Are these upgrades still necessary for a V2?

[Reederoo]

Hi,

I am new to the forum. I am considering buying a Rostock Max V2 kit and want to get some feedback from those of you that have them.

In browsing the forums I've read about various upgrades that seem to resolve some issues with the original Rostock, like delta arm friction issues.
Can anyone explain if / why these upgrades are still necessary? (i.e. what are the limitations of the parts that ship with the V2 stock kit that make these upgrades worthwhile?)
1) magnetic ball delta arm mod
2) hot end upgrade
3) extruder upgrade
4) aluminum build plate / heat spreader
5) stepper motor dampers - are they now part of the V2 kit, or is it still necessary to buy seperately?

Part of my reason for asking is also to judge the level of reliability I should expect from the machine. If these upgrades are necessary to get hassle-free printing after proper calibration, I'd like to know that before I buy

Thanks in advance for any input!

[Tinyhead]

In browsing the forums I've read about various upgrades that seem to resolve some issues with the original Rostock, like delta arm friction issues.
Can anyone explain if / why these upgrades are still necessary? (i.e. what are the limitations of the parts that ship with the V2 stock kit that make these upgrades worthwhile?)
1) magnetic ball delta arm mod

I've done this mod on my V1 (bought just before the V2 came out, so it has the updated arms) and I can hardly notice a difference in print quality. The new style arms are excellent.

2) hot end upgrade

This mod is typically so that you can get higher temperatures out of your hot end. I think the stock hot end has a max temp of 247C where something like the E3D can go much higher because it's all metal. The higher temps allow you to use more exotic materials other than PLA and ABS. If you don't have a need to print things in material such as Nylon, the stock end is great.

3) extruder upgrade

I think for the most part people are very happy with the EZStruder that comes with the Rostocks now. Very simple and reliable.

4) aluminum build plate / heat spreader

I notice quite a few people have a heat spreader when they're printing large prints in materials such as ABS where it tends to warp. I think as long as you get good bed adhesion and the parts aren't going out to the edges of the build plate, most seem to do well without one. I'm sure someone with a spreader might shed more light on this one though.

5) stepper motor dampers - are they now part of the V2 kit, or is it still necessary to buy seperately?

These are sold separately. There are the cork/neoprene dampers or the Astrosyn dampers. I was fine with my V1 for the first few months, but I have it running most nights where I'm working and decided the other day that it could be a bit more quiet. It's by no means excessive stock though. The Astrosyn dampers are supposed to be very nice, but I think the cork ones are very cheap and likely do a half decent job of cutting off some of the sound.

Part of my reason for asking is also to judge the level of reliability I should expect from the machine.

There are some guys that run their machine(s) constantly and rarely have a problem. The entire unit (in my opinion) is extremely reliable. Especially for something that's essentially designed as a hobby unit. It's very nice quality and they guys at SeeMeCNC are great if you ever have a problem.

If these upgrades are necessary to get hassle-free printing after proper calibration, I'd like to know that before I buy

Should be as good as you build it! A number of 'upgrades' are simply tuning into people's specific needs. I think anyway.

Thanks in advance for any input!

[Eric]

Hi,

I am new to the forum. I am considering buying a Rostock Max V2 kit and want to get some feedback from those of you that have them.

In browsing the forums I've read about various upgrades that seem to resolve some issues with the original Rostock, like delta arm friction issues.
Can anyone explain if / why these upgrades are still necessary? (i.e. what are the limitations of the parts that ship with the V2 stock kit that make these upgrades worthwhile?)
1) magnetic ball delta arm mod
2) hot end upgrade
3) extruder upgrade
4) aluminum build plate / heat spreader
5) stepper motor dampers - are they now part of the V2 kit, or is it still necessary to buy seperately?

Part of my reason for asking is also to judge the level of reliability I should expect from the machine. If these upgrades are necessary to get hassle-free printing after proper calibration, I'd like to know that before I buy

Thanks in advance for any input!

Necessary is the wrong word for any of those. Some of them may be desirable, but unless you're doing something special, none of them are necessary.

[guanu]

I may be biased since I work at seeme and all, but I dont use any of thoes and have tons of print time logged on my printers..

I like the magnetic arms, but I see fault in them as well since I use travel speeds of 300mm/sec, so lots of fast travels can shake it loose if the magnets arent crazy strong

for the hotend, I've never used anything but our hotends, so I really have no experience with others.

Theres not many extruder upgrades out there, unless you switched to a geared system and I've printed pretty much every material, even the new ninjaflex (I should really get going on my writeup on how I slightly modded an extruder so I can print ninjaflext at 50mm/sec or higher)

Also have never tried an aluminum plate as I found the glass + hairspray to work fantastic.. and I never run my heated bed up past 85 (the temp I use for abs) so there was no need.

Now on to the stepper dampers... I have used both cork and the astrosyn dampers.. and honestly I found that there wasnt enough noticeable difference to bother, what made the most change was dampening the base of the machine... its amazing how much it can change by sitting on something soft compared to straight on a table. Putting the machine on like a towel or some soft pad can make a world of difference in the sound... on one of my machines I put a bunch of thick garage door foam (comes in a roll with one side adheasive and its thick foam)

So really no, theres no "needed" things, its more of customization and making your machine your own by tweaking what you feel you want, all personal preferance.

Guanu

[Reederoo]

Thank you all for the great info. That really helps my decision. It sounds like I can be pretty confident of reliable printing without the upgrades for most things as long as I build it well.

I think I might get the motor dampers for extra quiet operation since it will probably in the office near the computer.

[JohnStack]

Guanu is biased and we're impatient; therefore, we're all wrong.

You don't need to mod the machine but what you're asking is like asking a high school debate class what's for lunch.

Work with your printer stock first - like most of us did. It builds great experience at a base....

[lordbinky]

Solely from experience with the V1 rostock max: As for the aluminum heat plate/spreader, if I recall correctly, most of those making that upgrade had not enclosed their rostock before making that upgrade, and a few have after that particular upgrade. Even using a temporary and quick trashbag + cardboard enclosure, I was able to alleviate alot of my bed adhesion & layer splitting problems. I suspect an enclosure (which you can mostly, or completely I suppose) or heat spreader are both viable solutions to bed adhesion.