Alternative CORE for Ultimaker3 available, the 3D solex "HardCore"

[SandervG 1,521]

So you tried a bunch of abrasive material when everything worked fine, and now you are switching back to PLA and it is not fine anymore? Any idea how much abrasive material you have used approximately? Perhaps worth looking if your knurled feeder wheel has not worn down from the abrasive material, and it now can't grip PLA as good as it could before. 

[BrunoP 1]

Hi Sander - No I didn't try the abrasive material yet. First want to get the HardCore + Everlast working with ordinary PLA before I try new feedstock. The printer hasn't got many hours on it, perhaps 50, all with PLA.

[BrunoP 1]

Just a status update before I sign off for the weekend (or at least the evening).

Manual leveling was necessary. Still I had to increase the distance further to be able to print a first layer.

Last test print I made was at a temperature setting of 230 deg. It looks almost as good as one done with the standard print head at 205deg (default setting), so next I'll try 240 deg.

 

Overall decent progress. The impression I get is that the temperature sensor in the Hardcore deviates from that of the standard head so the actual temperature is lower than what the UM3 thinks it is.

[BrunoP 1]

Further update.

 

Here's the reason why auto-leveling isn't working with my HardCore: the head comes down a fraction of a mm whilst printing (probably because of the force imparted by the filament), but not whilst leveling, whether you do it manually or automatically. This becomes obvious when using the UM3 BB head alongside the HardCore. The UM3 head stays absolutely fixed so if you drop the build plate that extra bit that the Hardcore needs (the 1/3 screw turn mentioned by Carl), the gap between the UM BB head and the build plate is too large. I'm now making do using a business card (!!) as the calibration card for the Hardcore during manual leveling and the actual calibration card under the BB head for the Z offset. It's not exactly an attractive solution.

 

So, still a few bugs to fix in the Hardcore!

[gr5 2,172]

@swordiff note above post.  3dsolex did switch I believe to a slightly weaker spring but it's still pretty strong.  I'm thinking maybe there is more friction in your hardcore than typical.  I've done QA on hundreds of these and taken them apart and put them back together before shipping to customers and I can see how if the black "trigger" part is a little too wide then it might stick like this although I've never seen this in person.

 

I think you should contact carl at 3dsolex and get a new one so he can inspect yours and learn from it as this is mostly a guess.

[BrunoP 1]

Had Carl on the phone an hour ago, thoroughly nice chap!

 

He talked me through how to disassemble and reassemble the unit without breaking anything, including how to make trigger slide more smoothly and to stretch the spring. This seems to have improved the levelling problem, at least I now get a first layer without tweaking the levelling of the UM3.

 

For the temperature problem I'm getting a new heater/sensor PCB to try out. I'll probably surface again when I get it.

 

PS the upper part was fully screwed down onto the block, you feel it stop positively.

[Jakeddesign 14]

On 2/19/2018 at 5:33 PM, BrunoP said:

Had Carl on the phone an hour ago, thoroughly nice chap!

 

He talked me through how to disassemble and reassemble the unit without breaking anything, including how to make trigger slide more smoothly and to stretch the spring. This seems to have improved the levelling problem, at least I now get a first layer without tweaking the levelling of the UM3.

 

For the temperature problem I'm getting a new heater/sensor PCB to try out. I'll probably surface again when I get it.

 

PS the upper part was fully screwed down onto the block, you feel it stop positively.

 

OH man, this is perfect, I also have the same issue, replacing the spring with one from another UM3 core solved the issue, but I would like to get another (better) spring if possible so that I can re-assembly my UM3 printcore.

 

Does anyone have contact information for 3D Solex. (Carl?).  it doesnt appear to be on their website for some strange reason....

[SandervG 1,521]

Thank you for your updates @BrunoP , it is good to have found the reason for your findings. Both for you and everyone else reading this. Thank you for keeping us informed

[GFlow 0]

Hi, quick question,  if I want to print CF materials do I need to change my whole core or should I just change the nozzle on my existing ultimaker printcore

[Jakeddesign 14]

1 minute ago, GFlow said:

Hi, quick question,  if I want to print CF materials do I need to change my whole core or should I just change the nozzle on my existing ultimaker printcore

I would recommend getting the 3D Solex HardCore, which allows you to replace the nozzles.  It is very difficult to replace a nozzle on the OEM Ultimaker 3 Cores.

[GFlow 0]

So if got the UM3 Hardcore Pro core, that still doesn't have a hardened nozzle? I'm looking at the nozzles on the site, and I guess there are two types?  Hardcore Pro and the Everlast right?  And the the core kit comes with just the standard harcord pro nozzles and those aren't good enough for carbon fiber right?  So then I need to order an everlast nozzle right? what size is best?  Should I just stick with .4 because that is a good size and I have that or should I get something different?  Also what do you do when the standard UM3 core nozzle wears out?

http://3dsolex.com/product/um3-hardcore/

[JohnInOttawa 104]

You might get a lot of different answers to your question.

