Question Umbilical replacement options?

[RocketTurtle]

I've been using a timmit99 style umbilical since day one on my V0.1, and I've had recurring issues with wires breaking off at the 14 pin Molex connectors on a regular basis. I'm using good quality PTFE wire and legit branded Molex connectors and pins, and my crimps seem fine. I'm got everything needed to upgrade to a V0.2 so I'm reconsidering the umbilical idea on the upgrade. I was looking at the Picobilical, but it seems to have the exact same 14 pin Molex umbilical, so I've pretty much ruled that out. Are there newer, more reliable alternatives to the timmit99 style umbilical boards, or should I just forego any toolhead/umbilical board and just direct wire everything?

 

[RAY5D]

I bought the Picobilical after a wire on the extruder motor broke. It's been working pretty good although the wires do rub on the back of the tophat when the toolhead goes to the back of the print area. Personally I think the umbilical is easier to fix than directly wiring the components even if it breaks, because you can simply replace the connector and the wire rather than ruining a $20 motor.

 

[Driftrotor]

I just posted a similar thred before seeing this.
i too have this issue but mine i think stems from the connector crimps not making contact properly with the main pcb
i might try something like a high flex 14 core cable to see if it improves the reliability
currently I'm getting 100 hours or less on each standard cable and am now on the 3rd one after 2 months of having the printer running

ive noticed that on forward / backwards movements the molex connector also move forwards / backwards as the cables do not flex so i think it deforms the crimps over time.
i have been thinking that maybe a strain relief at the main pcb (frame side) might be beneficial?

 

[RocketTurtle]

This is pretty much a necro thread, but I just wanted to post an update in case anyone else is looking for a solution.

As a sanity check I bought a 14pin umbilical cable from a reliable vendor, but it ultimately succumbed to the same issues with broken wires and loose pins that stopped making contact.

Ultimately the solution for me was an BTT EBB36 CAN bus board and a Waveshare SN65HVD230 CAN transceiver. The CAN board was somewhat complicated to set up, but I've had zero issues with the CAN umbilical. Warning: Setting up CAN on an SKR Mini E3 is somewhat tricky and could potentially brick your SKR as there is no DFU mode to recover if the firmware update fails. I found myself in this position, but was able to unbrick the SKR using a $10 ST-Link V2 adapter and STM32CubeProgrammer software. From what I can tell, this would be less of a concern for a SKR Pico which has some sort of USB drive mode.

 

[T-rav]

Sorry if I am missing it but do you have a link to the other guide you referred to? I have been following maz0rs but can't get the UUID. Maybe a different one will help.

guide is divided in two parts due to the 10000 character limit.

This is pretty much a necro thread, but I just wanted to post an update in case anyone else is looking for a solution.

As a sanity check I bought a 14pin umbilical cable from a reliable vendor, but it ultimately succumbed to the same issues with broken wires and loose pins that stopped making contact.

Ultimately the solution for me was an BTT EBB36 CAN bus board and a Waveshare SN65HVD230 CAN transceiver. The CAN board was somewhat complicated to set up, but I've had zero issues with the CAN umbilical. Warning: Setting up CAN on an SKR Mini E3 is somewhat tricky and could potentially brick your SKR as there is no DFU mode to recover if the firmware update fails. I found myself in this position, but was able to unbrick the SKR using a $10 ST-Link V2 adapter and STM32CubeProgrammer software. From what I can tell, this would be less of a concern for a SKR Pico which has some sort of USB drive mode.

I did not have wiring issues but also went with an ebb36 can board to minimize the number of wires that I had to deal with.