(4 of 4) Flashforge Adventurer 5M (AD5M) IMPROVED, SIDE-MOUNT Spool Holder, Inlet, Runout Sensor Mount! v2.1.1

FAQ

- Q: I printed your enclosure and I can’t figure out how to install the filament sensor / spool holder. I’ve looked on YouTube for installation videos and still stuck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

- A: Not long after the initial release of the Adventurer 5M, the manufacturer, Flashforge, switched from shipping the original bidirectional sensor to a unidirectional sensor, for which my remixes fully support both options. The switch to the unidirectional sensor meant that the sensor's input "jack" or "socket" for the wire, is now positioned closer to the bed (not closer to the back of the printer as before). There is enough excess wire that can be "fished" up out of the inside of the frame, and there is a pathway in my remixed design to get that excess wire to cover the distance to where it needs plugged in. It's like a groove.

Note that the printed part that has the sensor mounted to it, as shown in my remixes, has a special addition: a protrusion toward the side, with a screw hole in it. The backside (inner side) of that screw hole has a nut capture slot (M3). There were already some other M3 nut capture slots in that printed part, and this is an added one, just for my side-mounted spool holder designs. After I insert the nuts, I use a drop or two of CA glue to make sure they don't fall out. The side-mounted spool holder formerly would attach with only one screw; a replacement for the short M4 screw that holds the top of the rear, side, guard plate. My side-mounted spool holders all require that stock M4 screw to be replaced by a slightly longer one. But using only one screw was less than ideal. So I modified the sensor mount and my side-mounted spool holder remixes to have their own matching protrusions toward each other. It's made for an M3 screw into the captured M3 nut. That allows a second screw for securing them much better.

Note: This is all designed intentionally to be compatible with the enclosure kit sold by Flashforge, and the contents of their kit comprise the entire BOM for this project, except for the extra M3 nut and M3 screw, and the slightly longer M4 screw. Here's an affiliate link to the kit on Amazon, sold by the official Flashforge vendor listing: https://amzn.to/4ijsmRb — You can also order the enclosure from Aliexpress, probably cheaper, with slower delivery. Here's a link to Flashforge's wiki about their OG enclosure, upon which this is based, only this one has improvements saving time & plastic and having better features: https://wiki.flashforge.com/en/knowledge_corner/printer-mod-and-diy

And here is Flashforge's video on how to install the DIY enclosure. It helps a lot with understanding that can be applied to my remixes:

NEW as of Feb 15, 2025, there's a new “low slung edition” of side-mounted spool holder for AD5M:

https://www.printables.com/model/1193462-flashforge-adventurer-5m-ad5m-improved-side-mount

HEADS UP: As of February 2, 2025, I have revised the sensor mount part — widened by 2 mm. Not sure how I made such a mistake, but it's corrected now. That part's version number went to 2.1.1, and I also notched up the listing's version number to 2.1.1. If you downloaded this prior to February 2, 2025 and had issues with things being too tight to fit right, the only part you need to reprint is the sensor mount part. So sorry for the issue.

This is regarding the DIY enclosure upgrade .

In addition to the various improvements (see below) I'm offering four cosmetic treatments of the spool holder, three of which are new:

- OG (original) - CLICK HERE

- Circles - CLICK HERE

- Hexagons - CLICK HERE

- Solid - THIS LISTING

IMPROVEMENTS

- This revision improves on my popular earlier remix, now mounting the side-mounted spool holder with two screws instead of one, for added rigidity and easier use.

- This new spool holder can take spools that are up to 10mm wider, to support Amazon Basics brand of spools, as per dialog with a maker using that brand.

- Plus, the print orientation of the “Inlet, Runout Sensor Mount” part (now printing at a 45-degree angle) not only makes the new design possible, but also gives the best resistance against any failure of splitting due to the "layer-line adhesion" issue inherent in all FDM 3D printing.

