E3D All-Metal Print Head

[DonHanson]

Replace the original print head with E3D-v5 All-Metal print head.

Since then they've released a new v6 version with slightly smaller footprint and better fan holder, which should make replacement a tiny bit easier.

There were only four things to take care of, and one optional step.

• 
  1) Thicker wood support needed to support E3D
  2) Washer needed to fill gap between E3D and extruder motor
  3) Longer cooling shroud needed
  4) Additional E3D cooling fan needs power

The optional step is an additional screw to hold the print head to the X-axis carriage because of the additional weight.

Original Head


Original Head 2


Comparison of Original & E3D All-Metal print heads

Notice the two pieces of wood holding the gMax print head are slightly thinner than the E3D's mounting groove.

 

[DonHanson]

Thicker Base


Only Replaced One of Two Holder Wood Pieces

 

[DonHanson]

Longer Shroud Needed


Shroud Done

 

[DonHanson]

E3D Head Doesn't Reach As High As Original Print Head


Easy Low Tech Solution - Metal Washer

 

[DonHanson]

Added 3rd Screw to Hold Print Head


Assembled E3D Print Head


Ready for Final Assembly!

E3D fan needs continuous power. Tapped into the LED power instead of the existing cooling fan's power.

 

[DonHanson]

All Done...

Note: re-routed wires through carriage mount after this picture was taken so they can't interfere with the X-axis end switch.

Time to Print!


So what did all that do for me?
- No more clogs!
- No more overheating (poor coverage) on long prints.

What did it not do? (Will post separate threads on each of these)
- Print quality still not as good as Vision 3D. Prints look a little 'rough'.
- Saggy bed not addressed

All in all, it was a good exercise. Reliability is much improved. Also used the opportunity to replace the warped Z-rod which reduced horizontal 'waves' on two sides of test cubes.

 

[raykholo]

I've got my E3D v6 coming in later today. We're on the same page about a lot of the particulars such as tapping into the LED board for a constant 12v source and in my case a 1/4" flat washer fitting perfectly in the mounting hole.

As I've been saying all over the forum, a bed that isn't flat can be addressed with a 1/2" piece of MDF from Home Depot cut to 18.25" square and drilled with the acrylic bed as a guide. It'll go under the acrylic.

Ideally I'd mill all those plates out of aluminum, but I don't have that capability right now.

 

[DonHanson]

Thanks! I will pick up the 1/2" MDF later this week in preparation for modification this weekend.

While the MDF is a great user supplied fix, I would like the original plans for the print bed that contain the support pieces that were removed. I'm cool with sourcing and paying for the pieces. What I want is the visual experience with a (usable) monster print bed that led me to sign up for this KS.

 

[raykholo]

I'm not 100% certain on what you're asking here.... If you want CAD files for the bed (representation of the 4 mounting holes) shoot Gordon an email...

The support pieces - are you referring to the 2nd set of aluminum angle that was supposed to fix the issue?

As for the MDF, Home Depot (or Lowes I presume) will have a $10 2' x 4' sheet that you can ask them to cut into an 18.25" square.

 

[DonHanson]

Gordon mentioned removing a couple of the print bed support pieces because their contribution to keeping the bed flat was unclear at the time.

Why not just use MDF? Two reasons...
1) Why re-invent the wheel if there is a known solution?

2) For the looks. I already have one 3D printer with a wooden bed plate. It is not approved for display in our living room. The gMax as shown in the KS photos was approved for the living room.

 

[GORDON.LAPLANTE]

@Don

As you mentioned, we originally removed (2) of the aluminum angles which go right under the acrylic bed. We have shipped the 'removed angles out to about half our backers but we were having issues with USPS delivering them and wanted verification before proceeding with the second half. The angles are basically 1/2" x 1/2" angle with 1/16" wall and they can be found at home depot. We drill a hole at each end to correspond with the spring/bolt attachment. The go just above the existing aluminum angle rails (under the acrylic) but they go above the spring. This supports the acrylic from below.

We have also just experimented with adding additional aluminum angles across the front and back of the acrylic and this has done a great job of removing the bowing at the edges of the acrylic bed.

Great work on the e3d writeup. Hopefully the print quality will match the vision soon.

 

[sherpa_chris]

Thanks for the write-up on the E3D conversion. I'm about to order the V6 but had some questions that the forum might answer. I want to switch because I can't print anything larger than about 2" without getting numerous jams. I've ratcheted my speed down to 40mm/sec just to do the 2" prints. Everything else starts clogging within 40 to 80 minutes of print time. I'm using Makerbot PLA and have tried a variety of temps from 230 to 208 degrees. The 230 print warped the extruder mount and the spring tension arm so I printed new ones out (with my other printer) using ABS. I'm sick of dismantling the print head, clearing the jam, fitting the small screws back together and restarting the print several times for even a medium sized job. I'm hopeful that the E3D will solve my problems and allow me to use my gMax to it's full capacity.

Question 1 - Does anyone have experience with the E3D V6? I think Ray said he had ordered one.

Question 2 - I was also thinking about converting to the dual extruder, which could either solve my jamming problems or double them. Is there enough room on the dual extruder to install an E3D V6? If the dual extruder is also an all metal design then I guess I don't need to get the E3D but I assume it's not.

Question 3 - Does anyone have an any suggestions about how to avoid these jams using the existing extruder? Once cleared, the filament seems to move smoothly through the extruder but on anything above slow speed, the extruder starts to skip and eventually jams.

