Orbiter v2.5 summary
Orbiter v2.5, the evolution of the popular Orbiter v2.0, one of the most popular extruders out there, got even better!
Orbiter v2.5 uses the body of the Orbiter 2.0, and it's available as a brand new extruder and as an upgrade kit for existing Orbiter v2.0 owners.
Our favorite manufacturer of the Orbiter v2.5, of course, is LDO Motors!
Features
The new Orbiter v2.5 is based on the well-known Orbiter v2.0 with a few improvements that extend its extrusion performance even further.
Firmware configurations are the same as for the Orbiter v2.0, check the Orbiter v2.0 webpage for details. Due to different cutting technique, the rotation distance & steps/mm might change slightly, so a new extrusion calibration is advisable; however, the base setting is still the same:
- steps: 690 steps/mm @ 16 micro-stepping
- rotation distance: 4.637
Knurled spider-shaft design
One of the major changes is a new knurled spider-shaft design. The outer dimension of the spider-shaft is slightly larger than the inside diameter of the drive gear due to the knurling process. This way the drive-gear is press-fitted over the spider-shaft with very good concentricity. This of course results in a more consistent extruding speed and a nice smooth print surface without ugly diagonal artefacts.
Orbiter v2.0 standard shaft
measured eccentricity deviation: 50-140µm
Orbiter v2.5 knurled shaft
measured eccentricity deviation: 20-30µm
The internal bearing is changed from MF148ZZ to MF679ZZ. The new bearing has 9mm inner diameter, which helps in the assembly process.
Wide cut RNC coated gears
New innovative drive gear design with flat bottom cut. Regardless of the filament position, the effective drive gear diameter is the same.
With regular, circular shaped filament-grabbing teeth, the filament must be perfectly centered. Any side movement of the filament will change the effective contact diameter between the drive gear and filament, therefore changing the extrusion rate. This phenomenon is super nicely explained by MirageC, in his video about: Extrusion Quality - Mystery issue resolved! (minute ~18).
Our flat bottom wide-cut gear design completely eliminates this phenomenon, since even if the filament moves sideways, the effective drive gear diameter remains the same.
The new gears are RNC coated with higher hardness, HRC60+.
Orbiter v2.0 standard
Bondtech gear
Orbiter v2.5 flat bottom wide-cut RNC
nano coated gears with HRC60+
Image gallery
Orbiter v2.5 upgrade kit
The new Orbiter v2.5 shares many components with the v2.0. LDO is offering an upgrade kit for the Orbiter v2.0 owners. With this, users can easily upgrade to the new performance level at a lower cost.
The upgrade package includes many additional spare parts. The minimum needed for the upgrades are the spider shaft with the pressed-on drive gear and the idler gear. The other parts are spare ones, in case your original Orbiter v2.0 has some wear or some parts are damaged during the dissassembly process. Nevertheless, our recommendation is to replace all the optional parts as well.
Upgrade kit packing list:
|
Item |
Pcs |
|
Pre-assembled Shaft |
1 |
|
M3x3 screw |
3 |
|
Wide cut idler gear |
1 |
|
Idler gear PEEK bushing |
1 |
|
Bearing MR148ZZ |
1 |
|
Bearing MR85ZZ |
3 |
|
Latch |
1 |
|
Molded planetary gears housing |
1 |
|
Planetary gears |
3 |
|
Hex Wrench, 2.5mm |
1 |
The kit is only compatible with genuine LDO Orbiter v2.0 extruders!
The kit includes three 0.1mm shims. Since the main gear is hard-pressed on the spider shaft, it is difficult to adjust the exact position. In case the drive gear is too much towards the front of the extruder, adding 0.1mm shims helps align the main drive gear to its optimal position. The number of shims added should be adjusted to the actual situation.
The upgrade guide:
Orbiter v2.0 to Orbiter v2.5 upgrade guide
Upgrade description by Brandon Stephenson
1.
Open the latch by unscrewing the tension screw.
2.
Remove the 2 x M3 screws
3. If
you have an Orbiter Sensor, remove it at this time
4.
Remove the motor.
5.
Turn upside down. Unscrew the filament guide screw 2-3 turns.
6.
Remove the back cover
7.
Remove the gears
8.
Using a small hex screwdriver, push the idler retaining pin out from the latch.
9.
Remove the idler gear.
10.
Remove the peek bearing from the idler gear and insert into the v2.5 idler
gear.
11.
Put the idler gear back in with the lager gears towards the front of the
Orbiter.
12.
Press the idler retaining PIN back into the latch to secure the idler. It
should not protrude from either side.
13.
Insert the v2.5 gear from the rear into the front bearing.
14.
Note the alignment of the filament teeth to the filament guide screw. If the
teeth are forward, pull the gear back out and use 1 or more shims. Typically, 2
are needed. Re-insert gear and check alignment again.
15.
Close the latch and tighten the tensioning screw until it touches the door.
16.
Turn upside down and screw the filament guide screw in 2-3 turns. Spin the rear
gears. If no binding is heard/ felt, screw the filament guide in slowly until it
touches the gears. Unscrew ¼-1/2 turn. Spin gears to ensure there is no binding.
17.
Put small bearings on the 3 gear posts.
18.
Put the plastic gears on the bearings.
19.
Put a small amount of grease around the inside teeth of the back cover.
20.
Reinstall the back cover.
21.
Install the motor (may need to rotate while installing to get the teeth to
align).
22.
Install the orbiter sensor if used.
23.
Unscrew the tension latch
24.
Install the 2 x M3 screws.
25.
Torque to 7-14in lbs.