Update on the E3D All Metal Hotend (Now finally shipping!) [Lots of pictures]

Hi millerii,

I am not an expert and I guess there could be many reasons but I got a similar problem with my extruder at some point and it turned to be the bolts which tensions the spring getting sort of jammed.
Let me try to explain: for the spring to do its job properly the hinge has to move smoothly. In my case the threads of the bolt holding the spring were rubbing on the holes and created some resistance. The result was that sometimes the filament would get eaten down because the hinge was not able to move back. Does this make any sense? Anyway you can just check that your hinge can move back an forth without any resistance (apart from the spring of course).

Just my 2 cents :-)

Cheers,

Franck

Thanks for quick reply.

I check hinge, it wasn't so tight but I still loosen it little and try print. Jammed pretty much same place than day before yesterday.
I extrude some filament by turning gear with hands and noticed that springs give up occasionally and at that time filament skip/eat by one tooth. Maybe when it does that for every tooth, bolt is eventually full of plastic and wont be able to feed anymore and just spin.

I change springs to some anti-vibration rubber so it can't move much back so it gives better pressure against filament.
I don't wanna celebrate too early but at least yesterday it works after rubbers.

I remember read that sprigs should be really tight but didn't know how tight it is.

I modified i3ext by sgraber to fit E3D hot ends. The rail mount needed some modifications to prevent the hot end from tilting while printing. This extruder coupled with E3D hot end produces really awesome prints.

[www.thingiverse.com]

jkoljo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I modified i3ext by sgraber to fit E3D hot ends.
> The rail mount needed some modifications to
> prevent the hot end from tilting while printing.
> This extruder coupled with E3D hot end produces
> really awesome prints.
>
> [www.thingiverse.com]


Thanks for posting that jkoljo, I'm going to give Franck's extruder a try first Thingiverse and see how if works but I had been looking at sgraber's i3ext for my other printer so it's nice to have options.

just ordered one

Was evaluating the E3D’s package constraints for a possible build and thought it would be nice to have a Wire Clip incorporated into the printed Fan Duct Housing to help guide wires. So I made a simple mockup. If I end up purchasing an E3D and get one in my hands I am sure this would change to the specific wiring needs, but thought it didn't hurt to post this simple concept.

i have been printing with this hotend for a month without any problems. i started having an issue a few days before. it prints perfectly for 2-3 minutes then the extruder starts chewing filament. why could this be and how can i solve it?

i only use abs

I see the heat block has a 2 mm diameter hole that goes right through it. I assume it is intended for a thermocouple. Can you give me a link where I can source a thermocouple that fits that hole?

So, I was thinking about making something like this (see attached file). It would fit cheap Chinese motor cooling jackets (link). Then add water reservoir and a small pump, and there you have a water cooled E3D hot end. Guaranteed to be cold

What do you guys think? The whole hot end would be about 1,5 cm shorter than standard E3D v5.

[www.ebay.com] (20 mm size)

ps. Sorry for double post.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2013 06:25PM by jkoljo.

Hi people!

I bought a couple of e3d v5 hotend kits from e3d-online.com, I have a RepRapPro Mono Mendel,
this one; http://www.reprappro.com/products/mono-mendel/

I've googled a lot but havent found any instructions for mounting the e3d hotend on my printer. Is there anyone who knows how to? Or even know where to find a printable mount for this hotend and my reprap model?

I am thankful for any advice I can get!

/a reprap noob

You'll need an extruder/X-carraige mount for that. You might try searching thingiverse for someone who has already designed one or adapt one designed for another machine. Measure the distance center to center your horizontal x-carraige smooth rods are apart and you might be able to use a different X-carriage.

Thanks p40whk!

I've been considering something like that, but I thought i'd throw out the question here before, in case anyone knew anything about this particular setup.

I designed a direct drive extruder paired with a E3D groove mount base. It was designed to fit on X Carriages using the Wade extruder mount standard (50mm center to center). Although this was designed for Vert X printers but can also work with horizontal X setup.

[www.thingiverse.com]

You can also check out tbordino's direct drive setup which seems more ideal for horizontal X printers. You can still pair my E3D groove mount base with this one.

[www.thingiverse.com]

I havent tested this yet but you can technically pair the groove mount base with a Wade Extruder. Only problem is that there might be a gap between the two which might cause the filament to buckle.

Thank you very much gyronictonic for the advice, I will definately look into this sollution!

Does anyone know if it is possible to convert from a bowden version of a E3D to a non-bowden (direct) version?

willst Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know if it is possible to convert from
> a bowden version of a E3D to a non-bowden (direct)
> version?

No reason why not. Print a small plug to fill in the tapped area of the bowden version and off you go.

---

Help improve the RepRap wiki! Just click "Edit" in the top-right corner of the page and start typing. Anyone can edit the wiki!

Ok, now I have assembled the hotend, I come to mount it on the extruder. It doesn't fit! The standard groove mount is 4.6 mm, but the E3D has a notch of 5.6mm. That's a whole 1mm out. The thing is impossible to clamp, it just flops about.

I can fix it with a shim, but why I am having to bodge it? It should be designed to fit.

Mine fit really well into groove mount from hotends dot com.

I posted about this extruder design a while ago: [www.thingiverse.com]

The fit is perfect.

