June. 18  2022

BIQU Hermit Crab - Quick replacement of extruder tools

“Innovative move. Quick replacement of extruder tools.” -- BIQU Hermit Crab Series

Once mention the Hermit crab, you may recall a kind of decapod crustacean. Hermit crabs can be divided into two groups. One is the aquatic hermit crabs. The second group is land hermit crabs. As hermit crabs grow, they must find a larger shell and abandon the previous one. The hermit crabs look like our new arrivals, and their shells are similar to our extruders. Because the extruder is the core accessory of the 3D printer, upgrading or replacing the extruder is also in line with the hermit crab's habit of changing to a bigger and better shell for growth.

You may still be confused that what the Hermit Crab and Hermit Crab CAN are? This text will disclose their mysterial veils. We will also contrast their differences to help you know them well. 

Design Inspiration
FDM 3D Printer is easy-assemble, easy to handle, and very welcoming to the public. In the meantime, it is one of the most widely used of 3D printers. The extruder, a critical accessory of an FDM 3D printer, is usually confronted with lots of problems.

Please imagine when we use a 3D printer, an extruder is stuck. In that case, we have to tear it down, and then discompose it to troubleshoot problems. As for some new hands, replacing the extruder is a complicated and consuming task. We also received many customers' feedback, claiming that the extruder is hard to install or disassemble, and extremely affects their user experience. 

In consequence, we want to invent a tool, which can swiftly change an extruder and nozzle suit in 5 minutes, with easy-assemble, easy-remove, easy-replace, and multi-function. 

From Amazon reviews

The Functions of Hermit Crab Series

a) Clip Design
It consists of a fixed plate and a tool plate. The fixed plate is installed on the X-axis of the 3D printer, two plates clip together, and the extruder or other various tool heads are installed on the Tool plate. But why do they divided into two plates? There are three advantages of separation. First, the divided two plates are easy to be removed or installed, and convenient to mend. Second, our nozzle usually breaks down, and needs to be repaired, this divided design only just dismounts the tool plate part to repair, no need to disassemble a number of complicated wirings. Third, it expediently changes different tools, such as nozzle, laser head, engraving head, and so on.

Hearing this, you may wonder can the extruder tool fix tightly on the tool plate? There is nothing to be concerned about. The extruder can be secured on the tool plate through several screws, which are so stable that doesn't fall off readily. Besides, in view of compatibility, the tool board leaves many hole sites to make it adapt to all kinds of extruders or other kits, improving your DIY fun!

Please watch the two plates again, we consider various connection types, such as snap joint, magnetic connection, snap, and magnetic shared method. Taking account of the stability of fixing, we confirm the snap connection eventually.

Plus, we strive to get hermit crabs to lose weight. Because the weight of the extruder head will impact the printing precision. So we hope the extruder to be as light as possible. Based on the demand, we make drafts to verify the sorts of structure methods to make the extreme lightness happens.   

b) Same Tool Plate Interfaces
Both could connect HE, CNC-FAN, FAN, NTC, BLT, Stepper motor, and Filament sensor. It can work with linear rail and V-slot rail (they should be purchased by yourself). Linear rail is adapted to BIQU B1 SE PLUS, BIQU BX, Ender 3/B1, Ender3 V2, CR6 SE, and so on. Most important of all, users could install tools whatever they need to achieve DIY freely!

c) Last Durable
Hermit Crab Series are made of Aluminum alloy 6061, with a high strength-to-weight ratio. There are four reasons why we choose Aluminum. First is its weight. Aluminum is just one of the lightest metals on the planet, almost 3 times lighter than Iron. Second, it is very strong, flexible, and rust-resistant thanks to a thin but very strong chromium film on its surface. Third, it is magnetized-proof, easy for you to disassemble or assemble the two plates. The Hermit Crabs are very durable, offering you a good user experience. Last, cleaned aluminum is recyclable, increasing resource utilization.  

Differences between Hermit Crab and Hermit Crab CAN

a) Different Wiring Diagram and Fixed Plate Interfaces
The normal version needs to connect the power cable and each signal cable on the extruder from the main board to the fixed plate. (Note: The packing list does not include motherboard and power supply.) The CAN version works through CAN communication, just connect the power line and the CAN line. To its credit, a CANBUS will not be interfered with by other electrical signals, such as heat rods, thermistors, motor wires, and other high-current signal wires. To one’s delight, this CANBUS technology supports Klipper firmware. The specific connection method is shown in the figure below. 

b) Different Fixed Plate Interfaces
Hermit Crab could directly connect to the HE, CNC-FAN, FAN, NTC, BLT, and Stepper motor, while the CAN version should use the Type-C cable and adapter board to realize these functions mentioned above. Type C could charge the power supply, while the USB could connect to other expend modules.

c) Distinct Compatible Firmware
The normal version supports any firmware, depending on the mainboard. However, the CAN version only supports the Klipper firmware.

d) Packing List
Hermit Crab packing list includes one fixed plate, three tool plates, a fixed mount, a tool kit, bolts, and cables. And Hermit Crab CAN contains one fixed plate, three tool plates, a fixed mount, a tool kit, bolts, cables, an adapter board, and BTT RPT-CAN HAT. 

Selling Points: 

• Easy to assemble easy to remove, and easy to replace.
• The clip design, and consisted of a fixed plate and a tool plate. 
• Extremely lightweight, decreasing the weight of the extruder.
• Made of Aluminum alloy 6061,  very light, strong, flexible, rust-resistant, and recyclable.
• Simple wiring diagram of CAN version.
• Multiple compatible firmware. CAN version supports Klipper.

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