Standardised hot-end connector

Standardised hot-end connector I'm thinking about using different hot-ends and nozzles on my printer (Volcano vs E3DV6 vs Diamond), and thinking therefore about easy ways to disconnect and connect from the controller board. Has anyone gone done this route and want to share what they've done and the good points/bad points of their solution? What I have is a pair of wires 12V/4A for the heater, 2 pairs 12V/0.1A for fans, 1 pair for the thermocouple. Anything I should add for future expansion? I might be able to reduce that by a couple of wires by combining the grounds of the heater & fans, but I suspect that's a bad idea. So an 8-pin socket and plug. Is an ordinary PCB header strip of 8 pins going to be suitable? Probably it would be a good idea for each component to be (dis)connected separately, so I'm thinking a short piece of Veroboard 8 strips wide, with 8 pins at one end, and 8 sockets at the other. Each pair of wires from the controller would be soldered to a pair of sockets, and each pair of wires to the hhot-end would be soldered to a pair of pins. The Veroboard could be mounted or clipped onto the effector. So removing a hot-end would be a matter of unplugging the 4 pairs of wires, undoing the Bowden connector and cutting the filament, then detaching the rods from the magnets. The new hot-end could be swapped onto the effector, or each hot-end could have its own effector. Since removing the hot-end is much easier, its would also make it easier to change nozzles, and do any other hot-end maintenance. Thoughts please! https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814847#msg-814847 Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:01:50 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,815531#msg-815531 Re: Standardised hot-end connector https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,815531#msg-815531
I think the possible route of having a daughter board on the head with power and a data bus connection back to the main controller could achieve a more suitable solution.]]> DjDemonD Delta Machines Thu, 22 Mar 2018 08:54:07 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814875#msg-814875 Re: Standardised hot-end connector https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814875#msg-814875

Quote
dc42
PCB header pins are only good up to about 2A, so no good for the hot end heater if you are using 12V power.

It's a good idea to separate the low voltage (e.g. temperature sensor, Z probe) and higher voltage (heaters and fans) so that you are less likely to mix them up.

On the Smart Effector we use a 6-pin Molex Microfit connector for the fans and heaters, and an 8-pin Molex KK for the low voltage connections. See [duet3d.dozuki.com]. This is sufficient to handle one heater, two fans, a 4-wire temperature sensor and a 4-wire Z probe.

And avoid ground loops. For ex. the - (ground) of the heater must be separate from the T° sensor ...]]> MKSA Delta Machines Sun, 18 Mar 2018 05:48:32 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814859#msg-814859 Re: Standardised hot-end connector https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814859#msg-814859
It's a good idea to separate the low voltage (e.g. temperature sensor, Z probe) and higher voltage (heaters and fans) so that you are less likely to mix them up.

On the Smart Effector we use a 6-pin Molex Microfit connector for the fans and heaters, and an 8-pin Molex KK for the low voltage connections. See [duet3d.dozuki.com]. This is sufficient to handle one heater, two fans, a 4-wire temperature sensor and a 4-wire Z probe.]]> dc42 Delta Machines Sun, 18 Mar 2018 03:03:17 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814851#msg-814851 Re: Standardised hot-end connector https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814851#msg-814851 Cobalt Griffon Delta Machines Sat, 17 Mar 2018 20:24:32 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814847#msg-814847 Standardised hot-end connector https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?178,814847,814847#msg-814847
What I have is a pair of wires 12V/4A for the heater, 2 pairs 12V/0.1A for fans, 1 pair for the thermocouple. Anything I should add for future expansion? I might be able to reduce that by a couple of wires by combining the grounds of the heater & fans, but I suspect that's a bad idea. So an 8-pin socket and plug. Is an ordinary PCB header strip of 8 pins going to be suitable? Probably it would be a good idea for each component to be (dis)connected separately, so I'm thinking a short piece of Veroboard 8 strips wide, with 8 pins at one end, and 8 sockets at the other. Each pair of wires from the controller would be soldered to a pair of sockets, and each pair of wires to the hhot-end would be soldered to a pair of pins. The Veroboard could be mounted or clipped onto the effector.

So removing a hot-end would be a matter of unplugging the 4 pairs of wires, undoing the Bowden connector and cutting the filament, then detaching the rods from the magnets. The new hot-end could be swapped onto the effector, or each hot-end could have its own effector. Since removing the hot-end is much easier, its would also make it easier to change nozzles, and do any other hot-end maintenance.

Thoughts please!]]> frankvdh Delta Machines Sat, 17 Mar 2018 19:23:39 -0400