Ender 5 / Ender 5 Plus XY Kit
Ender 5 / Ender 5 Plus XY Kit
Upgrade your Ender 5 Plus V-wheel motion system with ExoSlides. Start printing and stop tinkering, with the set-and-forget wheel tension adjustment of the ExoSlides, that roll on the extrusion surface vs. the rolling and rubbing action of the stock V-wheels.
Compared to the stock V-wheels, the ExoSlides offer much less wheel wear and required maintenance, have a lower profile, and offer more mounting options.
Compared to aftermarket MGN linear rails, the ExoSlides need no rail lubrication, and don't have the issue of dust gumming up the open greased rail. ExoSlides also don't bind in parallel configurations unlike MGN linear rails.
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I received the kit for my Ender 5 plus after some fits and starts with the new tariffs that have been put in place by the US but Giles was able to help me through that and I got the kit in good shape after the shipper ripped the first shipment and lost parts. Five stars to Giles for working with me on the issues with the shipper.
The instructions are ok but I found that I needed to look at some of the you tube videos to get things put together correctly. I attribute that mostly to me not following the instructions explicitly. I did find that I didn't need to use the new belt that was supplied since the existing belts were long enough with some slack so I reused those. I also had a couple of extra screws left over but that is much better than not having enough.
I am using a microswiss NG direct drive hotend and Giles kindly included the mounting plate and the BL Touch probe mounting bracket that I needed for this set up. I did need to correspond with Giles to correctly attach the probe since it was not obvious from the online instructions but he was able to provide the information in a timely fashion.
Overall I give Giles and the product 5 stars. I recommend this product since the play in the hotend that I previously experienced is gone and everything is rock solid. The motion is smooth and there are no squeaks or rattles that I experienced with the stock setup.
Delivery of the Ender 5 Plus XY system took a little longer than stated on the website, but when I asked why, via email, an answer was provided. Knowing why something is not tracking is totally acceptable, being ignored is not. The explanation given was totally understandable and the updated delivery date happened without further incident.
It took me about a day to disassemble the existing guides and assemble, calibrate and install the new ExoSlides. It was not hard to figure out, but not as easy as some installations. I did watch the video provided by Chris at Kersey Fabrications on YouTube. That was helpful, but he was using a different hot-end assembly than mine (stock). I understand that it would be pretty much impossible to cover every hot-end on the market, but making an installation video starting with something everyone knows and has some experience with, like the stock unit, might be helpful, along with some comments like, "Here's why I did this the way that I did." Again, helpful and generally informative.
I had some left over parts (not complaining, way better than missing parts), but all of the parts I needed were in the kit. It took a while to re-level the bed, and that's kinda normal, given the work that was done. Once leveled, everything is working as it should and while subjective, I'd dare say that the parts being printed are just a bit better than before the installation of the ExoSlides and way quieter when moving the X and Y axis at high speed and not not printing.
Glad I went down this path. Thanks to Chris at Kersey Fabrications for making me aware of the ExoSlides, and to Giles for making them available.
Got the kit really fast and installed them. Really nice but can’t get the bed level no matter what I do. Contacted them and never got a reply
Was looking for improvements to be made to my Ender 5 Plus XY system. Linear rails seemed like the go to solution. Linear rail system required a lot of modifications to the actual printer and was too expensive to implement. I came across the ExoSlide solution as an option. Once verified that there was a mount for my Micro Swiss NG system I purchased the kit.
The installation was pretty simple and straight forward. Prior to purchasing, I did my homework by reviewing the installation guide as well as a couple of YouTube videos on this system. It took me about an hour to make the modification.
I had to customize a mount for the CR Touch bed leveling probe since I was using a Micro Swiss NG system, but that was pretty simple. I also customized a stain relief mount for both the cable harness as well as the Bowden tube. All in all a pretty simple and worth while upgrade for the printer.
These have to be the absolute worst instructions I have ever seen. Seriously, do yourself a favor and do not buy this.
"Here's a photo, you'll need 7 screws and a TNut, of which we'll show you a photo of 3 screws in use with zero description and that's it!"
Run away and find a better product.