Arcol.hu V4 hot end. Any reviews?

Hi All,

Looking to purchase my first hot end and after reading some reviews have decided to splash out on an 'Arcol's hot end v4'.

Problem is being new to the 3d printing scene I was wondering if anyone has already purchased a v4 and have any advice / a review for me / the community?

Edit; Should of added the web address of the hot end... Arcol's Hot end V4

If the general consensus is to get a different hot end i'm open to help and support.

I believe it is compatible with the Wade's and Greg's extruders as i plan on using the Greg's extruder with my Prusa i2 (in process of ordering the parts)

Thanks for your time

Tom

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2012 01:55PM by Kingdomfire.

I have used the V3.1 and the V4 with the V3.1 no cooling fans are required to keep the hot end cool. With the V4 a cooling fan is required when using PLA and it is advised to use one with ABS I have had no troubles at all with either.

With the V4 you have to be careful as it is very fragile (could bend) with the very thin tube between the nozzle and the heat sink. I have bent it once when a caught it on the heated bed but that was my fault I managed to bend it back.

Laszlo (Arcol) is a great guy to do business with and he has good after sales service.

I have also been using a V4 arcol, it works great, I can recommend it.

For PLA, you need a fan for the plastic anyway, and that one is enough to keep also the upper part of the hotend at room temperature. For ABS you might want to have one on blowing at the upper heatsink, but It might even work without that.

That's great to hear, thanks guys!

Will go to Arcol's shop and get in touch with Laszlo.

Thanks again

Tom

Late to the party, but have only best to say about Laszlo.

Arcol's awesome as long as you stick to the instructions.
And a fan is pretty much mandatory for PLA, unless you want it to get stuck in the SS barrel at some point.

I have an arcol v3, and it have taken a lot of abuse this last year, and with a few tweaks it "Just Works"(TM) flawless day in and day out. Can't see why the arcol v4 would be any less excellent.

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Cheers Guys,

Ive just sent my order request to Laszlo just waiting to hear back from him now

Thanks for your comments, looking forward to printing with the v4 now!

Tom

It works well, but be SUPER careful with the heat break tube. I have already broken two. One was busted when I was making a full bed print and the head apparently hit a raised corner or something at full travel speed. I have been using Z lift after that. The other one I broke when tightening it while hot (tends to leak a little between it and the nozzle if only tightened while cold) and my tool slipped.

That's great, ill look out for that! Thanks for warning me!

Hello there guys,

After extensive use of V4 @ 0.5mm and 0.35mm I confirm that it is an excellent hot end. Though I probably would not recommend it to a reprap newbie as it is likely to fold under gentle abuse. Any unexpected Z-leveling problems, or bulldog clips at the base of the bed during high-speed travels and you may find yourself ordering a new stainless steel barel, which is crazy thin and because of that works well as a thermal barrier. Laszlo will send one pronto though - been there.

Be extra careful with it!

On the other note - arcol v4 is much more susceptible to problems with problematic PLA. Any dimensions over 3.15-3.2mm and you may register jams. I was pretty unlucky with two spools of plastic from german reprap foundation - grrf.de - and registered wide range of diameters that were causing jams in arcol, but not j-jead. I am getting replacement spools now.

I still stick to it - and love the print quality it gives. I have also used a j-head and arcol v4 is way ahead. I suspect it is the roundness of the nozzle tip that helps out even the surface, even if too much or too little plastic has been extruded - 3mm PLA is never round and never perfect.

Because it is metal only design, theoretically you can heat it up to crazy temperatures and use other materials then PLA and ABS. There are some people on the forum experimenting with different materials and results.

Things to keep in mind - be gentle assembling it, put a fan for PLA, use plastic that does not excede 3.15-3.2mm in diameter and you will get awesome prints.

With the V4 Hotend I put a bit of G code in the start code so as to pick up the Z about 3mm and then put it back down when it is over the glass this stops you breaking it if it catches the glass on the bed. I did break one as well hense the Gcode. Arcol keeps all the spares.

Hey guys, Any advice on fitting my hotend to the Greg's extruder? It appears to be designed to slot straight in and be held with a couple of bolts? The ally plate it shipped with will not fit in the X carriage so i'm guessing it must just slot in but thought id check!

Thanks

Tom

Hi Tom,

What kind of x carriage you use? The Arcol v4 should be used with the alu plate, as only this way it will be stable enough.
Unlike j-head, you cannot mount it directly into an extruder without the alu-plate.

The holes, 50mm apart, in the alu-plate corespond to holes in your extruder. It all should fit on a basic - prusa, mendelmax - x carriage.

mfeherpataky Wrote:
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> Because it is metal only design, theoretically you
> can heat it up to crazy temperatures and use other
> materials then PLA and ABS. There are some people
> on the forum experimenting with different
> materials and results.


The instructions suggest it has a PTFE tube inside. That will melt at high temps. Perhaps the earlier version does not have one?

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-Tom

Sniper4395 Wrote:
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> The instructions suggest it has a PTFE tube
> inside. That will melt at high temps. Perhaps the
> earlier version does not have one?

The PTFE tube is in the cold side. It doesn't limit the temperature.

The Arcol V4 comes with a plywood groove mount plate with the 50 mm bolt pattern which fits into (almost) all general-purpose carriages. I replaced these with milled aluminium ones, which are more durable and improve the heat sink capability of the cold side. The latest J-Head versions also have the same groove and can be used with the same plates.

It comes with a milled aluminium one in the latest versions.

Hi there,

II purchased the Arcol hotend v4.1.1 a couple of weeks ago and can't believe my eyes. The cabeling is a lot cleaner with the all the parts nicely fitted in the nozzle. The hot end itself is very well insulated which means it prints at a very constant temperature. Since installing the new hot end, my prints are a lot cleaner, accurate and without errors at startup... It's like I bought a new printer alltogether... Just wish I started immediately with installing it on my printer when I first got it... Can't sing enogh praises about this little jewel...

Thomas

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2013 04:24PM by ToMat.

How can I contact arcol shop? I do not find any mail contact on their website.

Look at [shop.arcol.hu]

At the bottom of the page, click on the "Show me" button under "Elérhetőség (Contact)".

Quote
Eutronik
How can I contact arcol shop? I do not find any mail contact on their website.

Go to [shop.arcol.hu] . Click the "Show Me" button under Contact at the bottom of the page.

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