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3D printed replacement cases for carts

love these things. I made the hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the insert. This way it can grip the walls and gives a solid connection.
 
Finished printing the shell and it is a nice design! Thanks a lot!

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  • printed with PETG 0.2, with support on screw holes with brim
  • Looks like i got minor bending (does not look like warping) in my print, which causes some gap issues - Will reprint it in PLA to check if the problem exists with petg or the design
  • i used M2x8 screws (looks like M2x10 will fit too) - Used Ruthex M2x4 heat inserts (CAD Files for those heat inserts are available here)
  • I would love if the heat inserts holes would bei 3.1mm (currently it is smaller) since this would just insert the bottom of the inserts more easily without having to hold those in place
  • the left and right double pillars could be 0.25-0.5mm smaller on outter and inner side. That way the pcb would not scratch and both shells would fit more easily
  • lesson learned: The spacer from other design in this thread are smaller. Don't be lazy like me and print the correct ones :)
  • lesson learned: i socketed the program pcbs (since this is he recommended install method), but this makes he whole pcb about 13mm in height. Space in the shell is 9mm! (i measured this with an original shell which matches the 9mm height!). This explains why i had issues inserting the cartridge into the pgm! - After removing sockets inseration was a lot easier! This is not an issue with the design but with the installation method of the pcb components! @GC8TECH : Since you have done a lot of installs, did you ever run into that issue? Do you even socket your program pcbs?
  • since the bottom screws are more to the middle and the design is shell on shell there is no outter pressure on the shell and i got a gap there (see photo). I do not have the issue with the other version of the shell(, but i printed those in PLA). It would be awesome if this would be somehow fixable (even if this does not cause any issues!)
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  • I had no issues with the screws. Nothing broke and i had not the feeling the heat insert mounts would break "any second now" while tightening. (and i didn't force it!)
  • while adding pressure to the top (while inserting it into the pgm) i had no issues with it (the other design bended a bit and broke the heat insert mounts!). Nice!
Edit: I think i know what the issue with the gap is: The round screw pillars of the top and the bottom shell sit on each other and are causing the gap. Either top- or bottom shell pillards needs to be reduced in height ( 1-1.5mm i guess). It seems only be a problem with the holes which are more in the middle. The ones closer to the label seem to be okay
 
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thank you for the detailed feedback. The heat set inserts should be 3.2mm but it probably depends on the squeeze of the printer as there are just a few layers around the hole.
I had the same gap and I think you are correct. Snapped off the post on an early print and the gap looks a lot better. I think in the rear it is compensated by the screws that are farther out.

@Orakelschaf, will send you the Fusion file to play with. Your printer has a faster turn around rate than mine. I will try to file down the posts on my current print once the bottom is printed to check how much should be trimmed.
 
Some updates:
  • socketed chips (on the program board) is not a problem at all. Not sure what i did wrong, but it fits perfectly (and tight). No issue there!
  • i grinded down the pcb facing pillars on the bottom shell - Gap is not 100% gone, but much much better now! (no clue how much i have taken of - dremel go brrrrrrrrrrr :D)
  • i tested M2x10 screws - fits well but take a few turns more (who would have guessed...)
  • did not break anything, yet - even with trying to overtight it (to close the gap)
Overall he design is well done and in my opinion can be already used in production (the gap issue can be easily solved and the heat insert problem is depending on the heat insert brand)
 
Was busy yesterday but did another test print. Still some issues with the case not fully matching up on the cartridge slote side. Have some ideas though and sent a version of the fusion files to Orakelschaf as his turnaround is quicker. What I did test with the last print is to reduce the wall thickness of the top/bottom from 3mm to 2mm. The benefit of that is that you can then easily fitt PCBs with Sockets on both boards.
 
Hey @nnap
Finally got your case all printed. So far the fit is REALLY good. But the gap between the top case and the Program PCB (Component side) isn't quite right. On one end its almost perfect.. but when you follow it along..the gap gets bigger. Something is holding the PCB up. Plus its different at each end... Its not the easiest bit to take a picture of. Can you see what i mean?? OR do i need to take more pictures? Thanks again for all your work on this....
 

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What I saw on my prints is that the left/right edges sag a little which creates the fittment issues. I don‘t know if the result would be better with an enclosed printer. To work around this I created a new revision that putts 2 additional screws on the edges towards the cartridge slot. This should pull them down. Second half of the shell is printing now, so should have results in a few hours.
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Using the existing hole in the Fluffy PCB
 
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They look awesome! I'll do more work on the cases over christmas i think... i need some time to do more prints and tweek my printers settings....
 
It is possible that I tweaked them a little, so better download again.
 
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