Tina2 first hacks
By Anar on 15/01/2022, 05:28 - Weedo Tina2 - Permalink
After my very good first tests prints on the Weedo Tina2 3D printer, I started to see how I could improve it.
And here are my first hacks and mods.
Weedo Tina2 first hacks
As I allways do, I started to hack my printer. It's something I love. Having your printer making parts for itself is something really fun.
So what can be improved ?
The filament rolls this printer use are very small and are sold at 3 time the usual price for PLA. The filament roll holder is made to fit their size and seems too weak to be able to hold a regular 1kg spool. So that's the 1st thing I decided to change. I made a 1st version that need to unscrew the original one to take its place, and later on I designed a 2nd version that can simply clip on it without having to remove it. Both versions are working well and are available for download :
As I said in my previous post, this printer seems to be marketed forward children.
Therefore it has a metal plate protection to avoid them touching the mechanism and extruder to avoid burning or hurting themselve. Let's get rid of that ! I want to be able to access the hot end and better see my models being printed. Only 2 screws need to be removed to get rid of it. But when I tested again I realized that this metal plate is also used to trigger the Z end switch. So I designed a new Z trigger that is available for download :
Z end-switch Trigger
Here is a video tutorial on how to remove the protection metal plate.
EDITED (2025): WARNING !
After 3 years of use I noticed that many people (including friends of mine) are having troubles with their hotend cables.
Investigating on that problem I think this Z triggering method is the culprit. So I warn you to not use it anymore and to use my new Z homing method instead.
Having access to the hot end, I saw that there's only one fan on it. The one that avoid the filament to get soft before to enter the heater. Usually there is also a second one that can be controlled by gcode and is used to cool down PLA at the end of the nozzle. How can this printer perform so well without one ? The answer was hidden behind the fan. In fact this only and one fan is doing both tasks. But it's not oriented at the nozzle tip and can be improved. I designed a small part to do just that and once again you can download it :
Part cooler
EDITED: I've made a second version that adapts better (recommended).
This unique fan is allways on and can't be controlled by gcode. It means that this printer won't be able to print with ABS. And anyway there's no heated bed. But wait a minute... There's a unused "Hot bed" connector on the PCB ! Until now I didn't had the time to check how much current it delivers but that's something I plan to do. Maybe I will try to add a heated bed in the future.
The printer is rated 12V but I can read 12/24V on the PCB. One thing I plan to do is to add some LEDs inside it (not done yet). I notice there's also an unused "Wifi" connector there. Yes this printer could be controlled by Wifi. But strangely in the french version this ability has been removed. Anyway I don't plan to use it this way so this is something I probably won't do. Your gcode files can be printed thru the micro SD card and probably thru the USB connector (USB cable not provided). This USB plug might probably also be used to control the printer or update the firmware. But this is something I haven't tried yet. But that I will probably do sooner or later...
So stay tuned if you want to follow my future improvements of this allready incredible "toy" !