UBIS13s upgrades for Metal Plus

[cyborg5]

I recently had a nozzle clog and in the process of trying to clear it, I must've damaged some wiring on my hot end because it will no longer heat up. This is on a metal plus purchased in July 2015. Obviously the only replacement option is the UBIS13s. But of course that means adding a cooling fan etc. Overall I'm disappointed in the documentation necessary to do this upgrade. I don't like the idea that I have to print a shroud to mount the fan. How my supposed to do that when my printer is currently not working?

Several questions here…

I have no idea what revision of the circuit board I have. How do I know if it can support 2 fans? Do I need the splitter cable?

Can I get by without the second fan long enough to print the new fan shroud?

Can I print it with PLA or does it have to be ABS? I've never printed ABS in the 2 1/2 years that I've had the printer and I'm not anxious to go out and buy a spool just for this one part.

Is any kind of firmware upgrade necessary?

These are probably stupid questions but like I said… I'm not finding much in the way of documentation.

[RetireeJay]

The board revision is printed on the board, near the connectors for the heated bed and hot end. On this picture the board revision is about under the "M" of the overlay caption for "Motor Control Potentiometers".

The Ubis13S should not need a change of firmware, as it uses the same thermistor as the original Ubis.

You could print the shroud in PLA and then see how well it holds up. If the shroud fails due to excess heat, you have alternatives besides ABS. T-Glase and other PET type filaments have similar temperature ratings to ABS and are much easier to print because the bed doesn't have to be so hot that it can burn your hands. Also, some people (including me) find the smell of hot ABS to be very objectionable; T-Glase has no discernible smell to my nose (not even a "corn" smell). Your nose may vary.

Yes, you will have to find some way of powering the Ubis cooling fan. Printrbot does sell a splitter cable. And yes, the 13S can be used without a fan although they highly recommend using one.

[cyborg5]

I do have a spool of t-glaze so I will try that. Thanks for the reply.