Tronxy P802 Bed Carraige Upgrade

thingiverse

This is a simple modification that made a huge difference in getting consistent bed levels from print to print on my Tronxy P802E. I swapped out the flimsy acrylic bed undercarriage for a solid homemade aluminum one, and it's been a game-changer. I opted for the DIY route because I couldn't find any aluminum bed upgrades online that fit without major modifications, and I had some spare aluminum on hand. Before the upgrade, I'd have to fully re-level the bed every time I printed at a different temperature due to how the acrylic part shifted with temperature changes. Now, after switching to aluminum, I haven't needed to adjust anything on the bed when moving from PLA at 60C to PETG at 80 or even printing ABS at 110. To create it out of aluminum, I JB-Welded two .090" (~2mm) sheets together to make it ~.18" (4mm) thick. A single .125" (3mm) sheet would have been more efficient, but .090 is what I had on hand and alone seemed too flimsy. Once the epoxy set up overnight, I used the acrylic part as a jig to mark the holes and perimeters. (I also swapped from 3 bearing mounts to 4 at the same time.) I drilled out the holes, cut the perimeter with a jigsaw to a sort of fat X shape, and then sanded every surface to clean it up. The rear left bushing holder comes close to the Y motor but still clears fine. In addition to helping make the bed level much more consistent, this modification also allowed me to switch from bearings to plastic bushings on my bed. As you may know, bushings need to be well-aligned to avoid binding and sticking. Before with the acrylic part , I'd get everything sliding smoothly only to have it bind terribly due to the carriage twisting and warping. The aluminum carriage I made is very stable, and combined with my single cable tie bushing holder (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2538105), my next attempt at bushings worked out well, and now my prints are smoother than ever. The carriage is about 30% heavier due to my choice of overly thick material, but I still think I came out ahead on weight considering ditching the aluminum bearing blocks.