Formlabs Form 2 Heater/Tray Detect Cable Installation Tool

Description

This is a tool to assist with replacing a broken heater/tray cable for the Formlabs Form 2 3d printer. The Form 2 printer has a fatigue failure issue with the cable that connects the base to the tray. The tray moves back and forth and after many many prints, the cable will likely fail. In my case this initially manifested itself as a sporadic missing tray detected, and later on by a complete failure of the heater function. The issue is that the alignment of the tray to the body is optically critical, and Form has said in the past that the entire optical assembly needs to be removed in order to replace the cable. This tool assists in replacing the cable without disturbing the optical assembly. I was able to remove the cable connection from under the tray carefully using a long thin metal object such as a flathead screwdriver (and it may be accessible by fingers from the inside. The schematic for the heater cable harness is attached. Parts are available from Digikey and/or Amazon. I used a PA-09 crimper, and some care to crimp the insulation and the conductor separately and carefully (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002AVVO7K) I chose to use silicone insulated wire (multi-color packs available from amazon) for the replacement, and made the heater wires (red and black) 24 ga (and the rest 26 ga). Even though the bundle of silicone wires is a bit thicker, it still seems to work ok, and it is much more flexible than the original. This tool can be used to assist in re-inserting the new cable end without disassembling the tray holder or optical assembly. It's a tight fit, but it helped align the connector end, though I had to get it in initially at about a 45 degree angle, then was able to use the tool to get it lined up vertically, then was able to push up slightly and then push under the tool with a thin screwdriver to get the connector inserted, and then remove the tool. Be careful not to scratch the optical window with anything, and clean the optical window (pec pads / optical cleaner / 99.9% isopropyl alcohol / follow Form's procedure). Form has now dropped support for the Form 2 printer unfortunately (I really don't like that they did this given how useful this printer is, and it certainly makes me wonder about how soon they will drop support for future printers). /soapbox

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