Toilet Seat Replacement Hinge

3 1/2 years ago a piece of our toilet seat broke. My wife still thinks Thing 26085 (yellow part in photos) is the best 3D print I have done. Last week, another part of the hinge broke and the other side of the hinge failed days later. So it was time to warm up the printer!

Print Settings

Printer:

Custom MakerSlide build

Rafts:

No

Supports:

No

Infill:

25%

Notes:

This is an easy print. I printed in ABS. The only bridging is for the hinge and that is a gradual change. You do want good bed adhesion to keep the pieces flat for good fit.

Since this is an easy print, I output both parts in one .stl file.

How I Designed This

OpenScad

Four years ago I used SketchUp for my 3D designs. This was ok for getting started, but it was a real pain to modify existing designs. About a year ago, I started using OpenScad and I haven't looked back.

For this design, I used dimensions from the previous part and some simple measurements. My first iteration had the hinge point back too far and I had some clearance issues. A quick change and everything fit fine.

Possible Improvements

This thing is functional and I don't plan on making any improvements other than item 0 until there is another failure. This is the second of three hinge pieces to fail. When/If the third piece fails, I may improve the design.

1. Let wife pick color and reprint.
2. Slight clearance problem with top lid and the hinge.
3. Redesign top lid design.
4. Use polyhedron instead of cube for main base. Narrow the back for faster print and less material.
5. Have an entire set of hinge pieces. (Three different parts plus mirror pieces.)