The Shapeoko Forum

(was originally posted in wrong forum)

I'm finally building my Shapeoko 3, from one of the early batches. It, and the XXL upgrade I later ordered, have been in their boxes in a closet for years because I had no room to set it up properly.

I'm most of the way through the build now, but haven't yet done any wiring or calibration, so still time for me to make changes. A few questions about this build:

1. How can I order limit/home switches kit for this? The version in the store is only for the regular Shapeoko. I need the one with the extra long leads for the XXL. The XXL upgrade didn't come with anything helpful here, and limit/home switches were not a thing when I first bought the Shapeoko 3.
2. My Carbide Motion controller board is a white v2.2 board. It came in an open-sided mount with a fan. The XXL upgrade came with a full enclosure for the board, with no fan mount. Is there anything new or otherwise worth upgrading to the latest board? (that big electrolytic looks like it might be beneficial for the motors). If not, does the v2.2 board I have actually need the fan?
3. The electronics enclosure was moved to the side from the back of the X axis extrusion. Necessary? Sure would be easier to fit in my space if I could mount it on the back of the X axis rather than the left side of the Y axis extrusion. I assume the reasoning here was to keep the electronics out of the way of chips and whatnot.
4. And a silly question: for those of you who did an upgrade, which serial number did you use?

A note: if you're in a weird situation like me and have had a old Shapeoko 3 2015 version that you're building, you'll find that none of the wiki or forum links to the old build guides work (so many of the links in the Wiki are 404, presumably the carbide3d site didn't redirect when it restructured). You need them to assemble the carriages, which came as parts kits in the old version. I did finally find one via SparkFun. It doesn't include the Z axis upgrade, but I was able to piece that together via other docs and photos, despite some discrepancies on bolt length (18mm spec vs 20mm supplied etc.).

Anyway, here's the build guide I found. Hope it helps someone else:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qfTWoc ... dR0w5/view







Thanks.

Pete

1 - The XXL upgrade should include homing switches --- if it doesn't, let us know at support@carbide3d.com and we'll send you a set.

2 - the fan is optional --- the board heat sink is attached to the extrusion which functions as an efficient way to remove heat from the heat sink.

3 - It's a long way to reach the electronics if they're on the back of an XL or XXL X-axis extrusion and it complicates the cable run

4 - I only got a serial number plate in my original machine --- I guess the second in the upgrade was intended for folks with Stepokos.

WillAdams wrote:1 - The XXL upgrade should include homing switches --- if it doesn't, let us know at support@carbide3d.com and we'll send you a set.

2 - the fan is optional --- the board heat sink is attached to the extrusion which functions as an efficient way to remove heat from the heat sink.

3 - It's a long way to reach the electronics if they're on the back of an XL or XXL X-axis extrusion and it complicates the cable run

4 - I only got a serial number plate in my original machine --- I guess the second in the upgrade was intended for folks with Stepokos.

Thanks Will

My XXL upgrade didn't come with homing switches. I bought this quite some time ago, before the switches were a thing. I have a set of blue 3d printed switches that I ordered separately from a third-party, but they're huge and clunky compared to the current ones, have wires that do not reach, and don't appear to be connected the same way. I'd prefer the official ones. I'll email.

As to the board: any reasons to upgrade from my 2.2? I see shrouded headers and big electrolytic capacitors on the latest ones.

Pete

The XL/XXL upgrades were supposed to always include homing switches. Please drop us a line at support@carbide3d.com with your purchase details and we'll send them to you.

The updated board has nifty lights to indicate homing status, and capacitors for EMI. Highly recommended.

WillAdams wrote:The XL/XXL upgrades were supposed to always include homing switches. Please drop us a line at support@carbide3d.com with your purchase details and we'll send them to you.

Earlier today, I sent you/support a copy of the original orders and notes about it. Thanks.

WillAdams wrote: The updated board has nifty lights to indicate homing status, and capacitors for EMI. Highly recommended.

Thanks.

Pete