Repair or use for spares

[Wellmeadow @wellmeadow I have several Robox units Kickstarter and Commercial Shrewsbury, UK]

I have two Robox printers - a Kickstarter which is still going strong and a production model which has a failed bed heater and a blocked head.

I wonder when the cost of repair exceeds the value of a machine for spare parts? This is likely going to cost me £200-£300 to get going again I guess. A second hand one costs around £500-£600 on EBay. I wonder what the second hand value of the parts is? Extruder, motherboard, axis motors etc.

Any thoughts?

Trying to spread the word about 3D printing to small and medium sized businesses in the West Midlands.

[Wellmeadow @wellmeadow I have several Robox units Kickstarter and Commercial Shrewsbury, UK]

Or maybe I should wait until they release a laser cutting head so I don’t need the bed or FDM head?!

Trying to spread the word about 3D printing to small and medium sized businesses in the West Midlands.

[Mike @17bt CHORLEY, Lancashire]

@wellmeadow A new head will cost £125-150, and is classed as a consumable! 🙂

A bed heater I have no idea how much they are, other than it’s a 220V part. I’m sure you can get one of these from other sources if your tinker levels are good enough, but that might not be without safety issues or problems later, however look on the bright side, you could have an unheated bed aka PLA only printer up and running for just the price of a new head 😉

Personally, I’d keep it, rather than break it up. You never know it could even be repurposed with some additional skunkworks. 😀

Knowing the price of some spares, I can see why you’re asking the question too, but not sure it is economic to split or part them yet.

 

 

[Wellmeadow @wellmeadow I have several Robox units Kickstarter and Commercial Shrewsbury, UK]

Good point about PLA. I had forgotten about that as I only ever print in ABS these days. Would be worth a revisit if I could unblock the head.

Trying to spread the word about 3D printing to small and medium sized businesses in the West Midlands.

[BHudson @bhudson I have both RoboxDual and other Robox versions Arizona, USA]

@wellmeadow The two normal failure modes for the headed bed are:

1. Blown thermal fuse. This can be easily repaired, though it is labor intensive, and because the thermistor must be removed and reseated the bed must be thermally tested afterward to ensure the thermistor is properly seated or the fuse will blow again. The test requires a thermometer that will handle 150 C; I use a K-type thermocouple.
2. Broken wire to the bed. This is also a pretty easy repair, though for regulator compliance CEL may not allow you to replace it yourself. However, if the bed cable has broken completely and shorted the mainboard will have been damaged and will need repair or replacement.

I have seen one or two damaged heating elements in 3 years; this is not likely to be the issue.

I operate two Betas and four Production Robox.
I am the US/Canada Technical Support engineer for the Robox.
See my 3D Hub site at https://www.3dhubs.com/phoenix/hubs/ben

[Wellmeadow @wellmeadow I have several Robox units Kickstarter and Commercial Shrewsbury, UK]

Thanks Brian.

I have seen the broken wire failure mode before on my Kickstarter and repaired it myself. I realise it’s a mains cable though so you have to be careful.

Not sure about the blown fuse one. Do I need to buy a replacement fuse? Or is it a resettable one?

Trying to spread the word about 3D printing to small and medium sized businesses in the West Midlands.

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