Has anyone else considered drag chains?

Which part doesn’t fit?

I ordered a Ender III V2 before Thanksgiving.

The maching will not boot and Creality is very slow to respond, I finally filed a claim with Paypal. Only after I filed the claim did they get back in touch with me. They gave me some troubleshooting steps. I performed these steps and sent the information back within hours. That has been a week and I still haven’t heard anything.

So I probably just got a lemon… but beware: Creality is going to be slow to respond if they respond at all.

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As a follow up to my post about the Ender printer I received: I solved the problem. The screw holding in the thermistor was tightened to the point of shorting the wires.

The original firmware didn’t know how to deal with it. It wasn’t until I loaded TH3D firmware that I actually received an error.

It is printing fine now.

Also, I rigged up a power cutoff system tied to a smoke alarm. I posted a thread if anyone is interested.

@OnefinityCNC Hello. I may have missed it, but the link in the post above is for a two pin molex connector.

Can you send the link for both sizes of the 4 pin connectors and associated pins? In other words, we need the larger connectors that connect to the motors and the smaller connectors that connect to the controller.

Thank you.

@Ziggy - check out this thread:

-Tom

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Thanks!!! I started to peruse the FAQ section but I didn’t.

I needed to do this anyway, so spent far too many hours today looking for these parts. Generally they are available but I had trouble finding the pins in a reasonable quantity. So I did source some alternatives:

Molex 39-01-3045 (black) = Molex 39-01-3042 (white)
Amphenol 10127716-04LF (black) = Molex 43025-0400 (natural)
Amphenol 10127718-001LF = Molex 43030-0001

I just ordered some today so I can’t confirm they will work properly. 10 housings and 25 pins each = 7.85 + shipping.

Once I get them in I can report back.

-Tom

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where did you find these please

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Paul - I ordered from Newark, but DigiKey has some of the parts as does Mouser. Netwark was the only place I could find all of them in one go though.

39-01-3042
39-00-0039
10127716-04LF
43030-0001

I created a BOM spreadsheet - you should be able to upload it and let the website find all the parts. I had to upload it as a zip file, which is oddly, 2x bigger than the the CSV! Good luck.

OF_Connectors_Newark_BOM.zip (845 Bytes)

-Tom

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Tom;
Thank you for the info above it has helped a lot and the bonus is they have a distributor in the UK so I am well happy.

I set my machine up everything went great,
homed in on all axis but then I set up drag chains and used the extension cables Onefinity supplied and it all went a bit wayward.
The Z won’t home and sounds like its grinding (probably a loose connection)

So I have decided to make my own extension cables in one length as opposed to having connectors in between

Can I just ask is it 18awg wire that is used?

For now, I am going to revert to the original set up until parts arrive

Thanks again for your help

Paul

Hi Paul - I believe they are using 18awg - it looks bigger than 20 or 22 to me, and the outside dimension is ~0.064 which is consistent with 18 gauge (though outside dimension is a poor indicator of wire size). I believe someone on the forum said it was shielded “alarm wire” – a quick google of alarm wire turns up many hits. You definitely want stranded wire, and I like to solder the wires into my pins when I can. I know they are “crimp” pins, but solder can’t really hurt and ensures a good connection over time. If it matters, solder directly to the pin after crimping, don’t tin the wire and then crimp - that makes a connection more likely to fail than without solder.

-Tom

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I actually asked 1F support and they said they belive the wire gauge is 22 AWG.

I originally ordered 18 but I canceled the order and went with 20.

I was afraid that 18 would either be too big for the pins or wouldn’t be flexible enough. I was afraid 22 wouldn’t carry enough current. So I compromised at 20AWG

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I asked the same question and they spec out 22 gauge, which is what they actually sent me a link to the wire they recommend from Amazon. I have recieved all my items finally, in process of wiring the machine up with no connectors except at the controller itself. Once I get things rolling I will post pics of progress and results.

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Hi Tom
This is turning out to be a mission as I cant seem to get all the stock needed from one supplier and other suppliers don’t recognize the numbers given by Onefinity.

So I’ve decided to give Onefinity an email and ask them for what I need.

Thanks for your help

Regards Paul

Good to know. The pins are rated for 18-24 I think, but it does depend on the specific item number. 20 awg seems like a good compromise.

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Update on the rewire, I have removed all plugs rewired all motors with direct wiring, still need to add the new connectors to the controller. Once completed will run some tests to see how it runs hopefully this will eliminate the connection issue’s I was having.

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Nice work Kurt. Took me a little while to figure out what you did with the Y-axis wires, but I got there. I might do the same - it never occurred to me pull them straight down instead of through the axis.

-Tom

Yes I did pull out of the tubes as well as removed a the connectors from the wires and extensions to make them one continuous wire. I have to finish the connectors that go to the controller and then test to see how well it works with no connector extensions.

If you are new to CNC - like me - and are building a drag chain system pay attention to the bolt pattern for the ends.

Of course the chains I received a few minutes ago are exactly opposite of what I needed. Sigh… :grinning:

At least Amazon has free returns.

I just discovered this same problem. I may keep the drag chain and re-design the brackets from @muddyfeet since my power cord is slightly larger and my cooling tubes are slightly smaller. I might also look at printing new ends for the chain. Too bad there is not a standard for the mounting ends.