How to Add an OctoPrint Touchscreen to Your Ender 3

Nov 19, 2020

30 minutes

This guide will teach you how to add a touchscreen to your Creality Ender 3 or Ender 3 Pro for use with OctoPrint. A touchscreen is an inexpensive 3D printer upgrade that will save you time and headaches when using OctoPrint.

I'll be using a 3.5" Adafruit touchscreen for this guide, but you can use a different one. Check out our list of great Raspberry Pi touchscreens for ideas.

Creality Ender 3 3D printer	×	1
Adafruit 3.5" PiTFT Plus touchscreen	×	1
Raspberry Pi	×	1
40mm USB fan (optional)	×	1
3D printing filament, PLA, blue	×	1
Kapton tape	×	1 roll

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As is the norm, here's a completed photo of the Ender 3 touch screen setup.

The best model I found for the 3.5" Adafruit touchscreen I'll be using is by designer Tronnic. It mounts to the lower-left aluminum extrusion on the Ender 3, resulting in a symmetrical addition that looks like it came from the factory.

Download the model from Thingiverse and print the following:

QTY	File
1	0_Ender3_Touchscreen_Holder_Base.stl
1	1_2_Ender3_Touchscreen_Pi_Case_no_letters.stl
1	2_1_Ender3_Touchscreen_Pi_Back_40mm_Fan.stl or 2_Ender3_Touchscreen_Pi_Back.stl*
2	3_1_Ender3_Touchscreen_Pi_Clamp.stl
1	5_Ender3_Touchscreen_Support.stl
1	6_Ender3_Camera_Bracket

* If you decide to add a fan to your enclosure, I recommend printing the 40mm fan back. Otherwise, print the blank back.

Raspberry Pi 4

If you're using the Raspberry Pi 4 for OctoPrint, be sure to print this remix as well.

Print settings

For the main holder base/bracket, I recommend printing at least 50% infill. If you're using Cura, I recommend the "Gyroid" infill pattern. I printed with 15% "Cubic" infill originally, and the weight from the Pi and fan caused slight sagging.

If you like perfect symmetry, I recommend you also print this separate screen surround to border the original Ender 3 screen.

If you haven't installed OctoPrint yet, use my guide to set up OctoPrint on the Ender 3.

In this photo, I actually have the screen rotated incorrectly.

I wrote a separate, full guide on adding an OctoPrint touchscreen to any 3D printer. Use that guide to configure the screen to work with OctoPrint, then return here for Ender 3-specific instructions!

I also made an OctoPrint touchscreen video in case you prefer to learn that way:

Attach your camera ribbon cable to the Raspberry Pi, routing it above the HDMI connector.

The "support" model you printed is used in place of standoffs. Insert it between your screen and the Raspberry Pi and slide the screen onto the Pi's GPIO header.

Slide the case into the main frame that will connect to the Printer. Orient it so that the "thicker" part of the frame is to the left.

Insert the Pi into the case and ensure there's a snug fit.

If your touchscreen came with 4 small perforated tabs on the corner, you may need to snap them off with a pair of pliers to make the screen fit in your case—I already did this before taking this photo.

Using this 40mm USB fan is optional but recommended. It's only $10, so I decided to do it just to ensure I always get the highest quality prints possible. Using the included screws, mount the fan so that it sucks air away from the Pi (blowing out the back). Cover the screws with Kapton tape to prevent shorts.

Used here

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Secure the fan or non-fan backplate using the two clamps you printed. If you aren't using a fan, use the blank backplate instead.

Remove the two screws from the lower left part of your printer and use them to secure the new touchscreen housing.

The old camera mount that most Ender 3 owners use will block the touchscreen. Tronnic was awesome enough to remix that original camera mount into one that won't block the screen.

Swap the old mount out for the new one.

Reconnect your power and data cables to the Pi. If you're powering your Pi from your 3D printer, you'll probably need to solder a longer Micro USB cable to your buck converter or run a micro USB extension cable such as this one.

Used here

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If you printed the optional screen surround for the original screen, mount it around the original Ender 3 using a bit of hot glue or foam tape. This makes things look a bit nicer and adds additional symmetry!

Your Ender 3 now has an awesome touchscreen that you can use to control your printer.

Next, update your Ender 3 firmware. Many Ender 3s shipped with unsafe, outdated firmware that lacks thermal runaway protection; thermal runaway is a leading cause of 3D printer fires. Updating your firmware only takes a few minutes and is an important safety upgrade!