Thanks!

 

[raykholo]

Yes. I've had extrusion issues for 2 months now. It has to be humidity related, I've simply ruled out everything else. I put together a filament dryer - a towel in a bucket with a bulb screwed into a plywood roof.
They don't stop with E3D though, but being able to jack up the temp helps. For example, I have a print going right now at 255. I've run PLA as high as 280. Don't do that though, and certainly not at slow speeds. Make sure you use blue tape, as temps that high will bond your print to the acrylic permanently.
Depends on which extruder version you have. I assume it's the one with the rods for the X axis? Might work but it would be a tight fit. The new version uses the same aluminum rail that the bed rides on, I don't know if it would work but it would be easier to modify to make it fit.

I might get a filastruder next week to make my own filament. You have to bake the PLA Pellets in a toaster oven for an hour to dry them out before extruding them into filament.

I'm sick of filament though, and I'm currently developing a printer that will use UV resin instead of filament, and it'll be able to print circuits inside the plastic!

 

[sherpa_chris]

Thanks for the reply and tips. Humidity was probably the root of my problems. I live in Las Vegas so humidity is normally not an issue. But the last couple of days we've have some monsoon conditions and humidity bumped up to 50%. After my post I tried to clear the jam and discovered that the plastic tubing inside the heat sink was completely deteriorated. I could drill it out and replace the tubing but I think I'll just upgrade to the E3D because I've got some nylon that I want to print with.

I've already had a print bond to the bed. I had to chisel it off which destroyed the print and put some large divots in the bed. I flipped it over but eventually with convert to glass. I like the way the PLA sticks to the acrylic but unfortunately it sticks too well. I cut a 2" gash in my hand a couple weeks back while trying to force a print off with razor-blade scrapper. Luckily the gush of blood didn't short our the printer.

I have a Filastruder and have been making 3mm ABS for my other printer. It works OK for that but it's a labor of love. The Filastruder is slow and takes some fiddling get consistent filament. I've have yet to make PLA with it but have read that its even slower and harder to control. The color comes out uneven so you get some great shade variations within a print, something you can't get with store-bought. Good luck with the UV resin printer.

 

[raykholo]

Yupp, that's why I wouldn't be coloring the PLA pellets. I'd get some black colorant, but I was thinking to start out with natural, uncolored PLA. There's always the spray paint after the print finishes.

I'd try the extrusionbot but it's too expensive.

The deterioration you described is probably due to heat creep. The active fan on the E3D keeps that from happening.

There's enough people talking about switching to a glass bed that I have to get you all a solution that doesn't involve the $100 18 inch heater PCB.

I've been thinking about printing conductive ink traces right onto the glass, but it'll still take a while before I pull that off. That said, you'd be able to print ABS on your gMax then.

 

[sherpa_chris]

I installed an E3D V6 printhead yesterday and have enjoyed clog free printing for the first time. The V6 is a bit different from the V5 but I still needed to use the washer and thicker wood just as Don showed in his photos. I broke the clamp-down kapton- tape-free thermistor so I had to tape in the old one. I haven't yet printed out a new fan blower so mine is held in with duct tape. Not pretty but it works and I'd rather take an acetone bath than take the assembly apart again. I had a heck of a time getting it all back together. Then, during my first couple of prints I realized that I didn't quite assemble it right so I had to take it apart and put it together again. Frustration spiked a few times but in the end it was worth it. Now I've got to figure out how to update the firmware with new temp limits so I can print nylon and other high-temp materials.

Thanks Don for your original post that gave me the inspiration.

Chris

 

[raykholo]

Hey Chris. A few notes for you:

Install the Arduino IDE and grab your relevant firmware (single vs. dual extruder) off the download site. Unzip and open up the file named Marlin.ino. In the Arduino IDE you'll see a bunch of file tabs, you want the one called Configuration.h and somewhere in there is a max temp for E0, which you should set to 300.

Upload the new firmware.

Heat the extruder up to 280 and tighten the nozzle again (assuming you followed the instruction video on youtube about backing the nozzle off a quarter turn, etc...) I didn't do this and have a puddle of PLA on top of the heater block now... So as for that acetone bath... If only this was ABS...

Side note, small amount of glue stick on cold glass is AWESOME for PLA. No more blue tape!

 

[DonHanson]

Hi Chris,

Glad to hear the E3D v6 printhead is working out.

Don

 

[sherpa_chris]

Thanks for the tip on the Arduino upload and on tightening the nozzle. I learned about that the hard way. I had this great print going in white PLA but there were what seemed like big blobs of burned material popping up throughout the print. I lowered the temp but still the PLA seemed to be burning. I got a lot of clogging with my old printhead but never this problem. Then I realized that the blobs were gold PLA from a previous print that had oozed from the top of the heater block and had puddled amidst the kapton tape. It was a mess to clean up but I'm glad it was a problem that could be solved verses some defect with the E3D. I retightened the whole assembly and things are working great.

I'm printing on a thin piece of acrylic taped to the glass but I'll try the glue stick. I made a small bed (9"x18") out of single strength glass and am trying it out. Most of my prints don't need the huge bed so why force the servo belt to lug it about? Weight is 1 lb. vs 3 lb. for the original acrylic. As mentioned in other posts, I can swap out beds in about 15 seconds. I haven't done a controlled study, but the lighter bed seems to help avoid bed shake and layer skipping. Using glue stick instead of the thin acrylic will make it even lighter.

Chris