PARTS NEEDED

NON-3D-PRINTED

1- standard 130 motor (I'm fairly certain that's what I have, I got it from a parts kit, I don't know if there are different types of 130 motors or anything, all I know is that that seems to be what I have and it seems to be a very common motor type)

2-3ish feet of wire to connect everything (you also need something to strip/cut the wire to connect it to stuff)

1- Double aa battery pack (one that holds one battery or one that holds two batteries will work)

(Max dimensions for battery pack with battery in are 33.6 mm wide, 59.6 mm long, and 17.2 mm tall. The battery pack must have the wires coming out of the bottom center area of one of the ends of the battery pack)

1- 608 standard ball bearing(used in the gearbox, ask in the comments and I can make a version of it that doesn't need a bearing that might still work)

1- KCD1-11 Rocker Switch(These came with my parts kit, I think they are a common standard, I know very little about these things so I do not know if these are a standard thing though)

A buildplate that's at least 180 mm by 175 mm and 210 mm tall. (Don't know if it fits on Prusa Minis, if you angle it sideways it only needs 175 mm by 155)

3D-PRINTED (around 115 grams of filament (not including the Marble Run and Spiral))

1- ApexGearbox   (Replaces the original cap part)

1- ApexKnobGear  (Replaces the original knob part)

1- ApexBearingGear

1- ApexMotorGear

1- ApexElectronicsBase  (The big part, takes around 80 grams of filament)

1- ApexBatteryHolder

1- spiral  (You need to get this file from the original marble run's page, this is one of the original parts from the non-motorized version, so if you already have this printed you don't need to print it again)

Link:   https://www.printables.com/model/809650-apex-a-3d-printed-marble-machine

1- Apex-marble-machine-9  (You need to get this file from the original marble run's page, this is one of the original parts from the non-motorized version, so if you already have this printed you don't need to print it again) (This is just the original marble run)

                                                                                                               Settings

No supports are needed, you only need to use two wall lines and 10 percent infill and everything works fine. I printed out of Pla, but any material should work. 

                                                                                                              Overview

This is an add-on for Elegant Marble Machine's Apex Marble Machine that makes the spiral that lifts the marbles fully motorized. Additionally, all the electronics are hidden away in a sleek base that further increases the beauty of the marble run. The wires that go to the motor are hidden inside a long tube that runs up along the side of the marble run, also doubling as a convenient handle for the marble run. There is a slide-out battery compartment for easily changing the battery out that hides in the design in the base so you will never know it's there. It has been tested to run smoothly with 48 marbles(That's all I had) on one double AA battery at full charge. (See battery compartment section below) The base has four clips on it that keep the marble run securely attached even when upside down. 

                                                                                               CLIP WARNING-FRAGILE

The four clips on the Electronics Base that hold on the marble run securely are extremely easy to snap by accident. When bending back the clips to put the marble run on the base or to take it off do not bend them back any farther than you have to, or they will unfortunately snap. When putting it on I put the front in at an angle so that the front two clips don't need to be pushed back, then I just snap it in the rear clips one at a time. When taking it off I only get it off the back two clips, then lift it off at an angle so that the front clips don't need to be touched.  I wasn't sure how to make them any stronger, but if you do break one of them use some hot glue on the inside of the base to repair it, almost good as new! 

                                                                                                 Battery compartment

The battery compartment is the part in the base that slides out so you can easily change the battery. First, let's talk about batteries. You can use two batteries to power the marble run, however this causes it to go too fast. (In my opinion) The noise made by the motorized components is much louder, and the increased speed makes it more likely for marbles to pile up on top of each other and jump out of the marble run, also the marbles can occasionally “skip” back from the base of the spiral from it going too fast to scoop them up. This is why I use only one battery, which is enough to run it at a slower speed. When powering the motor with only one battery, if the battery is running low on charge the motor may need a helping “push” to get it started with a lot of marbles. You may have noticed that I use a battery holder that holds two batteries, not one, though. That's because that's all I had! Double aa battery holders that hold two batteries are more common than ones that hold one,(I think) so here's what you do to adapt it to holding one. On the 3d printed battery compartment, there are two little slits on the sides at the end to run wires through. By running a wire through that, you can run a wire to the “spring” of one of the battery holders in place of one of the double aa's. Tie one of the wires to that instead of the wire coming out of the battery and it will send the current through there instead. The unused wire from the battery pack you can just cut short, in case you ever want to try two batteries you can just leave it there shortened so you can rewire to it if you ever want to. The space in the battery compartment is big enough for a battery pack(with the batteries inside it) measuring up to 33.6 mm wide, 59.6 mm long, and 17.2 mm tall, then you just have two wires coming out of the end to connect to the rest of the wiring in the electronics base. You can use a piece of double-sided tape or glue to affix the battery pack to the battery compartment so that it doesn't come out or flop around when changing the battery. One other note, the battery packs I have had a metal "tab/switch' sticking out of the side to turn on or off the circuit, I just snipped off the excess length from mine with cutters so it could fit.

