Manta because it allows for a single board solution, see my new V2's electronics bay:

 

[tiamatu]

@tillin9 coming in with the clutch advice. Second pretty much everything he said.