Disappointed with the rods.

Well title says it all really.

Maybe I've got a bad batch or perhaps the material choice is wrong but I've now had 5 of the acrylic rods break, I read somewhere that this new design was supposed to be better. I think I'll need to order up some carbon fibre rods and make the replacements I've seen suggested here. Perhaps that's what the kit should include in the first place.

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DADIY
Well title says it all really.

Maybe I've got a bad batch or perhaps the material choice is wrong but I've now had 5 of the acrylic rods break, I read somewhere that this new design was supposed to be better. I think I'll need to order up some carbon fibre rods and make the replacements I've seen suggested here. Perhaps that's what the kit should include in the first place.

i made that suggestion also, but they made a very valid point then... its way more pricy and for sure a more complicated process to make carbon rods compared to the plastic ones! i myself never broke them completely, but as soon as i saw i small crack i made the carbon fiber rods! =)

Well. I just realised that 6 are broken. They seem to stress rack after the bolt.

For a machine that I only commissioned on Sunday I would have expected the product to last better.

I might email support tomorrow and see what they say. Has anyone had any luck with that?

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DADIY
Well. I just realised that 6 are broken. They seem to stress rack after the bolt.

For a machine that I only commissioned on Sunday I would have expected the product to last better.

I might email support tomorrow and see what they say. Has anyone had any luck with that?

Not with the arms. Like i said, I never really broke them. But I've had some other pretty major issues and as a first time builder I had no other to ask. The support I got was really awesome! I got guided step by step, they event sent me a new nozzle just to be sure that wasn't the problem! In the end they helped me solve that problem!
But if your that disappointed with the arms, do you even really want new ones..? I would look for another solution instead! Like the carbon rods you mentioned! Hope you solve it!

Definitely recommend the Carbon Rods, never looked back since I made mine.

Since the Fisher is a basic built to a price kit then I guess the Acrylic arms are ok, certainly there are a lot of people who have not have problems with them.

The great thing about the fisher is that is easy to work on and improve, and I would put carbon arms close to the top of recommended mods for the new fisher owner.

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RepRapPro Mendel 3 Tricolour
RepRapPro Fisher
-Carbon Arms
-Easy adjust Carriage+effector
-axis stiffness mods
HE3D -600 delta
-Duet 0.8.5
-PanelDue
-DC42 Height probe
-RobotDigg metal components
Simplyfy3D
RS Design Spark CAD

@bgkdavis I've ordered the bits to make the carbon rods, I've already remade some of the acrylic rods but don't think that they will last either. I suspect that I must have got some duff plastic as on careful inspection there are lots of stress fractures forming on the rods supplied.

Just to follow up on my post, I made a set of carbon fibre rods using 3mm carbon fibre rod and two sets of Mugen h0855 (only 10 ends in a pack) which need to be drilled out a little to allow 3mm rod to fit.

I used a couple of 5.5mm drill bits to make a jig to hold them at the right size whilst the epoxy set (just two holes drilled in some scrap wood 160mm apart and the bits inserted). Some air gets compressed into the ends so a jig is essential to get them all identically sized.

One thing I have noticed since installing them is how much quieter the machine now is, I was surprised how much a difference it made.

Build carbon fiber rods with the 6mm joints you be happy no more broken arms.