Choosing between E3D v6 and lite6

Hi Guys,
I am quite new in 3d world, and didn't find answer to question I'm interesting in, so decided to post it here for discussion.
Basically I am upgrading my prusa i3, and to start I decided to upgrade hotend. Reading good reviews I sticked with E3D hotends. V6 looks good, but lite6 has better price and looks like similar performance if you are printing in PLA and ABS only. Only drawback I see is speed, V6 allows to print up to 100 mm/s while lite6 is limited to 50 mm/s. What I'm wondering 100 mm/s for V6 means quality of print will decrease or it will be consistent on speed up to 100 mm/s. If quality will decrease probably lite6 would win because anywhere you'll print on the same speed range to keep quality good (around 50 mm/s). What do you think?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2015 09:49AM by gb.

Personally I print not much higher than 50mm/sec for good prints.

Floyd, that is what I am thinking too.

Also here is comment from Tim (Filastruder) regarding this question:

Hi there,

Both hotends have the same print quality, this is a function of the overall nozzle and melt chamber design.

The Lite6 is limited because with a PTFE liner, it cannot melt plastic as quickly - the PTFE doesn’t transmit heat well.

The v6 is capable of producing equal quality prints to the Lite6, but at up to twice the speed.

Hope that helps!

Tim

Looks like it is possible to bump a speed with the same quality.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2015 11:11AM by gb.

Hi,

I'm a regular V6 owner, and I get some Lite6 hotends recently.
I can't see any print quality difference with PLA. It's the type of filament I mostly print with.
I did not changed my settings and I'm still printing @120mm.s with the Lite6 with no issue for the moment.

IMHO, as long as you stick to materials that fuse under 240°C, you can get a Lite6.
The V6 is a full metal hotend that is meant to extrude any FDM material.
For two years, I printed PLA and rarely ABS. Sometimes flexible or gliding filaments (Igus Tribo).
To me the Lite6 can cover 100% of my needs.
What you can't do with it is printing some :
-TPU
-Layceramic
-PC
Appreciate people don't print often that materials.
You can find Nylons or PETG that can be printed below 240°C.

++JM

One problem I find with the all-metal V6 is that the 600mm Bowden tube on my printer needs 8mm retraction, and if I am not careful when pausing or stopping a print then this amount of retraction causes a bulge to be formed in the filament just below the Bowden tube, which jams the head. The Lite is claimed to be more tolerant of large retractions. So on machines with long Bowden tubes, the Lite may be a better choice, if you can live with the temperature limitation.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Thank you guys for your help!

I am actually planing to use it in bowden version. What do you think using direct drive extruder has enough power to push filament? Or should I better to research geared options?

I am deciding between:
Nema 17 / 2A / 64oz
and
Nema 17 / 2A / 84oz

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2015 12:54PM by gb.

Hi,

It's not only a question of power (torque).
Of course direct drives runs slowly and you need a high inductance moteur to get enough torque at low speed.
It's also a question of definition. Geared drives are reduced, so they offer a smoother flow.
You have more steps to move 1 mm of filament.
There's a lot of difference, especialy with 3mm filament.
With 1.75mm filament you can drive it properly with 0.22Nm (32oz.in) and a MK7 gear.
Geared extruders allows to use smaller stepper motors because they need less torque.

++JM

I recommend a 3:1 (approx) geared extruder. To get successful extrusion with direct drive, several things have to be right:

1. 1.75mm filament only.

2. A good, small-diameter hobbed insert with a lot of grip.

3. A high-torque (i.e. long) Nema 17 stepper motor.

4. Stepper motors and driver chips matched carefully so that the driver can drive the stepper motor with 80% to 85% of its rated current.

RepRapPro tried a direct-drive extruder on their Fisher beta kit, but the motor was too short to give enough torque for filaments other than PLA. They switched to a geared extruder for the Fisher 1.0 kit.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2015 04:44PM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42
I recommend a 3:1 (approx) geared extruder. To get successful extrusion with direct drive, several things have to be right:

1. 1.75mm filament only.

2. A good, small-diameter hobbed insert with a lot of grip.

3. A high-torque (i.e. long) Nema 17 stepper motor.

4. Stepper motors and driver chips matched carefully so that the driver can drive the stepper motor with 80% to 85% of its rated current.

RepRapPro tried a direct-drive extruder on their Fisher beta kit, but the motor was too short to give enough torque for filaments other than PLA. They switched to a geared extruder for the Fisher 1.0 kit.

Thank you for your help! Will try to go with direct drive and see how it will be.