USB / CAN Umbilical Cable - by LDO Motors - Used on Nitehawk 36 and Nitehawk SB

LDO Nitehawk USB/CAN Umbilical Cable — 2 Meters, Drag Chain Rated, XT30 + Molex Microfit 3.0, Nitehawk 36 and Nitehawk SB

Official LDO replacement umbilical cable for the Nitehawk-36 and Nitehawk-SB USB toolboards. This is the same custom flex cable that ships with every Nitehawk kit — a single combined cable that carries both 24V power and USB data from the USB Adapter PCB at the controller end to the Nitehawk toolboard at the toolhead. One cable replaces the entire bundle of wires that a conventional toolhead wiring harness requires. Rated for drag chain use, compatible with umbilical routing, and available here as a standalone spare for replacements, repairs, or custom builds.

⚠️ Never plug or unplug the Microfit 3.0 connector while the machine is powered. Hot-plugging this connector risks damage to the Nitehawk PCB or the Raspberry Pi / host computer.
⚠️ This cable is NOT a standard USB cable. It carries 24V power alongside USB data in a custom pinout — connecting it to a standard USB port will cause damage.
⚠️ Rated bend radius: 28mm minimum. Do not route the cable tighter than 28mm radius — exceeding the rated bend radius degrades the cable over time and can cause intermittent signal issues.

What This Cable Does — The Nitehawk Wiring Architecture

The Nitehawk system replaces the conventional toolhead wiring harness — thermistors, heater, fans, endstops, stepper, Neopixels, all on separate wires — with a single umbilical carrying two signals: 24V DC power and USB data. The USB Adapter PCB at the controller end takes 24V from your power supply and USB from your Raspberry Pi and combines them onto this cable. At the toolhead, the Nitehawk PCB splits them back out to power the board and communicate with Klipper. The result is a dramatically simpler toolhead wiring situation with no CAN setup required, no additional software configuration, and a cable run that a builder with standard Voron experience can manage immediately.

Drag Chain Rated — Use as Cable Chain or Umbilical

The cable is engineered for continuous flex cycling in a drag chain — the most mechanically demanding wiring environment in a CoreXY printer, where the cable flexes and extends thousands of times per print session across the full XY travel range. The 105°C nominal temperature rating keeps the insulation stable in enclosed chambers. The same cable works equally well in an umbilical configuration for builds where a drag chain isn't used. The Nitehawk-36 version is fully over-molded at the connectors for maximum strain relief. The Nitehawk-SB version is partially over-molded for a balance between strain relief and routing flexibility.

Connectors — XT30 at Toolhead, Molex Microfit 3.0 at Adapter

The Nitehawk end uses an XT30 connector — a compact, high-current rated connector that handles the 24V power delivery cleanly. The USB Adapter end uses a Molex Microfit 3.0 connector — a standard precision connector that is field-crimpable and allows the cable to be shortened if your specific build has less than 2 meters of cable run between the adapter PCB and the toolhead. Cut and re-crimp at the Microfit end only — do not modify the XT30 end.

CAN-Compatible Pinout

Despite being designed for the Nitehawk's USB-based architecture, the cable's electrical characteristics and pinout are also compatible with CAN bus toolboard applications. If you're building a custom toolhead wiring solution on a CAN-based board that uses the same connector standard, this cable can be adapted for that use case.

Specifications

What's Included

What's NOT Included

When Do You Need This?

Order this if your Nitehawk umbilical cable has been damaged — a cut insulation from a cable chain pinch, a strained connector from a crash, or a frayed section from exceeding the rated bend radius. It's also the correct purchase if you're building a second Nitehawk-based toolhead and need the cable independently, or if your build requires a shorter run and you want a fresh cable to crimp to the correct length at the Microfit end rather than shortening a used one.

Resources

• LDO Nitehawk-36 Documentation — cable pinout, connector diagrams, wiring guide
• LDO Nitehawk-SB Documentation — cable pinout, wiring diagram, FAQ

Browse our full Nitehawk toolboard ecosystem at 3D Printer Electronics, or explore all wiring and toolhead upgrades at 3D Printer Upgrades.