In this tutorial we will be going through the unboxing of the Wanhao Duplicator 9, or sometimes known as the D9 300 3D Printer! When you first receive the Wanhao Duplicator 9, you’ll see that it is packed very neatly, and extremely compact.
You can go ahead and open the main box, and start removing all the pieces and components! The main components inside the box will include the base, the Axis’s, a box of smaller components, 2 uprights, and various other pieces of hardware.
Note: Inside the box you will find no installation instructions, but you can find an installation guide on the Wanhao website.
Step 1: What’s Inside the Box?
Inside the box you’ll find all sorts of pieces of hardware and it can be quite confusing. Over the course of this guide, we’ll go through each and every piece and help you fully understand what your Duplicator 9 comes with! Below are all the pieces you should have inside your box:
- Power Cord
- Allen Screw Driver + Bolts and Keys
- Hot End Assembly
- 300 Gram Test Spool of Filament
- Full Sized SD Card
- Ribbon Cable for Hot End
- Nozzle Cleaner Attached to the Cardboard Box to Avoid Stabbing Yourself
Step 2: Installing the Uprights
The first thing we have to do to begin the installation of the Duplicator 9 is to assemble the Uprights. The uprights are side specific, the Ribbon Cable attaches to the front right of the 3D printer, which means the Upright with Clips for the Ribbon Cable should be placed on the right side of the printer while facing the printer.
To install the Upright with the Clips, you will have to slip a T-Nut, onto the top side of the screw hole on the Upright, and position the Upright in the correct position on the base of the printer.
From there you will have to insert the bolt in from the underside of the printer, and run it through to fasten the bolt. Some find it easier to tip the printer on its side once you have the Upright in place, to help position the T-Nut in place.
Once you have the first Upright in place, you can go ahead and repeat the whole process with the opposite Upright on the other side. Once completed you should have two parallel Uprights which should be near completely aligned with each other.
Step 3: Installing the Top Cross Rail
The installation of the Top Cross Rail is thankfully much simpler than the Uprights. To attach this Cross Rail, you will first have to remove the End Caps on the cross rail. From there you will want to align the Cross Rail so that the ribbons are on the same side as the Upright with the Clips we attached earlier.
This Cross Rail will simply slide right on, and then on the top you can insert and tighten the screws to lock it into place. After it is attached, you can place the End Caps back on.
Step 4: Attaching the X Axis
The next step is going to be to attach the X Axis to the Gantry. I like to turn the 3D printer around and approach it from the back, because it makes it easier to maneuver.
You will want to locate the pre-attached hammer nuts, and place them into the end of the Extrusion and twist them to tighten them into place (Leave them slightly loose so you can adjust them later if needed).
Once they are attached, you will position the two cylinders on the X Axis in between the two wheels on the Z Axis Component. Once it is in place, you will need to bolt them together through the hole in the plate of the upright.
From there we are ready to mount the Hot End to the X Carriage. There will be 2 small screw holes on the Hot End that will match up with 2 screw holes on the X Carriage.
Make sure that the aluminum plate is facing the front, and thread all the screws in with your fingers before you tighten them completely with your screw driver. This can be a slightly tedious task, but once you have everything attached, we’re almost done with the installation!
Step 5: Connecting the Cables
We are going to start with connecting A, B, C power cable bundle that is attached to the 3D Printer base. Each of these cables in the bundle is individually labeled for where it should go. The A cable goes to the X Axis Limit Switch, B goes to the X Axis Stepper Motor, and the C goes to underneath the bed to the Z Axis Stepper Motor.
Now that we have made those connections, we will start routing the Ribbon Cable. This cable connects to the front right of the base, and is unidirectional, so pay attention to the notch which indicates the correct direction.
You can connect the Ribbon to the port in the front right on the base, and begin to run the cable behind the clips and up the Upright which we installed earlier. Make sure you are clipping the ribbon in as you go, so that the ribbon stays out the way, and organized.
Step 6: Final Steps
After attaching the Ribbon Cable, we are nearly done with the installation! That being said, there are a few final maintenance steps we have to do before we can get our new printer up and running!
On the bottom side of the tray, you will see all the bolts and nuts which keep the tray on the rails, and allow it to slide in place. Generally speaking, these bolts aren’t going to be tight enough to give all the wheels a smooth ride on the rails, which ensures a smooth slide for the tray.
You will have to use your Allen wrench to tighten the nuts one by one and then test the slide of the tray.
The final step of the installation process is attaching the Spool Holder onto the center of the center tail. The installation just takes two screws, and screws directly into the frame using hammer-nuts.
Now that the spool holder is attached, the Wanhao Duplicator 9 3D Printer is officially complete and ready for action!