- The “Inlet, Runout Sensor Mount” part now has a wingtip extending a screw hole so the side mounted spool holder gains a second screw for mounting. Technically speaking, this added second screw mount could have been achieved by remixing a guard plate on the DIY enclosure design, but that's a not-good-idea for a variety of reasons. The 4 guard plates are printed vertically in two tall sets of 4 each, and the vertical printing of them is made more doable by them being grouped and supporting each other. In this, only one guard plate would need revised, meaning a challenging vertical print of only 1 out of 8, with the added possibility that the print might take place in a different setting and with a different filament or different filament batch, thus no longer matching the other 7 in color or finish … and generally I dislike for something new to not be backward compatible with an existing larger setting. So…

DO I NEED IT?

If you're getting good service from your v1.0 or v1.1 release of the side-mounted spool holder, there is no need to do this upgrade yet. However, if it should become troublesome in the future, you could do this upgrade to replace it. If you've not yet done the side-mounted spool holder – then by all means, do this improved version of it.

HEADSUP - NEW MINIMAL ENCLOSURE!

I remixed a new minimal version of the DIY enclosure , that prints in less time, uses less plastic, and in my opinion is better in substantial ways. I now have three of the AD5M printers, and two have the original DIY enclosure, whereas the third has my new remix of the minimal enclosure, and it’s just nice. It makes any maintenance work easier because the top is so much easier to remove (no wiring ribbon cable threaded through a slit to a relocated touchscreen, and no camera cable threaded through a hole to a relocated touchscreen). It’s better because if you have/get the AD5M camera (which is for the Pro version but can be bought and installed on the non-pro version - and its video feed can be displayed remotely in either of the web-based UI choices available if you do the unofficial Klipper mod ) it does not need to have a modified mount to get its wire cable to be long enough to reach a higher position of a relocated touchscreen, and better because the touch screen does not have to be moved – it gets to stay in the stock position, which is nicer in all ways. My new remix of the minimal enclosure made several improvements on the great work from the person whose work I based mine on, and it will have the new side mounted spool holder with it. Click here to get it: https://www.printables.com/model/1130485-flashforge-adventurer-5m-ad5m-minimal-diy-enclosur

BOM

- Three (3) M3 nuts - one of these is in addition to the DIY enclosure kit.

- One (1) machine screw, M3 x 8mm - new in addition to the DIY enclosure kit.

- One (1) machine screw, M4 x 10 mm - new in addition to the DIY enclosure kit.

- Four (4) machine screws, either M3 x 5mm or M3 x 6mm . These would have either already been on hand from your existing machine and/or already were called for in your DIY enclosure kit or its BOM.

- You will also need the other screws from the DIY enclosure kit / or from your existing machine, for attaching the Filament Runout Sensor to the printed mount (I think those are two (2) M3 x 20mm), and for attaching the Drag Chain Fixing Clip to the mount (I think those are two (2) M3 x 25mm). If I have the length wrong on either, please let me know in comments. The stock screws that previously attached the Filament Runout Sensor to the metal frame, can be reused.

PRINTING

- Print as oriented.

- PLA is fine.

- Skirt must be disabled or set to 0 perimeters in order to fit the widened spool holder on the 220x220 mm print bed of the AD5M.

- Q: How do I turn the skirt off in OrcaSlicer?

- A: In OrcaSlicer there is a tab choice under "Process" for "Global" versus "Objects" — the skirt settings can be edited under Global > Others > Skirt. Set the number of skirt perimeters from 2 (or whatever) to 0 to turn the skirt off.

- Supports

- Support are not needed except for the spool holder. For the spool holder, I enabled tree supports in auto mode. I also added a couple of support blockers to the spool holder to prevent unwanted supports where not needed, such as on screw holes and the small holes for inserting the PTFE tubes on the top of the part. The long, partially-open slots for the PTFE tubes do need supports.

- I had no issues printing the mount at 45 degrees without supports. However, if you have trouble with that, use the provided set with built-in breakaway support fins included. You would still have supports turned off in your slicer, and yet the support fins would print. After printing, snap them off.

INSTALLATION NOTES