Universal Rewind Spool Dry Box, Drybox mounted to Prusa XL / 3030 Frame Using Filler Brace

I really liked Vincent Groenhuis’ Universal Rewind Spool Holder and have been using it on my MK3S+ in an enclosed dry box. Recently, I upgraded to a Prusa XL and wanted to be able to still use that spool rewind system with it to keep the tension consistent. But there were no ready made solutions. So I merged a lot of creative designs to solve my dilemma.

First, I started with K2ij3’s Filament Spool Storage Box bottom as foundation for the dry box. This design is great since it has a gasket already designed for it. I needed a way to incorporate a PC4-M10 pneumatic connector but with the flexibility of a gyro base to allow the filament to move unheeded as it is fed into the printer. This does let some air into the dry box but the unhindered filament feeding is more important then getting a filament jam. My first version of this with a fixed pneumatic connector, the filament got stuck in the dry box and would not feed to the printer. This version with the gyro base has not had any problems so far. I extended the height of the dry box bottom to accommodate 1K spools such as Prusament, Hatchbox or Overture. I printed K2ij3’s gasket in TPU and glued it in the dry box bottom groove.

I made an alternate version for the bottom with a window and window frame to allow you to see inside. The window has a viewing area of 80mm x 35mm. This version uses an additional (6) M3x8 countersunk head screws and M3x3 brass heat set inserts to fasten the window frame to the bottom. I cut and snapped the 2mm acrylic that I purchased from a local hardware store. The acrylic was sanded to fit the window frame. Since, it was such a tight friction fit no glue was required. I also made yet another version of the window bottom but included an optional hygrometer to monitor the humidity.

Then, I took CHAOSDRUCKER’s CC-RS Rewinder System, a remix of Vincent Groenhuis’ Universal Rewind Spool Holder (MM) to be the heart of the rewinder system. This rewinder is great since you can change the tension on the spring by rotating the dial. I needed a way to mount this to the Prusa XL 3030 Frame. I used Dark_Asylum’s CC-RS Rewinder Adapter for Filler System as half of the solution. But I reduced the height the rewinder adapter to allow clearance for a removable desiccant container to be used. For the other half of the solution, I created a modification of Frol’s 2020/3030 profile brace  for Filler Spool Holder - Parametric, a remix of HugoG’s Filler - Filament Holder by splitting the vertical brace for M4 in half and adding (4) holes for M3 countersunk screws in the top half and M3x3 heat set inserts for the back half that allows the dry box lid to be attached to the Prusa XL 3030 frame. The back half was also narrowed to match the profile of the 3030 frame and allow clearance for the acrylic frame I use to enclose the bottom half of my printer. This way the CC-RS Rewinder system has a way to be mounted to the dry box and the dry box has a way to be mounted to the Prusa XL 3030 Frame.  The vertical brace was also offset mounted to the dry box lid to center the spool inside.

I also made an alternate lid, desiccant container with cover to allow the use of 2-5mm desiccant beads to help keep out moisture. This version uses an additional (2) M3x10 socket cap screws and M3x3 brass heat set inserts to fasten the lid and desiccant container together. The desiccant container with cover uses (8) M3x8 screws and M3x3 brass heat set inserts. This will allow you to replace the desiccant container while keeping the lid attached to the Prusa XL frame. There are a total of (9) holes in the lid that was at first to hold brass heat set inserts. Initially, I just had a cover that went on the lid. This worked fine but I found that I had to remove the lid to replace the desiccant beads. So I adapted a removeable desiccant container with the original design and just use (2) of the brass heat set inserts to allow the lid to still be mounted when changing the desiccant beads. There’s about a 20 percent drop in humidity using the desiccant version. 

The grill of the desiccant container bottom and top cover is slicer generated. In Prusa Slicer, import the lid cover as one object with multiple parts. Add an infill modifier for an infill of 30% with any pattern. I chose Honeycomb for mine. Also, add a layer modifier for top shell of 0, bottom shell of 0, and a layer of 0.2.

For either version, you will need to download CHAOSDRUCKER’s CC-RS Rewinder System and K2ij3’s Filament Spool Storage Box’s gasket and latches to use this. I used K2ij3’s original thicker box version as the base. The original Prusa XL spool hardware can be reused to mount the dry box.

I uploaded a Prusa Slicer 3mf file of everything to show orientation. The base, lid and window frame will require supports. The file numbering is in relation to what spool print position. Ex: Base Window 140 1 - 3 means windowed base for spool print position #1 and #3. I'm still new to creating files for 3D printing. This was cut, pasted and built in 3D Builder. The models are in several pieces as I noticed the more I merged parts the more distortion in printing. When importing the 3mf files in Prusa Slicer, I load the file as a single object having multiple parts and the file loads how it is supposed to look.
 

Added: Revised Rewinder Adapter - enlarged hex hole - 7/30/24

Max Spool Dimensions:

Diameter: 210mm
Hole Minimum: 30mm (diameter of CC-RS screw)
Width Maximum: 95mm (length of CC-RS screw)

Hardware and Materials:

Lid
         (4) M3x40mm socket cap or button head screws

Optional Desiccant version - same as above with additional
         (2) M3x10mm socket cap or button head screws
         (8) M3x8mm countersunk screws
         (10) M3x3 brass heat set inserts

Base
         (4) M3x40mm socket cap or button head screws
         (1) PC4-M10 pneumatic connector
         (1) PTFE tube 4mm OD
         (4) M3x12mm socket cap or button head screws
         (4) M3x3 brass heat set inserts

Optional Window version - same as above with additional
         (6) M3x8mm countersunk head screws
         (6) M3x3 brass heat set inserts
         (1) 84mm x 39mm acrylic (2mm thick)

Optional Hygrometer version - same as above with additional
         (1) standard rectangular hygrometer (48mm x 28mm)

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CC-RS-Rewinder System (For Each Spool)
         (1) M8x130mm Hex Head Bolt
         (2) M8 Flat Washer
         (1) M8 Lock Nut
         (2) 608-2RS Skateboard Ball Bearings

Modified the filament spool storage box lid to mount on a Prusa XL / 3030 frame and allow the usage of the popular Filler, filament holder, brace. Added a PC4-M10 pneumatic connector with a gyro base to create an unhindered PTFE tubing to feed filament to the printer. Split the filler brace in half and reduced the width of the back half of the brace. Shortened the height of the filler adapter to allow clearance for the desiccant container.