The RKE family of toolhead boards are based off the roadkill board designed xbst_ but offers numerous improvements.
- Heater current capacity is greatly improved offering 5A of capacity on the RKE-Long board and 6A on RKE2.
- Support for simultaneous use of neopixels, filament sensor, inductive probe and x endstop switch with dedicated ports for all features.
- All boards within the RKE family are pin compatible allowing for mix and matching of boards.
- Heater screw terminal is polarised, as the 24V supply is used as a common rail.
- Nylon or printed washers should be used to protect the mounting holes due to the proximity of the traces to the holes.
- LED port is designed for neopixels and uses a common 5V rail with the filament sensor port.
- Probe port has a 24V power rail derived from the heater.
⚠Do not connect a wire between the MCU and the Roadkill probe port for V, this will result in backfeeding 24V into the MCU. V is provided from the Heater
Per Board,
- 1 x 20 pin IDC header (2x10 2.54mm pitch)
- 5 x 2 pin JST-XH
- 3 x 3 pin JST-XH (2x for RKE Long)
- 1 x 4 pin JST-XH (2X for RKE Long)
- 1 x 5 mm pitch screw terminal (TB00250002BE)
Molex temp-flex ribbon is the preferred ribbon solution (Molex, 100057-0101).
For IDC connector/sockets 3M D89120-0131HK with D3448-89120 strain relief clip are the preferred solutions.
IDC numbering is ODD_EVEN with 1 denoted by an arrow on the PCB
Pin 1 of the JST-XH ports is the square pads on the PCB.
For RKE2
| Port | Pin 1 (IDC PIN) | Pin 2 (IDC PIN) | Pin 3 (IDC PIN) | Pin 4 (IDC PIN) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layer Fan | Fan Voltage (18) | Fan GND (20) | - | - |
| Heater Fan | Fan Voltage (14) | Fan GND (16) | - | - |
| X endstop | GND (2) | Signal (12) | - | - |
| Filament Sensor | 5 V (4) | GND (2) | Signal (10) | - |
| Neopixel | 5 V (4) | GND (2) | Data In (6) | - |
| Probe | 24 (1,2) | GND (2) | Signal (8) | - |
| Thermistor (T0) | T0 (11) | GNDA (9) | - | - |
| Extruder Stepper | A1 (19) | A2 (17) | B1 (15) | B2 (13) |
| Heater | 24 V (1,3) | HE GND (5,7) | - | - |
RKE Long utilises a combined Filament Sensor and X endstop port pinout is below.
| Port | Pin 1 (IDC PIN) | Pin 2 (IDC PIN) | Pin 3 (IDC PIN) | Pin 4 (IDC PIN) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combined FS and XES | 5 V (4) | GND (2) | Signal (12) | Signal (10) |
It is critical to wire Z probe correctly to avoid damage to MCU. Follow the below wiring guides
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 |  |
| Number | Symptoms | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | X endstop is permently triggered or not triggering | X end stop is shorted to GND on the MCU->Roadkill board, S is connected to G on the X endstop port | Swap X endstop pins on the MCU->Roadkill board |
| 2 | Probe disconnecting when heater is turned on, Flickering Probe during PWM control of the Probe | Reversed Polarity on the 24 V Screw terminal on the MCU->Roadkill board | Swap Heater Wires on the MCU->Roadkill board |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
