Guide: Replacing the Y-Carriage Plate (Maker Select v2)

In recent weeks, replacing the Y-Carriage Plate has become one of the most popular mods among the Maker Select and Wanhao Duplicator community. The plate included with these printers is stamped metal which tends to easily warp with usage, making it vastly more difficult to properly level the bed. After taking my Y-Carriage plate off the printer and laying it on a flat surface, I could see that one corner had become noticeably deformed.

Thankfully we have a rather extensive amount of options now, providing us with a range of variations in material, shape and so fourth. One such plate is 0.125″ thick, machined using melamine faced phenolic laminate and offers both a considerable weight savings as well as increased strength.  If you are interested, it can be purchased on Reddit from the user /u/gamekorp who sells it directly for $20.00 + S&H. The most popular choice however is the Rep Rap Champions Y-Carriage plate I have linked below, where this is what I will be using for the guide. This particular plate is made of solid aluminum and has no flex, ensuring that it does not warp over time.

Purchased Parts List:

- $

Instructions:

In order to access the Y-Carriage Plate, we need to remove the heated bed from the 3D Printer. If you use a glass pane or similar build platform, you will want to begin by setting that aside. From there, proceed to loosen all 4 thumb wheels until they come off, leaving the end of the M3 screws exposed.

Carefully lift the heated bed upwards and place it behind the printer, ensuring that there is no unnecessary stress in the wires. The springs will come free as well once the bed has been lifted off. I would advise placing both these and the thumb wheels into a bowl to prevent losing them.

Heated Bed Removed

The original Y-Carriage Plate should now be visible. There are 18 screws holding this in place, with 4 in each of the bearing housings and 2 in the middle attaching it to the belt. Using the hex keys included with the printer, remove all of these. This will free the plate, which can then be lifted off and set aside.

At this point in time, you may want to consider doing several other small mods as well.

  • LM8LUU Bearings: I would highly recommend upgrading the standard linear bearings to the longer LM8LUU variants. The original bearings are short, noisy and far from optimal. While you can spray a thin layer of White Lithium Grease inside each to quiet them, the longer bearings are the recommended choice.
  • Tensioner Spring Removal: Removing the metal tension spring, you will reduce the amount of unwanted play in the Y-Belt. Once the spring has been taken off, cut the zip ties holding the belt to one of the bracket screws, then zip tie it again 3 notches tighter than before.
  • Y-Belt Pulley: The Y-Belt pulley on the front of the printer is not aligned with the smooth rods. While there are complete 3D Printed replacements for this assembly, such as the Y-Axis Pulley Stabilizer, the easiest method is to simply relocate the nut to the other side and bring the pulley closer to the center. Unscrew the pulley bolt, place the nut on the other side of the metal bracket and screw the bolt back through.

When you are ready to do so, you can seat the new Y-Carriage Plate on the bearing mounts, aligning the holes as needed. Lightly thread each of the screws back into the top of the plate, just enough to secure them in place, then pass back through using the hex key to tighten them down.

Aluminum Y-Carriage Plate

You can go ahead place the heated bed back into place, fitting the springs on to the screws and sliding them into the Y-Carriage Plate’s corner holes. After you have reattached the thumb wheels, I do advise tightening all 4 corners down completely before you home the Z axis. Depending on the thickness of the plate that was installed, you may need to adjust the Z end stop, raising the position to compensate. This will prevent the nozzle from smashing into the build platform and causing unexpected damage.

7 thoughts on “Guide: Replacing the Y-Carriage Plate (Maker Select v2)

    1. Thank you very much for pointing that out Paul, I appreciate you letting me know about the mistakes, that was a complete oversight on my part. I actually ordered both the LM8UU and LM8LUU variants at different times.

      The LM8UU bearings were my first purchase, however I only received 2 of the required 4. Not sure what happened, I am under the assumption I accidentally missed the second box and tossed them out. One of the two I received wasn’t great anyways so I reordered from a different brand, that time getting LM8LUU which were perfect.

      I will go back through both guides today and make sure they are updated to reflect the proper products and information!

  1. Hi Brett,

    I decided to check the flatness of my RepRap Y-carriage plate before installing. It had a flatness of 0.419mm, while the original Monoprice plate came in at only 0.120mm. Did you happen to check the flatness of your plate before installing?

    1. Hi Taylor,

      Unfortunately I did not, the corner of my original plate was so visibly deformed I just tossed it in the trash. My understanding is that the stamped metal weakens the structural integrity of the plate considerably, where it is very likely to bend over time. In my case, that happened within a couple months of buying the printer, at which point I couldn’t even level the bed anymore.

      Very interesting to see your measurements though, would be interested to know what results others have had.

      1. Yea, they did say they would immediately send a replacement, so we will see how the new one fares. I am thinking my main issue was the main heated plate and/or buildtak being incredibly warped. I just got a glass plate, so I am about to try that out.

        1. Replacing the Y-Carriage Plate and installing a glass bed should resolve any problems with the build surface. The Y-Carriage Plate will prevent issues with leveling, especially if your original plate has already warped. The glass, as long as it is flat, will cover any inconsistencies in the heated bed. On my D-Bot (self built CoreXY machine) the inconsistencies in the flatness of the bed are accounted for during leveling and using a glass plate.

  2. Can you post a picture of what your pulley stabilizer looks like? I’m having trouble figuring out the orientation of the stabilizer and the pulley bolt. Thank you!

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