I got my E3D non-Bowden set up with my Bowden system and printed a part in 3MM black PLA from Monoprice last night. It has some small sections that slow the print to 5 mm/s. No jams. I will say I was worried based on my "manual" testing (meaning pushing filament through with my hand) that I would have jamming issues, but the torque of the Wades extruder manages it with ease. I did have to up the temperature to 210, and I decided to drop it duting the print to 207 and 205 on the really slow parts because I don't have a cooling fan mounted yet.

No jams, virtually no stringers, 2.5 mm retract and a 0.2 mm lift. Here is a 7 minute video if you are interested in seeing it print: [www.youtube.com]

I used this X carriage on my Prusa i2 along with one of these plates with a 5.5mm thickness to match the E3D.

-Jay

jaydmdigital:
I see you have mounted your fan with sticker facing away from heatsink so the fan suck air from the hotend. Did you do that on purpose?
I think it would be more effective sticker facing to the heatsink so the fan blow air to the heatsink, like assembly manual says.

Doh! Maybe it will quiet the fan noise Thanks.

SanjayM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> maralb
> Your order was for one of the earlier versions -
> and that particular batch had a shorter heat-break
> than other versions. Which in hindsight was a
> mistake. I have emailed you about getting you a
> replacement part.
>
I still wait for the way to replace the old heat-break.
are not at all happy with the way you sell.
I found myself very badly whenever purchasing something from you
even though I received a gift of a nozzle for your apology error

if the junction between the barrel and the nozzle is leak proof but not perfectly smooth can it cause jamming issues. i have been having a lot of jamming problems last two weeks.

SanjayM, what orifice length do you prefer for 0.5 diameter and greater ( 0.6 - 0.8мм)? Should it be 2.4*D as you wrote for 0.4mm or maybe some other equations when scaling up?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2013 06:01AM by karabas.

I redid some electronics on my printer, and then proceeded to print some parts. During the print I noticed some layer shifting. Cause: hotend melting itself out of the extruder body. I had forgot to attach the hotend fan, so I was running the hot end totally without cooling. The amazing thing, no jamming! A great hot end design for sure

SanjayM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Karabas
> -Going from v4 to v5 is a collection of tweaks and
> changes - most notable:
> -Reduced weight due to thinner fins.
> -Increased cooling capacity - thinner fins allow
> us to get more fins packed onto the same
> heatsink.
> -Better final brass nozzle geometry gives less
> 'dragging' of the nozzle over curled up prints,
> and less heat radiated towards prints.
> -Better chamfers/funnelling where filament enters
> the hotend or goes from one part of the hotend to
> another. This reduces snagging and increases
> reliability.
> -Placement of thermistor altered for more accurate
> and reliable reading (sensor closer to melt
> zone).

Dear Sanjay,
Any chances you will post the drawings of the latest hotend version online? The ones on your site are great but reading through this thread I lost count of all the tweaks, most notably the ones you mention above. Is there still a chamfer between the heat break tube and the nozzle? I thought, much earlier in the discussion that this one was eliminated altogether, to avoid forming a ring of plastic. The parts sizes also seem to have changed much - maralb posted the photo which shows the (I presume) newer version longer by 2-3 mm, does that mean the heatsink has grown in length?
Another question that could underline my lack of experience is about the dimensions of the nozzle - the nozzle drawing does not show the inner diameter but it's easy to assume the same 3.2 +- 0.5, but what about the depth? How thick is the slice of metal with the extruding hole?
Thanks for sharing all that info!

I love my E3D extruder, but it seems to have developed a PLA allergy or something. A couple layers in, it's started always getting clogged and the extruder chews the filament. I've tried:

- HIgher temperatures: I had good success at 190 for awhile, but now I've gone as high as 215 with similar clogs.
- No retraction: same clogs.
- Complete tear down/clean: took everything apart and cleared plastic remnants out. Soaked in acetone.

This is a homebuilt mini-printer so I'm only going about 15-20mm/s at most. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

3mm or 1.75mm , you might want to run a little faster

Isos Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I love my E3D extruder, but it seems to have
> developed a PLA allergy or something. A couple
> layers in, it's started always getting clogged and
> the extruder chews the filament. I've tried:
>
> - HIgher temperatures: I had good success at 190
> for awhile, but now I've gone as high as 215 with
> similar clogs.
> - No retraction: same clogs.
> - Complete tear down/clean: took everything apart
> and cleared plastic remnants out. Soaked in
> acetone.
>
> This is a homebuilt mini-printer so I'm only going
> about 15-20mm/s at most. Any tips would be greatly
> appreciated!

---

-=( blog )=- -=( thingiverse )=- -=( 3Dindustries )=- -=( Aluhotend - mostly metal hotend)=--=( Facebook )=-

Same issue, and it turned out my PLA as too wide in spots thus the sporadic jams. When I use PLA that's in spec, it's a beautiful thing. BTW, raising the temp had no effect. I am thiking of making a die I can pull the filament true to strip off the oversized amount. Useless to me otherwise.

-Jay

Isos Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I love my E3D extruder, but it seems to have
> developed a PLA allergy or something. A couple
> layers in, it's started always getting clogged and
> the extruder chews the filament. I've tried:
>
> - HIgher temperatures: I had good success at 190
> for awhile, but now I've gone as high as 215 with
> similar clogs.
> - No retraction: same clogs.
> - Complete tear down/clean: took everything apart
> and cleared plastic remnants out. Soaked in
> acetone.
>
> This is a homebuilt mini-printer so I'm only going
> about 15-20mm/s at most. Any tips would be greatly
> appreciated!