ACE Pro LED Reel Lighting

If your ACE Pro is in a poorly lit area, it is difficult to see the filament colors and reel movement when printing. We have added a strip of LEDs to light up the filament reels. This is not a difficult project, but you will need to open your ACE Pro, drill a small hole, print a couple of small clips, and solder several connections. This has not been tested on the newer ACE Pro 2, so some instructions may differ.

Parts

• COB LED Strip, 24V, 5mm wide, white 4000K, 32 cm long (do not use a wider strip, it will interfere with the spools). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWV93XZN
• 2-pin male and female connector, and wires (ideally 24-28 gauge)
• Heat shrink tubing as needed
• Optional: Printed S1 LED ACE LED clips, use PTEG, not PLA, as the heat may warp PLA. I used Transparent Black that I had available, but clear would be better, but any color or opaque would be fine. It’s not going to affect the light much.

Disassembly notes

I use a towel on my workbench to reduce the chance of scratching the ACE Pro.

First, remove the cover. On each hinge, use a small screwdriver or pen and insert it into the hole of the metal rod, and slide it from the case. Be careful, the spring does not fly away. Do the same for each side and set aside the cover.

Use this link for basic disassembly instructions, but skip Step 5. There is no need to remove the mainboard. https://wiki.anycubic.com/en/fdm-3d-printer/kobra-3-combo/ace-pro-mainboard-replacement-guide

The Anycubic instructions are good, but at least with my unit, two screws in the back holding the Bowden tubes were missing, perhaps by design. When you remove the rear AC power cover, the AC power connector also has two screws missing, although they don’t seem to be important, and again, may have been left off by design.

When following Anycubic’s disassembly instructions in Step 4 to separate the inner and outer shells, I found it a bit difficult. It’s a very tight fit, but it does come apart. Just make sure you remove all the screws, especially the two under the front rubber feet.

Power Connections

The ACE Pro uses a 24 VDC power supply, soldered to the main board. My original plan was to connect to the V+ and V- connections on the supply board, but these may be difficult to solder. The ground is available on the two unused tabs of the missing servo connector. The +24V is available on the FAN0 red wire. There are other options, but this is what we used. The other end connects to a 2-wire connector.

LED Strip

The LED strip attaches to the back edge of the multicolor outer shell. First, drill a 1/16” hole in the back edge, 23 mm from the right edge of the shell. This is the #4 inlet side.

With a 5mm wide 32cm long LED strip, attach two thin wires to the rear of one end of the LED strip. Feed the wires through the hole, remove the LED backing, and attach it to the shell, so that it is centered horizontally, and the bottom of the strip is aligned with the bottom of the shell. Optionally, attach the two printed S1 LED ACE LED clips. They should not require any glue to hold in place. Attach the mating 2-pin connector to the LED strip wires.

At this stage, you might want to temporarily connect the shell with the LED strip to the 24V power connector. Attach AC power and turn on the switch. Confirm the LED lights up properly. With a successful test, disconnect the LED. Route the LED power wires so they do not interfere with the mechanism. We chose the #4 slot side as the cavity is isolated from the mechanism.

Reassembly

Reassembly is the reverse of the disassembly. Getting the inner shell back into place is a bit of a trick. Ensure the LED wires are not pinched or in the mechanism as you close it up.

You’ll likely need a screwdriver to pull the front out slightly to get over the internal protrusions.

When installing the cover, the springs may go flying when trying to get the hinge pins in. The pins are also slightly flat on one side and are inserted with the flat side up. They should slide into the cover easily.

Notes

If you elect to use the clips, unusually wide filament reels in slots 1 or 4 may rub the clip. Most reels are 58 mm or thinner. Our Anycubic reels are 58 mm, but we do have some old reels that are 72mm wide. These do work fine in slots 2 and 3. UPDATE: After a few weeks of use, the clips fell out due to rubbing against some wider reels. The LEDs are still well attached. I now think the clips are unnecessary and are not worth the bother!

The LED strip I used takes about 2.2W (90 mA).

Links

• 5mm Wide 24V LED Strip: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWV93XZN
• Disassembly guide (stop after Step 4: https://wiki.anycubic.com/en/fdm-3d-printer/kobra-s1-combo/ace-pro-motherboard
• Kobra S1 Poop Chute Light: https://www.makeronline.com/en/model/Kobra%20S1%20Poop%20Chute%20Light/161404.html
• Kobra S1 Lighting Upgrade – Multicolor: https://www.makeronline.com/en/model/Kobra%20S1%20Lighting%20Upgrade%20-%20Multicolor/161355.html