Open Cable chain set for HICTOP 3DP-11

thingiverse

I had a problem with the wire mess on my new HICTOP and needed a cable chain. Since I'm always making changes to my printers, I have to have an open chain and the ones presented here didn't have an open side on the links. I prefer open links because you don't have to try to fish your cables in or out; instead, you simply break the chain one link at a time and reassemble it around the cable. So I redesigned the terminating mounts from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1357884 mounting the CableChain_XCarriage a little lower and opening up the side. I redid the Cable Chain_XStepper again to make it open and added a chain mount to the back in case I figure out how to transition to a chain that will connect to the computer board. Finally, I took the cable chain from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:511938 resized to fit the end mounts and grouped them into a set of 4 each (you'll certainly need more than one, and extras come in handy). Nov 2, 2016: After some hours on the printer, I found I didn't like the way the cable behaved at the X-Motor mount. I watched it for a while and realized I simply needed to make a simple change to get the cable to fold correctly. I had to make the chain end pointed so the links would fold back onto the chain and therefore lay flatter. While I was at it, I decided to also add a set of gates on the open side like I did for the X head mount. Nov 13, 2016: After printing with the updated X-Motor Mount, I kept noticing a popping sound. I finally tracked this down to the shape of the point. I have converted this to a more filleted shape to make the transition easier. This form works much better. I've removed the V2 and updated the original to avoid confusion. Also, I found that the chain rubbed against the lead screw when the X-head was all the way to the left. The fix for this is simply to invert the first link from the head (the angle would normally be toward the back, except for the first link on the X-Head). Dec 12, 2016: I wasn't entirely happy with the extruder/x carriage mount or the X-stepper motor mount. Some of the wires were flexing too much and I was worried that they may experience excessive strain because of it. Also, I was inspired by a YouTube video I saw; sorry, I can't remember how to find it, where the circuit board case had a connector for a cable chain. So I've added support for a chain from the X-stepper motor to the circuit board case. Finally, I redesigned the extruder/x-carriage mount to have a slot for the SN04 sensor cable and lowered the whole mount by about 8mm. This means that the screw holes for the mount are now part of the cable channel, but I added enough material to the channel to allow the screw heads to be fully counter-sunk. Dec 13, 2016: Well, the testing of the electronics box went faster than expected, so I've added it to this project. The project is now complete. UPDATE Feb 27, 2017: I have modified the case bottom to better handle the display cables, the USB jack, and cable entry points. This version has all the entry points at the level of the board. I also reduced the size of the cable chain mount on the top so you could use the same case without the cable chain if you wish. Post-Printing: How many of the links will you need? I have been experimenting, and I've been able to get the best result for me with 18 links, 9 of each type. Additional hardware required. For the mounting of the chain and the box themselves, the screw currently used should work okay. However, I found I needed a slightly longer M3 for the X-Motor mount or AKA Left X-carriage mount to have sufficient bite into the stepper motor. For the box, you will need an additional 4 M3 x 22mm or greater (don't exceed M3 x 30 or you may punch through the back).