Rubber relay holder replacement for Yamaha XJ650 Maxim

prusaprinters

Replacement for the rubber relay holder under the gas tank on my 1982 Yamaha Maxim XJ650 J and other similar motorcycles. These esoteric rubber parts tend to stiffen and crack before other parts wear out on these now ~40-year-old motorbikes. Why not print new ones with flexible filament?BackgroundThis design matches the part described on xj4ever.com as:HCP11105 Aftermarket rubber RELAY HOLDER for original metal-lid "cube" type safety system, headlight, sidestand, fuel pump, etc. relays. This grommet has a square opening (it's a copy of the original grommet), and molded of a thick-wall rubber compound.(source: http://xj4ever.com/catalog/d-13-turn-signals.html)This design matches the dimensions of the original very closely. I believe it is actually stronger than original, though, because it has divots instead of holes that hold the protrusions of the relay inside it. My original rubber piece cracked and failed on either side of one of these holes.PrintingGeneral notesIf your slicer has a seam painting feature it's best to use it to paint the seams onto the straight parts of the model, not the curved corners. Since TPU and other flexible filaments are notoriously bad with stringing and retraction, putting the seams here makes them accessible for carving off with a sharp blade after printing. The included print files come with this seam painting.The “avoid crossing perimeters” feature is also advised to prevent stringing and oozing.Using gyroid infill is best for flexible parts like this because it is isotropic, meaning it has the same strength/flexibility properties from every direction.ColorFabb varioShore TPUI printed this part in black ColorFabb varioShore TPU at 220°. With this filament, 20% density gyroid infill matched the stiffness of the original rubber holder decently.Other materialsIf you print this in another material and it works, let me know and I'll add instructions here!Included filesFusion files for easy remixingPrint files for TPU on Prusa MK3/S/+ with preset slicer settings for correct infill and avoiding stringingSTLUseI'll be happy to see anyone print this for their bike. Please post makes :)If you would like to buy or sell this part, please message me!