We’ve got feedback from some users that their heated bed cable suffers from wear and tear (especially at the junction part) due to the constant bending and twisting during the printing process.
For users who resorted to our support with this problem, we’ve tried our best to offer reasonable solutions (and will always do so). But we don’t want this to happen to more users. Therefore, our Product Team designed a printable cable protector that can effectively prevent this problem.
You can download the STL file or the G-code file, print it out, and follow the installation video to install it onto your heated bed cable.
Thanks to all the inspiring and helpful discussions around this topic in the forum. Your voice contributes more than you thought, and we appreciate it always.
Be aware that PLA will deform at temperatures above 50°C, the glass transition temperature, so PLA might be a bad choice. Most ABS polymers are good up to 90°C, 100°C, or higher. ASA is similar to ABS, but the glass transition temperature of ASA is typically 10-15°C lower than ABS. If you know how to print ABS, and have the ability to, I recommend using ABS.
I had three attempts to print the spring without the print messing up, and when I finally got one, it immediately broke twice when trying to wrap it around the cable. IMHO this design doesn’t make sense, at least not using PLA, it’s way too brittle for the spring.
So in the end, rather than tossing the pieces away, I got a real steel spring, trimmed it* so it’s not too long for usage with enclosure, and manually drilled screw holes, so I could both attach the plastic piece to the bed properly and hole the spring firmly. So far it has worked without issues, hoping it extends the lifespan of the bed’s cable.
(*) if you do this, use a tool that can cut the steel, I first destroyed my electronics side cutter . Better just find a shorter spring in the first place
. Better just find a