50mm Tall Vented Riser For Qidi Plus4

This is the third, and hopefully final revision of a set of vented lid riser pieces for the Qidi Plus 4.

This model reduces the weight of my earlier models, and tightens up some of the larger dimensions for a better overall fit.  Depending on the particular print settings used a completed riser set will require anywhere from ~500-800g of filament.

When printed with filament that has been calibrated correctly (see later), and fully assembled, there will be 0.6mm of thermal expansion room for where the riser nestles into the existing lid contour.  This allows the riser to expand thermally under high chamber temperatures without warping.  Additionally, since glass expands less than plastic, there will be 0.3mm of expansion room where the glass panel nestles into the contour of the riser.

The clips for a light-strip have been strengthened and are more accurately and evenly spaced out for a more uniform appearance.  The inner contour of the light-strip mounting area has been adjusted to precisely clear the inner contour of the Plus4's lid mount such that light from a light strip is no longer blocked off by the Plus4's inner support “furniture”.

I have moved the light-strip cable inlet to be in line with the contour of the inner walls so there are no longer any tight bends in the cable path, and I have placed an inlet on each side for more cable routing options.

As a consequence of weight reduction over the older designs, this opened up some small cavity areas in each of the four corners.  Even though these may not receive much use in practise they may come in handy when performing maintenance to provide safe areas to place screws and other small objects where they won't roll about while working on the printer.

This riser is compatible with both the stock filament holder, as well as my versatile filament holder mount.

The pieces all assemble together using tool-free “jigsaw” shaped dovetail joints that provides for both a sturdy and yet easy to assemble final product.

Preparation for Printing

Due to the large overall size of the assembled part (468mm x 449mm), AND the fact that all filaments will shrink to some degree after they cool, then calibrating your filament for dimension accuracy is absolutely critical for the best fitment of the final riser assembly.

I very strongly urge users to use my simple calibration cross model to dial in their Shrinkage XY percentages for their filament.  

 

Performing this step will ensure that the assembled riser will fit snugly into the printer, and that the top glass lid will also fit snugly into the riser.  Over the full size of the assembled part, I was able to arrive at an assembled part dimensional accuracy that was precisely in line with the 0.6mm cold-clearances for the riser's edges within the printer's frame.

This step is especially critical for high-shrinkage filaments like ABS or ASA where over a ~460mm distance the dimensions can easily be thrown off enough such that the glass panel will no longer fit properly within the assembled riser.

Additionally, be sure to calibrate your filament for the correct flow-rate multiplier and pressure-advance.  Both of these calibrations will be important for the best fitment of the jigsaw dovetails when assembling the riser.

The jigsaw joints were designed with a 0.16mm clearances between the contours of two mating parts.  I found that when pressure advance and flow rates are dialed in correctly, this results in parts that will slide together smoothly with minimal effort/friction, while still providing a snug fit.  If your joints are too loose or too tight, then chances are high that you need to calibrate your flow rates and pressure advance values for your filament.

Printing Recommendations

A 0.4 or 0.6mm nozzle suits best.  The model was designed to be printed with a 0.2mm layer height, and can be printed without supports.  Generally 2 or 3 perimeters/walls works best, and with a 10% rectilinear infill density.  The riser parts do not need to be super-strong.

Any filament that can tolerate temperatures of up to 75C without going soft will suit.

DO NOT USE PLA OR UNMODIFIED PETG.

It can really help to manually place seams for the first 3mm of print height into one of the corners of the light-strip mounting tabs, as the slicer has a tendency to want to place first-layer seams within the jigsaw joints, which can lead to poor adhesion with the print bed around those critical contour areas.

The two back corner models have a pair of triangular channels within the USB cable routing channel that can be used for seam placement for the first few layers.  Normally the slicer will automatically use these, but it can be good to check anyway.

It can also help to manually specify two height-range modifiers at 48.6-50.2mm with a 100% rectilinear infill density, and a 2nd modifier at 50.2-55mm with the number of perimeters set to 5.  Doing so will ensure the strongest bonding of the glass-panel “lip” to the rest of the riser object to better resist impacts from the glass panel being roughly placed into the riser.

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That should about do it!  Good luck!

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