As many of you realised, the ribbon cable that connect the extruder motor to the mother board rapidly wears out due to repeated X and Y axis movements. The consequence of the metal wire breaking inside the cable is underextrusion and thus holes in printed parts.
Of course we can replace or repair the cable but that doesn't solve the issue at its source.
So what can be done ? find a wear resistant 20 pins ribbon cable ? or modify the "top housing part2" to give a certain angle to the cable ?
This part doesnt fit the new top housing but I cut off the sides and glued it to the top. I hope this stops a bit of the wearing, it does look better but I think there will always be some movement in the cable.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:631709
Edit: I printed a different version now that I looked at it. I can't find it now on the forum so I don't know who's it is but I think I downloaded the file from here.
1086
Wouldn't a 45° angle be more adapted ?
Zortrax has changed the ribbon cable connector style from IDC to crimp in recent production, presumably to improve reliability. The new cable is not compatible with motherboards designed to accept the old cable, however.
Is there any replacement alternatives for those of us who are using the older versions....? Im currently using duct tape to hold the cable in place... :(
If you clip the cable to the filament tube using any of the many clips that have been posted (I did one myself), you use the filament tube as an "energy chain" which spreads the flexing of the cable over 50 cm or so, rather than concentrated right at the connector. I've only had mine a few months, but I would expect the cable to last a very long time if you do this.