Upgrading gMax 1.5 XT

#1
Hey everyone,

I purchased a gMax 1.5 XT waaaaay back in fall of 2014, and for the last 18 months or so have struggled to print the large, flat prototypes that were the reason I purchased the printer. In those 18 months the gCreate folks have done a great job adding the features I needed -- a flat, heated print surface + auto-bed leveling. What I don't know is how possible it is to upgrade my 1.5 XT to something close to a 1.5+ XT.

Has anyone else tried to upgrade a 1.5-series printer to the new aluminum bed + new heated, glass print surface? How difficult was it? What do I need to prepare/look out for?

Has anyone tried to upgrade the 1.5 series printers to the new BLTouch bed leveling? Do I need a new print head for that?

I expect I need to purchase the following:

- gMax 1.5+ Aluminum Bed Upgrade Kit (https://shop.gcreate.com/products/gmax-3d-printer-aluminum-bed-upgrade-kit)

- 16" x 16" Heated Build Plate and Digital Controller (https://shop.gcreate.com/products/1...te-and-digital-controller?variant=19808684294)

- gMax 1.5+ Metal Y-Axis Belt Plate (https://shop.gcreate.com/collections/gmax-1-5-series-parts/products/metal-y-axis-belt-plate)

What about bed leveling? Do I need to print a new print head (I have a smaller 3D printer I might be able to print that on)? As gCreate doesn't sell this yet, does anyone know where I can purchase one? Not really sure how to proceed on this part.

Any help would really be appreciated! If someone wants to collaborate on creating an upgrade guide, I'd be interested!

Thanks!

Doug Clark
 
#2
Hi Doug,

I have a gMax 1.0 that I converted to "sortof" a 1.5XT and am working towards bed leveling also with the BLtouch sensor. I have the sensor but realized the only firmware available that uses it is for a different style LCD, and has different dimensions than my modified 1.0. I think I'm almost done with the firmware though, and a bracket for the BLtouch sensor, which I'd be happy to share when I'm done. I think it should be compatible with your 1.5XT, although you may need to adjust some of the X, Y, Z max values as they'd be different than mine.

As for the aluminum and heated bed installs, I can't help there as I have a different bed I designed myself that doesn't have heat yet. But I believe there's a pretty good install guide for both of those in the forum downloads.