                                                                                                     Assembly-Gearbox

To assemble the gearbox you need four parts, The Gearbox, the Knobgear, the Bearinggear, the Motorgear, the 608 Bearing, and the 130-type motor. First, put the 608 bearing into the round hole in the bottom of the gearbox. The fit is meant to be quite tight so depending on your tolerances, you may need to hammer it in. Next, put the Knobgear into the center hole in the gearbox. Next, put the Bearinggear into the 608 bearing. Next, put the whole gearbox on the top of the marble run where the original Cap used to be. There are five pillars, and therefore five directions, where you could put it. However the pillars are not lined up with the sides of the hexagons, so only one direction will align with the handle, and that's the side that the marble run's “Stairs” are. You could have it face any of the other directions, but then the gearbox and the handle where the wires run up to the motor will not be aligned. The wires will have to go out of it sideways to the motor, which will not functionally affect it, only aesthetically. The motor, while part of the gearbox, is wired into the electronics base, so it is easiest to wire it up to that and then put the motor in as the last step.

                                                                                     Assembly-Electronics Base

The Electronics base is the part with all of the wiring that makes the marble run… run. Following the instructions in the Battery Compartment section, you should have your battery pack already in there with the wires for it coming out the end. Take the battery compartment and slide it into the sliding area for it where the little clips and stuff are, note that it slides in from the inside of the base. Next, take your switch and tie the two wires you are going to connect to it to the prongs on it, as it is easier to do this before inserting the switch. Then, just snap the switch into the hole in the front, making sure to orient it so that the two prongs have the wall in between them. Then, you will need to take two long wires and run them through the handle. One trick that makes it easier to connect the wires at the bottom is to tie another wire to the top of the wires so that you can pull out more of the wire's length at the bottom without the wires going too far into the handle to get them back. When wiring things up, make sure the wires have enough extra length for the battery compartment to fully extend out. When the battery compartment is slid in, the wires can just bunch up or whatever inside the electronics base. You may have noticed that there are a bunch of little “bridges” in the base, and those are for guiding the wires. Using the picture below, wire up all of the wires just like that. By stripping off the exterior of the wire, you can twist the ends of them together like a twist tie to connect them. Just make sure that two exposed bits of wire from different parts of the circuit aren't able to touch or it could keep the circuit from working properly. Next, take the MotorGear and press it onto the shaft of the motor. Then, at the end of it all, twist tie the ends of the wire in the handle to the motor so that it is just hanging there from the top of the handle. Then, turn on the switch and see if the motor turns on! Electronics base assembled!  :)

                                                                                  Putting in/ Taking out the marble run

Once you have both your Gearbox and your Electronics Base fully assembled, first have the Gearbox on the marble run. Then, making sure that the handle is on the same side as where the gearbox is facing, take the marble run and put the front of it under the two hooks in the front of the Electronics Base, then lower the back of it onto the rear hooks and make it snap in under them one at a time. Then, take the motor dangling from the top of the handle and press it into the Gearbox. This is intended to be a tight fit so that the motor stays in there, also holding in all the gears. Your Electric marble run is now assembled :)

To remove the marble run from the base, first, take the motor out of the gearbox. If it is in there too tight, take a screwdriver or something and go under the motor, use the Bearinggear as the surface to prop up against, and lever the motor out the first part of the way using the screwdriver. Then, it should be much easier to remove the rest of the way. Once the motor is removed, it's onto the hooks. Be very careful not to bend the hooks back too far or they will snap. Take one of the two back hooks and move it back enough to get the edge of the marble run out from under the lip of the hook, then do the same thing with the other side, then just lift up at an angle to bypass the two front hooks and your marble run is free. :)

If you have any issues, ask in the comments and I will see if there's anything I can do to help. Also, it would be great if you could make a make or review :)

                                                                                Compatibility with other marble runs

The maker of the Apex marble machine also has other marble runs! They sell the files on their Etsy store for a couple of bucks each and they all work off of the same base system, just having different tracks for the marbles. As a result, my motorized add-on is (most likely) fully compatible with all of them! They all share the same base size and the same marble lifting mechanism but there are a few things to look out for. The base has six sides, but the top of it has five pillars which the cap and knob go on to. That means the sides of the base and the five pillars are not aligned, which is why my gearbox is offset from the pillars to line up with one of the sides on the Apex marble machine. However, I cannot guarantee that the pillars for the other marble machine models are aligned the same, which means that the pillar that goes up to the gearbox may not align perfectly with the gearbox. (This does not affect it functionally, only aesthetically) However, I am confident all the pillars are aligned the same. One other thing, the clips that hold onto the marble run go over the base of the marble run slightly, this means that if some of the other designs have anything near the edges of the base they may block the clips from hooking over. In the end, my motorized addon should be compatible with all of their other marble runs. I bought a lot of the files, so as I print the marble runs I will put below if they are fully compatible. (also remember that you have to find which pillar lines up the best with the gearbox)

Get their other Marble machine models here at their Etsy store!

Link:   https://www.etsy.com/shop/elegantmachines/?etsrc=sdt

Voltiex: FULLY COMPATIBLE-NO ISSUES