Anycubic I3 Mega - hacking the gantry frame and carriage of hot end

thingiverse

This hack transforms the gantry frame, elevating the printer carriage by a staggering 28mm (or 25mm in my custom modification). After this modification, the X-axis carriage and two end stops for the dual step motors on the Y-axis will also be relocated downward by about 10mm through drilling new holes. This adjustment is crucial for setting the home position by fine-tuning the vertical compensation screws. Firstly, the tie bar at the printer's base is removed. Secondly, the gantry is elevated by removing two screws from each side (RHS and LHS). Only the top two screws on both sides are tightened and reattached to the control unit, which houses the LCD touch screen, Y-axis motor, and hot bed. Thirdly, cables for the hot end and fans are relocated from the front to the rear of the X-axis rails using a simple U-shaped mounting. This allows for more headroom during printing at 205mm plus an additional 28mm. Fourthly, a custom remix (https://www.thingiverse.com/make:462683) is attached to the U-shaped mounting to provide a straightforward solution for cable management at the back. Help or suitable remix designs are eagerly awaited as this project reaches its next phase. The firmware will be updated using Marlin, and the original printable size of the Anycubic 3 Mega will increase from 210x210x205 to 210x210x233 (Z_Max_Pos changed from 206mm to 250mm in my configuation.h file). This results in a remarkable 13.6% boost in printable height without any additional costs. Furthermore, fans will be shifted backward to make room for LED lights at the front. A future upgrade is also possible by raising the gantry an extra 45mm through refixing the mounting screws between the frame and the Y-axis stepper motor mounting frame.