Tornado Components

From Unoffical Tevo Tornado Wiki

This page breaks down the parts and assemblies of the Tornado. Each part is rated for it's "Quality" and lists the problems, defects, replacement source, and upgrades/replacement options.

Links to replacement parts should be affiliate free, and should include at least one that ships globally.

Quality is divided into the following categories:

Superior: This means that the part supplied is of excellent build quality, excellent reliability, and produces excellent print results. You are very unlikely to directly replace it. A part may still be considered Superior, even if it is improved by other parts, if there is no better replacement. Superior parts are not replaced before reasonable use in the majority of an expert or long running printer's machines.

Good: This part is of good quality, it should be of good build quality, good reliability, and produce good print results. Parts that are "Good" for the majority of users should fall here. If there is a serious defect that affects a minority of users, then a part should not be considered good. The average user should get a reasonable lifetime out of the part. It should have a low defect rate in new machines. Most "Good" parts have an upgrade or better version available.

Poor: This part may work well for some, but many users report problems. Parts that work well initially, but fail or are consumed too quickly are good examples of "Poor". A part may exhibit 2/3 of the following (good build quality, good reliability, good print results) but if one of the other qualities is poor, then it is rated "Poor". Parts that work well for some, but arrive broken, or break within a small number of prints are rated poor.

Inferior: This is a part that is dangerous, fails often, or produces poor print results for many. An example of this is Tevo's inferior Power Supply. Multiple users have documented voltage ripple in the range of 200-800Mv which directly impacts print quality.

V Slot Aluminum Frame[edit | edit source]

The main body of the Tornado is made from V Slot Aluminium rail. The smaller pieces are 20mmx20mm single slot . While the wider pieces are 40mmx20mm.

Quality Rating: Superior

Replacement Parts:

https://www.amazon.com/V-Slot-Linear-Rail-1500mm-Length/dp/B00YCOQO5A

https://www.amazon.com/V-Slot-Linear-Rail-1500mm-Length/dp/B00YCOQO2S

M5 Slim T Nuts[edit | edit source]

The nuts for the frame are Common M5 T Nuts.

Quality Rating: Good

Replacement Parts:

https://www.amazon.com/TOPINSTOCK-European-Aluminum-Extrusions-Thread/dp/B01FOC6A8E

Main Power Supply (PSU)[edit | edit source]

This provides the 24V DC to the printer. The AC for the bed is converted by the SSR. Unfortunately the stock Tornado ships with a very poor quality PSU. It also often ships with the wrong voltage set for users. The voltage can be switched from 110 to 220 by flipping the switch on the side of the PSU. It is not well grounded to the printer frame. There is heated debate about the safety of that choice, and several EE's have weighed in with the opinion that it is not "Unsafe" but does not comply with the electrical code in many countries. What is not in debate is that grounding the frame to the PSU, and replacing the stock PSU can improve print quality for some users. It can also improve the accuracy of bed leveling sensors. Most users have reported dramatic improvement in ghosting, and salmon skin after replacing the PSU. Together with a higher than expected failure rate, this means that most users will want to replace the inferior stock PSU with a better one.

Quality Rating: Inferior. The stock PSU has been observed to have ripple between 200-800Mv which is extremely poor. The stock PSU has a high failure rate and has damaged other components.

Replacement Parts: There are multiple options for replacement. The Meanwell NES-100-24 is a solid replacement part that has identical size and screw mounting holes. EDIT RL 2/14/21: NES-100-24 may be the same footprint but it supplies about half the current of my stock PSU. You will be push this supply if you use this way. I would recommend a PSU with at least 6.5a output at 24v DC.

https://www.amazon.com/NES-100-24-159x97x38mm-Switch-Power-Supply/dp/B010FJGRLQ/

https://www.th3dstudio.com/product/tevo-tornado-psu-replacement-upgrade-mean-well/

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/MEAN-WELL/NES-100-24?qs=V9a8iPeg90xndAwoFmVgTw%3D%3D

Solid State Relay (SSR)[edit | edit source]

This converts the 24V DC to AC for the bed heater. The stock SSR is of poor quality, and creates electrical noise for ABL and for motors when the bed is heating. Multiple people have reported improved print quality from replacing the stock SSR with a Japanese made or other high quality SSR.

Quality Rating: Poor. Low quality, Premature failures and contribution to poor print quality earn this part a Poor rating.

Replacement Parts: Nikkai SR-T1A2020TK: https://www.th3dstudio.com/product/nikkai-japanese-ssr-20a-ac-current-4-32v-dc/ https://octopart.com/sr-t1a2020tk-nkk+switches-57575359