Touchplate Wiring Solution

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Your Builds
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The last wiring piece of the puzzle for me is now complete. I went out and about today looking for some 2 strand wire to run a dedicated lead to the top of the Z assembly for a plugabble Z Probe solution. At home depot they have all their “generic home audio” wiring all grouped together and that’s where I saw a telephone jack. I did a quick Google to check typical phone line wire gauge and it said typically 24AWG but sometimes 22AWG (I believe the stepper and ribbon wiring is around 22AWG). Thought I’d give it a go, hoping for enough conductivity over the run (twelve feet from my gantry max to the board).

Works like a champ, the only issue I think I’ll have is being careful not to stress the wire to the touch plate too much. It’ll do for now. Pluggable at any point in time since it’s an open circuit by default so I can home Z and then unplug it and put it somewhere safe.

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But before putting it away I could use the other end of the touch plate for it’s intended purpose… ; )

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3 Likes
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And when you’re finished homing the Z, you can pop open a cold one and watch the work in progress in style :slight_smile:

3

Very clever. Love it.

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I tried modelling an insert for the top of the tube but the internal supports didn’t come out very cleanly so I popped the shaped bits off to leave me a flat and then borrowed the kids’ 3d pen to “Gloo” (glue with goo) it in place for now. The leads attach with screw connectors on the bottom of that component so it’s an easy after fix. Now just need to support the cables on the Z and Y and call it ready to run. I’ve decided I’m not going to use the warped chain - I want this thing done and done nicely after all this time and effort. I’ll try printing out a bunch of singles. I know how many I need now at least.