Trinus extruder light bracket.

I love the Trinus/ Panowin F1 but one small downside is the stylish extruder cover makes it very difficult to view the all important first layers.

This simple bracket allows you to mount a led strip at an angle facing the hot end to better illuminate and view the first layers, Also makes the lighting for filming prints much better.

I have included a bracket to mount a dimmer switch on the back of the LCD screen bracket. This may not work for everyone as I mount my lcd screen on top of one of the towers (simple to do just open the case and flip the screen over and pop their lcd bracket on to the tower) I much prefer this location and angle for the screen as it does not interfere with the bed and is easier to view and navigate the menu (at least for my set up).

Many led dimmers will work with this set up I chose this one because it was cheap, small, and allowed good variable control. Also the dial being visible and accessible from the top made it all the more useful considering the bracket for it mounts the dimmer behind the machine. I mounted it using the provided double sided tape. The bracket can be just pressure fit, glued or bolted.
https://www.amazon.com/Xking-Light-Strip-Dimmer-Plug/dp/B018ZIQ0DY

Just a warning: This project will require some light soldering skill and basic knowledge of electricity safety and function. .

If you do not wish to mount a dimmer, want the lights on at full whenever the printer is on, or just want to avoid extra soldering and undoing and redoing the wire wrap you could solder strait to the leads going to the extruder fan. I like using the dimmer as it was too bright to film prints with out a massive glare.

Most 12v led strip lights will work, here is one example:
https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Daylight-Kitchen-Christmas-Non-waterproof/dp/B00HSF65MC

You will want to mount the bracket for leds before you install the leds as the leds cover the bolt holes., I drilled some small holes in my extruder cover plate and bolted on the bracket, I know there are only 2 off center holes but this is to avoid hitting the internals of the extruder. You can glue the bracket on just as easily and it would probably work fine.
The LED strip just slides snugly into the slot and a small amount of glue (or silicone) holds it in place. It is best to sort out your wiring/solder work before gluing the strip to the bracket.

I recommend soldering in a or quick connect to make it easier to remove the extruder cover for hot end service if you bought the dimmer I recommended you could make use of it's unused male and female plugs (just a thought)

This all isn't a perfect solution but it works well for me, if you want the easiest way to view the first layers you could just remove the extruder cover and leave it off but what is the fun in that? ;)

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