While the world seems to talk about eddy current based sensor probes nowadays, I still like the little PCB Klicky 🥰. So building my 2.4 I just optimized what is out there to dock the probe securely in place.
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Optimizations
The original probe dock did not hold the dock securely, the remixes I found had smaller things I did not like, so here it is, my personal favorite 🤩:
Probe Dock
It uses two magnets instead of one to hold the probe (and magnets) securely in place
… and extends the dock on the top side for the same reason (both ideas from thismod)
The magnets are placed exactly matching the position of the screw in the probe
The probe is now guided as intended by the printed parts and not by the PCB
Undocking in Action
If you have the polarity of the magnets correct (the pair of magnets on the right is installed with reversed polarity than the two pair of magnets on the left!) the undocking will work like a charm:
Picture 1: Probe is placed in the dock
Picture 2: When undocking starts and the toolhead moves to the right, the probe is still “dragged” by the toolhead.
While the right side of the probe is pushed down (good thing 👍)…
…the left is trying to go up and follow the toolhead 😳.
But the improved dock will securely keep the probe in the dock. 😎
Pciture 3: Due to the reversed polarity of the magnet on the right side of the probe, the toolhead will push the probe back down into the dock…. (and every time into the exact same position) 😍
Picture 4: …. where it stays and waits or the next bed leveling activity.
Probe Dock Mount
The new dock requires some recess in the mount for the second magnet. And I took this chance to create some mount adapters for different scenarios.
There are versions for left, center and right side mounting of the dock
As the new dock moves the probe position by around 2 mm in the Y direction, I also included short versions of all the adapters which compensate for that by moving things -5mm in Y. So this will give you even more flexibility to find the perfect spot with the probe out of the way when not in use.
Last but not least: EYEBROWS! 😎 ... how could that be missing in the original design…. 🤔
Printing and Assembly
BOM
Just one additional (ideally high temperature resistant) 6x3mm magnet
Printing
Nothing special, go with the Voron settings (no supports are needed). If you have the option print the parts in a material that provides high temperature resistance and dimensional accuracy like PC-CF.
Assembly
Note: You do not need glue! The magnets will reliably hold each other in place.
Insert the front magnet. This is designed as a friction fit so it will stay accurately and quite securely in place.
Add the second magnet to the backside
Add heat-set inserts to the adapter of your choice and mount the dock
For the probe and the setup Follow the documentation for the PCB Klicky Probe. Take special care for installing the magnets with polarity in the correct orientation (the left and right pairs must be “reversed”, see Undocking in Action above.
Compatibility
This optimized probe dock will work with all printers that allow for using the adaptive Klicky probe mount. In case you want to use it with any other printer / mount adapters there are some options:
🤩 Good Job: You can add the recess for the second magnet to your mount. There is the STEP File of the dock in the files section, so this task should not take more the 5 minutes. Probably you want the recess to be slightly bigger than the actual magnet is. It does not need to be a tight fit as the magnet is held in place by the front magnet.
😎 Dirty hack: As above, just do it in the slicer as it does not need to be accurate
🙉 SuperGLUE: Forget about the second magnet and just glue in the front magnet
📲Last but not least: Drop me a note about what model you need to be modified and I will take a look if it makes sense to add it to the model.
🙊 NO! A drill bit is not considered an option for people having access to a 3D printer
DET-Man
