Newbie with questions about printrbot play

[MakoNeko]

Not sure if this is even the right place on the forum but here goes.

I have the pre-assembled Printrbot Play and I run it with the micro SD card without hooking it up to a computer for prints. I've had to make emergency stops on several prints that hadn't been optimized for my printer and I was wondering if anyone knew the specifications for the Z axis rod that the play uses so I could maybe make a cap for the end of it so I could manually raise the nozzle away from the print without having to grab the rod and turn it with my bare fingers.

I've been searching around but I haven't found any information about it or any models etc.

any help is appreciated Thanks

[__Vinz__]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

This is not a full answer to your question but I would suggest you check upgrade. According to the videos, it is much easier to move it by hand (just move the carriage) compared to the Z lead screw equipped on the current Plays.

I don't have them at hand but otherwise the lead screw is a standard ACME one. Others her will be able to give that info to you.

[Mooselake]

Just measure the diameter of the rod and make the cap to fit it. While it might be handy to know it's specification (likely it's 1/4 inch acme) for other reasons all you should need to know is what the outside diameter is. Just make the cap to fit what's there. If you don't have a digital caliper then go buy one. The low end versions are cheap and very useful for 3D printing.

While the mentioned new lead screw can be a useful (it'll reduce friction and increase your Z speed somewhat) it's not a necessary update. Learn all you can about your printer first, then think about changing things. I've done a similar mod to my ancient plywood plus, with good results, but the original z screws never prevented it from printing successfully, and the update was more of a modest improvement other than making a significant change in the printer's capabilities.

Kirk