Icarus - QIDI X-Plus / I-Mate (S) Carriage for Orbiter 2.0 & Dragon / Mosquito / Zodiac x Phaetus & Dragonfly BMS

Icarus 2 has been released which is the current version and it has a number of improvements:

View Icarus 2 here

Support

All my designs and mods on Printables are free to use and remix. They have a non-commercial license. If you enjoy this or any of my other designs you can send me a small donation using the link below. Thanks :)

https://www.paypal.me/humebeamengineering

Update December 21, 2021 :

Icarus now supports the new Orbiter 2.0 extruder. If you're already using Icarus with Orbiter 1.5 or Sherpa Mini and want to use Orbiter 2.0 instead, you must print the Orbiter 2.0 version of the carriage and the new hotend mount for your hotend. The following hotends are supported: Dragon, Mosquito, Zodiac x Phaetus BMS, Dragonfly BMS.

There is one carriage for each extruder: Sherpa Mini, Orbiter 1.5 and 2.0. All hotends fit each one though. The mounting holes for the extruders differ so much I could not make a universal carriage without it being bulkier than I wanted for this lightweight system.

Update November 24, 2021

I've added a back to stock firmware gcode you can print if you want to go back to stock firmware settings for whatever reason, you will find it further down on the page.

Update November 9, 2021

Assembly guide: The step by step assembly guide has been updated below and new pictures have been added. A video was posted earlier, it's posted just below.

Update October 25, 2021

Icarus 1.2.1 has been released. It is just a facelift release with small adjustments. Changes:

- Added a window below the PCB holder where cables can be routed through instead of around. - Other very minor aethetic fixes. - Hotend mounts updated to 1.1, minor fixes. - Fan duct updated to 1.3.1, minor fixes. - New: Added Zodiac x Phaetus hotend mount. If you printed 1.2.0 already there is no need to reprint unless you really want to.

About

The whole carriage is very light and only around 70 g depending on infill and filament type used and the extruder and hotend are easily accessible without removing any other parts. Once the carriage is installed, there is no play between the bearings and the carriage.

Icarus is using the new high quality and increasingly popular lightweight Orbiter 2.0 dual gear extruder and Dragon or Mosquito hotend. The gears in the extruder are made by Phaetus, the maker of the Dragon hotend (also made by Trianglelab). The extruder has a 7.5:1 gear ratio, is ready to print flexible filament directly and weighs only around 135 g including motor. This makes the Icarus printhead very lightweight, allowing for higher print speeds as there is less mass to move around when printing. This means the Icarus printhead is about 250g lighter than stock.

Official 2.0 versions of the extruder (which I link to in the BOM) are using the new high temp LDO motor (LDO-36STH20-1004AHG 20mm) which is rated at 1.2A peak or 0.85A RMS current and is suitable for our printers. If you're using another stepper motor it might not work well and can overheat, causing issues or shortened lifespan of the motor itself. I will only recommend the official 2.0 with this specific LDO motor.

Update Sep 27, 2021 : Sometimes the Orbiter extruder is delivered with a motor by Moons, it's also a high quality motor that's suitable for our printers. The wire colours are different but the cable order is the same, I will get to this in the assembly instructions later.

Earlier motors were rated at 0.5A peak and 0.35A RMS and are not suitable for this printer without lowering the voltage.

Why?

I have earlier developed the Hercules mod. While print quality with Hercules is just as good as this, the BMG extruder and the V6 groove mount are not ideal for flexible filaments. This design uses a rigid mount and has a much shorter filament path from the extruder to the hotend.

I also wanted to offer a truly lightweight option which this is. There are other lightweight extruders available but mechanically I consider the Orbiter to be the most capable option.

What to print:

Print these files:

icarus-1.2.1-for-orbiter-2.0-normal.stl orbiter-2.0-dragon-mount-1.1.stl icarus-dial-holder-1.0.stl icarus-belt-peg-1.2.stl icarus-fan-duct-2.1.stl icarus-orbiter-2.0-dragon-and-mosquito-ptfe-cutting-jig-1.0.stl

If using a Mosquito or Zodiac x Phaetus BMS hotend, print that mount instead of the Dragon mount:

orbiter-2.0-mosquito-mount-1.1.stl orbiter-2.0-zodiac-x-phaetus-dragonfly-bms-mount-1.1.stl

BOM - Bill of Materials

I buy most of my 3D printer parts from quality stores on AliExpress. Shipping takes a while from China but quality is excellent and the prices are good. I might add more stores to the BOM later but it's a lot of work keeping it updated and current so I will try to keep it short.

Hotend / Extruder

You can go with either Standard Flow or High Flow Dragon, I have both and they're both great although the Standard Flow is a bit easier to print with. Other hotend options are Mosquito and Dragonfly but they're not linked from here.

Dragonfly Hotend

Both BMS and BMO supported.

AliExpress

Orbiter 2.0 Extruder (genuine) AliExpress

6x20MM 24V 60W Heater Cartridge AliExpress

T-K500 Thermocouple (3 x 15 mm)

The budget version is fine. Buy a spare.