Wades adapter plate for Printrbot Plus Z-X Upgrade

thingiverse

Still have 3mm filament that you want to use with your Printrbot Plus v2.1 with the Z-X Upgrade? This adapter replaces the standard baseplate (using Direct Drive extruder) with one that lets you mount the tried & true Wade's Extruder. I created this after having continual poor performance using the Direct Drive Extruder with the 3mm Geared Stepper motor, yet still wanted to use up the rest of my 3mm filament before moving on to 1.75mm. It works well, and the good thing is that I only lost 25mm of print width! Instructions: Print new baseplate. Insert captured nuts on bottom of the new plate, used for mounting the Wade's extruder. Remove old baseplate (detach belt, fan mount, electrical connections, detach from bearing blocks). Unscrew the screw on the bottom of the bearing block closest to the auto-leveling sensor on the sensor mount. Loosen the other screw and swing the sensor out away from the baseplate. If reusing the extruder motor, then detach it from the direct drive extruder & reattach to the Wade's extruder. Attach fan mount to new baseplate. (May have to file the holes slightly) Attach the new baseplate to the bearing blocks Attach the Wade's Extruder. Use shorter bolts so they do not extend past the captured nuts, and leave them loose. You need to notch the base of the extruder to fit over the right-hand side bolts which fasten the baseplate to the bearing blocks (see photo). In order to accommodate the bolt head you'll also need to reverse a bolt which holds together the extruder (typically driven in from right side - now drive in from left side) Slide the hot end up through the bottom and attach to extruder. Connect the hot end electrical connectors and route through the notch as before, though connector bodies will remain below the adapter plate. You can now tighten down the extruder to the baseplate. Swing the auto-leveling sensor back in position and attach. Attach the belt & tension accordingly. You may want to mount a small vertical tab of some sort to one of the baseplate mounting bolts on the top left side of the baseplate that you can then use to tie off the wires to keep them out of the gears (see photo). You're now reassembled & after a few adjustments will be ready to go! Change Extruder steps using the M92 G-Code command. The standard setting for the Wade's Extruder is E590. Change Max-X position using the M211 G-Code command. (My max-x went from X190 to X165) Save these new settings using the M500 G-Code command. The hot end is now at a different height, so you need to re-calibrate your auto-leveling sensor. Change X-Max & Print Area Width in Repetier-Host Printer Settings/Printer Shape