The Fix

Our motor arrived and it was time to disassemble the extruder and install. As much I would have preferred to complete this task with students, time constraints and lack of necessary tools made this impossible.

I decided to elicit the help of my older brother Jer, who loves tinkering and exploring new tech tools. I packed up the printer and took it on a little road trip. 

We used the guide sent by M3D to help us through:

"A guide that will help you in replacing the motor here https://printm3d.com/solutions/article.php?id=15. At step 5 remove the small black housing inside the extruder and remove the X motor from that housing. Place the new motor inside and follow the rest of the guide for replacement."

Taking the extruder apart help in my own learning about how the printer works, and I'm really hoping to explore some of these components as we carry on with our 3D printing project. 

Notice extruder components

The Chip 

We tested out the printer after our installation and it was a success!

My nieces and nephews were very excited to try out TinkerCad and the M3D printer ... see there creations below!

Potential topics to explore:

- microns? What are they are what is the relation to 3D printers?

- How do Cartesian plane printers work?

- 3D printer parts and the role they play

Please post any topics/questions you have in the comments below! 

Let's deepen our learning about 3D printer form and logic!