Best way to remove Zim board to solder new USB connector

#1

Hey, y’all.

Sorry if the answer to this is found elsewhere and I just didn’t look hard enough. I’ve read a whole bunch of posts looking for this.

I’m the proud new owner of a (used) zeepro zim. I bought it used and am in the process of doing the DIY dance to decouple the printing experience from Zeepro.

I’ve got all the stuff (including a USB adapter), but I’m wondering if there are some best-practices for taking the RAMPS/Zim board (whatever the right name is) out. I’ve already taken the cubieboard out.

I’ve seen that several of you have disconnected/removed the steppers in the base that feed the filament out of the cartridges. I’ve got a bunch of filament in cartridges, so I’d like to use the cartridges in the short term.

If I’m still going to use the cartridges, but octopi, I still disconnect them, right? Is there a way to do that w/o taking the bottom off?

I saw @BDub’s post about how it was a PITA to get the bottom off and back on again.

I’ll poke around and try to find my own answers, but in case there was a ‘best practice’ for taking out the steppers in the filament compartment and the RAMPS board for a usb solder job, that’d be great!

Thanks!

#2

It looks like the easiest way, is just to hit the 8 screws in the linked post. I think I’ll be able to do the desolder/solder job w/o taking the whole assembly apart.

#3

As the board of the ZIM is just a Ramps + Arduino combined we (the community here) should maybe think about installing other boards as the wires have to be re-routet - that’s it.
I marked every cable on my ZIM where they belong to (Steppers, LED,…) but we would need something like an adapter board: plug in the ZIM cables on the one end and plug in the standard 4pin (or 2 pin for sensors and endstops) on the other.

If I would have the problem with this non working USB connector I would think about using another electronic board :confused:

#4

I converted my zim over to run repetier host from my computer using the usb connection and ran into a couple of problems.

  1. I think the Zim board using lead free solder since my old soldering iron (25w) wouldn’t get hot enough to melt it. Had to buy a new 40 watt iron.
  2. When unscrewing the bottom of the Zim I found that Zeepro had crossed threaded a couple of the screws and then stripped the head on one making it a big pain to get off. I only ended up putting about half the screws back into the base since I removed everything but the ramps board I saw no need for 8 screws.

Edit: I would recommend labeling all of the wires as to where they go as you remove them so its easier to reassemble. I also took pictures of how mine was put together for future reference.

#5

If your USB connector “PLUG” is not super glued in like mine was… you might not need to take anything apart. Try to pry that plug out first… if it has glue, I’d probably think about replacing the connector and then you’ll want to drop the bottom of the zim and remove the zimboard (ramps board) anyway. Just take note as to how it’s all put together because it’s a work of art :smile: that you’ll have to recreate.

#6

Yeah, thanks all.

I was able to successfully pull out the board to replace the USB. It was glued in pretty good. I tried the first couple of tricks that I saw in the forums, but I figured I’d just replace it. I happened to have the correct USB adapter on hand (from a DIY Arduino kit).

I haven’t printed anything yet, but I’ve flashed the firmware and set up/plugged in octoprint and octoprint is talking to the zimboard.

I had the USB connector on hand, but I didn’t have another controller board lying around. :slight_smile:

For me de-soldering/re-soldering was pretty easy (other than pretty much ruining a soldering iron tip because I let it oxidize too much while I wasn’t paying attention). You’re right, @scientsit434, some of that solder was a pain to get off. I’m also guessing lead-free.

Yeah, I totally did that. Taking stuff apart is so much easier than putting it back together. :slight_smile:

If I would have thought of it beforehand, I would have done a quick video, but alas, I didn’t. I’ll try to better document what hacks I do for other future ZeePro acquirers.

Thanks, y’all!