Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

itilguru wrote:I intend this post to be a learning experience for others, not a whine festival. I knew I was buying a kit, I'm fine with it.

First, a few updates to the manual:
A. Fish the limit switch wires through the uprights before you mount them on to the base. It's very easy at this point, but damn near impossible later.
using a heavier gauge wire or similiar, fish this in first then attach the limit switch wires to that and pull them through

B. Mount your power supply loosely while building the base. If you tighten the screws you can't get the top aligned to the upright board slots.
power supply can be mounted once everything is installed, does not need to be installed right away. matter of fact, i built all the mechanicals first then came back to electrical part.

C. Be very careful with wire lengths. Do not assume they will fit. Assume they will not.
yeah, you need to check before wiring

D. Buy some crimps and practice first. Learning how on these small gauge wires will kill you and waste precious parts.
if you have the correct tool crimping wires is easy

E. Inventory everything up front by walking through the directions. I was missing a crucial gear but was very kindly helped. Still, it was more delay that cost me because my free time disappeared while waiting.

always a good idea

Now a few problems:
1. My limit switches don't fit. At all. They are of a different design than the manual and you CANNOT connect the plugs at the top and still have room to mount the switches on the wood. If you bend the metal to make it fit, the connectors splay out too far, and now your wires are once again too short. This was the last straw for me.

solder vs using the connectors

2. All the wires are too short by about six to eight inches. I can't make them reach to the RAMBO anywhere. Please make these longer. I'm going to buy a bunch of extenders for the plugs.
hmm wires are included in the kit aren't they?
3. I really cannot crimp to save my life. I went through half the connectors learning how, and still they pop loose. Find a different kind of connector to use.
if they pop loose out of the housing then you've crimped them incorrectly and/or crushed the locking tab in the pins

4. My rods came ready to use, but the carriage still had to be sanded. That's nuts. Either pick some parts that don't require sanding, or mill them before shipping like with the rods.
no getting around this one, agree they could get better at this

5. The "manual" is awful. I've already pointed out several problems, and people here already know it, but this needs an overhaul badly. Once you do it, deprecate the older versions prominently on the site.
yep
6. The parts I got don't match the manual. I had to check forums to see how to use them.
manual is not up to date, another reason why a manual needs to be maintained, updated and included with these kits.
7. I got no cover. Is that normal? If it is normal, why are the cover uprights still part of the design? They just block access to the interior.
cover is no longer included from what im told

8. I got a bag of binder clips, but no hot bed glass to hold down with them. I think that's normal, but why?
boro glass is optional, and extra

I need to find a way to make the limit switches work, need to buy some replacement crimps (anyone know a supplier and part #?), and then I need to build the hot end. With my limited free time, that's another weekend away.

solder your connections

I can't wait for that first print. I'm pretty sure my crimps won't work right, the carriage is probably a bit loose and will need to be shimmed, and I'm really worried about the limit switches not working and the belts being damaged. But if I can get something out of that hot end, it will all be worth it.

carriage shouldn't need to be shimmed, just adjust the concentric spacers
Comments welcome.

itilguru wrote:Another improvement needed: make the hole in the slider bigger where the belt has to go through. This could be 3-4 times taller without causing any issues, but would vastly improve the ease with which you fish through the belts.

Until that's fixed, try this: Move step 19.x - thread belt through ridiculously small hole at right angle in crowded rail, in front of 8.2 - mount cheapskate to rail. You can feed the belt in easily here because there's lots of room to move things. Make sure the belt doesnt go around the motor pulley. Don't put the belt locks on when the manual says to. You just have to remove them again anyway. Wait until the adjustment step. Once the belt is in, then fasten on the belt locks.

Here's a bonus help to more easily remove the tape over the laser cut boards. Heat up the whole tape side with a hot hair dryer first. The tape comes off in one continuous sheet if you go slow and keep it warm. Just don't use a heat gun or you'll hurt yourself.

Another tip: Install the cheapskate t-nuts before step 16.3. Use the same method as before, a screw and washer to tighten them up, then remove the screw.