The Missing Piece of My Extruder Upgrade

Squeaking sounds were coming from my CR-10 Mini for months until I realized the cause. It was the timing belt; x-axis belt to be specific. I was hoping that all I needed to do was look for a CR-10 Mini replacement belt online and change the belt. I felt I would not have an issue with the process after watching two videos on Creality’s YouTube channel. The exact length of belt I needed was not readily available anywhere, meaning I would need to cut and crimp the belt myself. That was not something I was looking forward to doing. At the time, I was unaware of how essential timing belts were to obtaining good prints.

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Installation Notes – CR10 Mini – 2nd Z-Axis

There are two reasons I installed a second z-axis; one reason was to balance the weight of a direct drive extruder I planned to install. The other reason was to balance the weight of the x-axis in general. I noticed in December that the axis was lower on the right side of the machine by about 4 mm. Considering that my first 3D printer was about 13 inches wide with dual z-axes, I was always leery about having a printer with a wider width and one z-axis. I suppose this upgrade was inevitable.

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Installation Notes – CR10 Mini – Direct Drive Extruder

CR10 Mini with upgrades desktop-am.computer

I installed a Micro Swiss Direct Drive Extruder a few days ago. Since I watched a video before buying the extruder, I knew the extruder motor would be stationed on the x-axis. I decided then that a second lead screw was needed and installed it the day before installing the extruder. There will be a post on that installation as well.

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