Ender 3 / Pro control panel SD reader

thingiverse

Discrete control panel mounted SD card reader that's easy to spot and access right away. It's a mount for a micro SD-SD card extension cable that puts the SD card slot at the top of the control panel, making it super convenient. I designed it to be compatible with display board rear covers like this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3019402. To fit without using screws, simply remove the top rail and gantry, then slide down the T slots from the top. This gives a very solid mounting system that's hard to beat. Note that the tightness of fit does depend on the printing orientation - if printed upright as I did, the layers are at 90 degrees to the T-slot features, making them more difficult to slide into the T-slots. To make things easier, I gave these a light sand to smooth out the tiny ridges between layers. I wanted a quite firm fit, so I made sure to design it that way. If this thing is printed so that the layers run along the length of the T-slot features, the fit will be much easier - just remember to add some supports. I ran the ribbon cable in a cable guide along with the display ribbon cable, as seen here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2989832. The cable I used was from eBay: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TF-Micro-SD-To-Micro-SD-Extension-Cable-Flexible-Extender-For-Car-GPS-TV-48CM/401667212982?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649. It was only just long enough at 48cm, but it worked perfectly - I did have to slide back the heat shrink at the micro SD end to allow a tighter bend. I've since designed a super slim protective cover for the micro SD plug where it connects into the main electronics enclosure as shown in the last photo: see https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3468035. For this, I modified the micro SD plug so that it becomes a 90 degree plug that sits flush with the front of the electronics enclosure - and as a result, the cable length is now perfect. Note that if you fold a flat cable back on itself at 45 degrees across the cable, it actually results in a nice neat 90 degree change in direction, just like shown in the photos.