It’s beginning to get annoying that we haven’t heard anything about the upgrade kits shipping yet.
I’m not really in a hurry, but it wasn’t listed as a pre-order situation. The store indicates that the kits are currently “in stock”, so what’s going on with shipping them?
This is an interesting situation…I have had the upgrade in my cart for a while and one of the things that giving me pause is this…
Hope we get some news sooner than later.
I contacted Langmuir to ask when the upgrade kits will be shipping and this is the response that I got this morning.
“Hi David,
We apologize for the delay. Current lead times are estimated at 3–4 weeks, as we are still waiting on parts to arrive. We appreciate your patience and will provide an update as soon as we have more information.”
I’m guessing that means another 3-4 weeks, in addition to the 4 weeks I’ve already waited for an “in stock” item to ship.
I also inquired and received the same response yesterday. Evidently “in stock” means 2 months. Pretty frustrating.
It wouldn’t be so bad if they had said it was a pre order and communicated the estimated shipping date. “In stock” means it’s in the warehouse and ready to ship.
If I offer something for sale, I have it and can put it in a box today.
My upgrade kit showed up yesterday and I got most of it done today. All of the upgrade parts are installed (except the water pan) and it’s moving again. I read thru the instructions online, but decided to do it my own way. I didn’t see the need to remove the electronics enclosure to move the rear legs and several other steps made more sense to do in a different order.
The water pan is going to take some work to get it the way I want it. I’m not a fan of the drain holes in opposite corners, so I’ll probably weld them up and cut new holes in the center. I might weld the pan together, but that isn’t as easy as the old stainless pan. This one is painted and that will be a lot of grinding to remove the paint for welding, so I may take a chance with sealant.
Painted water pan? Is it stainless or carbon steel?
I haven’t put a magnet on it, but I’m assuming it’s carbon steel.
I really had not read the description on it. For some reason I was thinking I had heard stainless steel.
You got that from me. I made a stainless pan myself. The stock pan is carbon steel, either powder-coated or painted.
Possibly I do remember you making a one piece. I believe it is more over the discussion overthe price of the upgrade. Justifying it to the ones that had a aneurysm over it. ( The cost was certainly higher than I expected but not as cheap as some expected).
I ran into an issue with my upgrade. It seems that the X axis motor cable is about 2” too short for the gantry to make it all the way to the front of the table. I looked through the instructions to see if there was a step where the electronics enclosure was mounted differently to account for this and didn’t see anything. I ordered a DB9 extension to get me running again
I needed the extension also. I made them aware of the issue. Oh well.
Next issue. No hardware to bolt the water pan together and no sealant. Maybe I’m supposed to reuse the hardware I threw away 4 years ago.
Now to decide if I weld it or buy some stainless nuts and use some of my stash of stainless M5 bolts.
3M 5200 is a good sealant. Takes a long time to dry and is more soupy than firm like normal silicone. It will never leak, though. 3M 4200 is good also, but dries much faster.
Welding worked for me. I tried sealing mine first and it leaked at one of the end points.
For welding prep, I used a 4” cutting disc to angle those slots where the bolts go and that provided a bit more access to weld in those troughs. I fusion welded (no filler rod) with TIG and haven’t had a leak since (about 3 yrs).
Or forget all of that and bend up one piece pan and put the drain where you want it.
I welded my old stainless pan. This one is painted or powder coated, so a bit more prep work is involved.
I have some 3m 4200 on the way, so I’ll try that first.
3M is good stuff but like mentioned, let it cure.
My 40+ gallon water bed has remained leak-free from having used 3M 5200 to seal the two parts together.
Both 4200 and 5200 are marine grade, but 5200 is meant to be a permanent solution whereas 4200 allows removal/disassembly.
I see what you did there 
“allows removal/disassembly” nobody is saying easy…. just keep that in mind as you slather 4200 on everything in sight. just like locktight is unscrewable (with enough heat and a big enough wrench.
