Bibo OverkillSignificant overhaul of a 3D printer that did not really require it.
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Copyright (c) 2019, Dmitriy Drozdov
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BIBO2 Touch is a pretty good and not overly expensive cartesian 3D printer, based on the older 8-bit controlling board "MKS Gen L 1.0" and cheap stepper drivers. It has a dual extrusion head with direct drive extruders. Filament
spools are located on the back side. Power switch is also located there.All this creates many inconveniences.
- Installing printer in a place where it is impossible to reach to the back side makes it very hard to change filament and to turn printer on/off.
- Using an older 8 bit board makes it harder to use modern firmwares that require additional memory/processing power to calculate a best path or to use additional g-code commands.
- Use of old and cheap stepper drivers results in a lot of noise coming from stepper motors.
Here is a "stock" printer"
And here is my Bibo Overkill printer"
First modifications were pretty simple. I moved the power switch to the front using this bracket and added TPU feet. These changes
did not really do much. So, I replaced all stock 40 mm fans with silent Noctua fans. Also replaced the loudest one - power supply fan. This one was a bit tricky as they used 60 mm square fan which was only 15 mm thick. There are no Noctua fans like this.
So, I had to use a thicker one, cut a hole in power supply's cover and print a bracket for it.
Control board and drivers. After I started it was pretty hard to stop. So, I replaced the control board with pretty fresh SKR 1.4 Turbo board. Also replaced stepper drivers with TMC5160. For the SKR 1.4 I used the lates stable Marlin 2.0 firmware.
My configs are on the left. I used 32 microsteps for steppers.
First attempt to use sensorless homing was a bit of a failure. BIBO uses diifferent X and Y motors and adjusting sensitivity was a hell. Especially for the X axis. So, I decided to keep using switches. In
case someone wants to try sensorless homing with BIBO you are going to need to print some spacers for the X and Y rods to make the head not go all the way past zero. Files for the spacers are on the left.
Display. Bibo stock display did not want to work with new board. So, I ordered new BIGTREETECH TFT35 E3 V3.0 display module. Technically, it is intended for the Ender printer. But who cares, right? To stick it to the printer I used some parts
from the following thing. I just made a base for it that covered the hole from the old display.
Speaking about covering holes. Added 2 cowers to make the right side look prettier.
There was a problem with display though. Even though I used a correct config.ini as it was described in the documentation, display module was only controlling one extruder (first extruder). After trying different configuration options for several
hours I downloaded the sources, configured all the same options in there and compiled new firmware. You can find it on the left. Also replaced the logo screen to match the "Bibo Overkill" name.
Belts. While doing all the disassembly/reassembly I also replaced the timing belts with more sturdy ones. Old belts were stretchable and a bit narrower.
Extruders. I also replaced the stock plastic extruders hardware with CNC Machined Lever and Extruder Plate for Dual Extruders. I am glad I did.
Top Feeder. Then there was a time to make a top filament feeder. After researching some spool support projects I did not find anything that could be used in my case and made it myself. I am not saying that
it is perfect. But it serves the purpose - I can easily load filament without moving the printer. It also supports the filament runout sensors (I used BIBO switches there) and puts less tension on filament by using full length bowden tubes in
a way they supposed to be used, not like the stock BIBO printer does.
You can download the files for the top filament feeded from here. If you decide to make it or to use parts of this top feeded please read all the notes on that Thingiverse page first.
If you find this work useful, please, let me know in the comment area on Youtube. Or send a note using the contact form link below.