We’ve had a like affair with the Monoprice choose small because it came out. The inexpensive printer has its flaws, though. one of them is that the controller is a bit opaque. On the one hand, it is outstanding that it is a 32-bit board with an LCD. On the other hand, we have no method to customize it quickly other than packing the ready-built binaries. want to add bed leveling? several fans? A second extruder as well as mixing head? great luck, because the board doesn’t support any type of of those things. [mfink70] chose the controller had to go, so he upgraded his small with a Smoothie board.
On the plus side, the Smoothie board is likewise a 32-bit board with lots of power as well as growth capability. On the downside, it costs about half as much as the printer does. just replacing the board was only part of the battle. [mfink70] had to concern about the steppers, the end stops, as well as a few other chances as well as ends.
Luckily, the stepper connectors are compatible. a few of the motors were reversed, however the Smoothie board can deal with that kind of configuration with a easy modification to a text file. The end stops as well as many of the other wiring needed connectors to find off (the Smoothieboard mainly utilizes screw terminals).
Of course, the new board won’t drive the old display, so he likewise replaced the screen with an MKS touchscreen (driving the expense as much as well over half the machine’s cost). The payoff, though, is you wind up with a riches of growth options.
There are lots of other mods you can finish with less expense, of course. If you are thinking about our original evaluation (of the very first generation model), it is still out there.