 

In my case, I bought one hardcore, then a second, and have a number of different sizes of everlast nozzles.  At first I thought this route was going to be ridiculously expensive, but then I started reading about folks getting into trouble with their printcores, and of course my plan was to print CF, metal and wood filled material, all of which are either abrasive, prone to clogs, or both.

 

So the first part of this.  For abrasive filaments, you can get by with steel on the hardcore, but you will have to change the nozzle as it wears out.  The good news is that you can do that and, depending on which hardcore kit you get, you will get some steel with it.   If you do choose an everlast nozzle, you may find, as I did, that each of these exotic filaments has a preferred nozzle diameter.  So, you will end up swapping nozzles a lot, each time risking a broken heat break, or you can do as I did, set up two hardcores, each one with a nozzle optimised for the filament you need.

 

The second part, some of the exotic filaments are not fully supported by Ultimaker.  So they might have issues, like clogging.  Even if you are fine using brass, if the material clogs, depending on how bad it is, removing the nozzle might be the only way to save the core.  Again, possible with the hardcore, not so easy for mere mortals with the standard Ultimaker cores.

 

I'm not sure any of the above helps. I don't know where in the world you are, but I deal with George at the gr5 store and have been very happy with the support and the ability to tune products for what I need. 

 

Cheers

John

[ultiarjan 1,223]

One thing to also keep in mind when printing abrasive stuff, it not only wears your nozzle.... but apparently can also wear out the drive bold in your feeder.... (part 1960-G according

to the UM2+ BOM, but dont be surprised if its not something you reseller has on stock..)

[GFlow 0]

On 4/16/2018 at 6:52 PM, JohnInOttawa said:

You might get a lot of different answers to your question.

 

In my case, I bought one hardcore, then a second, and have a number of different sizes of everlast nozzles.  At first I thought this route was going to be ridiculously expensive, but then I started reading about folks getting into trouble with their printcores, and of course my plan was to print CF, metal and wood filled material, all of which are either abrasive, prone to clogs, or both.

 

So the first part of this.  For abrasive filaments, you can get by with steel on the hardcore, but you will have to change the nozzle as it wears out.  The good news is that you can do that and, depending on which hardcore kit you get, you will get some steel with it.   If you do choose an everlast nozzle, you may find, as I did, that each of these exotic filaments has a preferred nozzle diameter.  So, you will end up swapping nozzles a lot, each time risking a broken heat break, or you can do as I did, set up two hardcores, each one with a nozzle optimised for the filament you need.

 

The second part, some of the exotic filaments are not fully supported by Ultimaker.  So they might have issues, like clogging.  Even if you are fine using brass, if the material clogs, depending on how bad it is, removing the nozzle might be the only way to save the core.  Again, possible with the hardcore, not so easy for mere mortals with the standard Ultimaker cores.

 

I'm not sure any of the above helps. I don't know where in the world you are, but I deal with George at the gr5 store and have been very happy with the support and the ability to tune products for what I need. 

 

Cheers

John

Thanks for the info John.  What different materials are you using on each print core and what size diameter do you use for each?  I have some of the CF filament that I would like to start using.

 

https://shop3duniverse.com/collections/nylon-filament/products/3d-universe-nylon-carbon-fiber-filament-2-85mm-3-0mm-500g?tdu_s=atx

Edited April 20, 2018 by GFlow

[gr5 2,172]

FYI - I sell 3dsolex hardcores at thegr5store.com.

 

I think the 0.6mm sapphire (everlast) is the best core for CF.  It can print 10 spools of CF with no wear inside or out.  I think 0.6 is a good compromise such that it is less likely to clog but still pretty good resolution.

[JohnInOttawa 104]

My 0.6 core - from the gr5 store, is for nylforce CF.  That's their recommended diameter.  Some of the wood and metal fill stuff prefers bigger yet.  I haven't had a chance to really print anything with these though, too busy printing parts for my UMO belt upgrade, and sticking to PLA and nylon for those.

 

J

[ultimateboss 0]

Do you guys run 3DSolex Nozzles at a different Temp? or do the defaults in cura work for you? Im recently plagued with clogs which all seem to come from temp settngs. everything was working fine with the defaults but suddenly every prints stops extruding mid way. 

[gr5 2,172]

I print with .4 at same temp but .8 10C cooler.  It depends on nozzle size and also printing speed (volume of filament going through the nozzle).

 

[LexMaker 1]

On 4/20/2018 at 10:24 PM, gr5 said:

I print with .4 at same temp but .8 10C cooler.  It depends on nozzle size and also printing speed (volume of filament going through the nozzle).

 

I've just installed a Hardcore and I'm having sever underextrusion issues, and I'm a n00b at the FDM printing, so please excuse this. . . I'm going to try raising the temp as speed changes didn't help, and even prints with 70% infill are brittle.  I've not tested with other material yet, only some  older PLA from Argos.  Will changing the temp help for underextrusion?

 

EDIT: I've just read that I should lower the temp on the package for the print core, trying that first

Edited June 28, 2019 by LexMaker

[LexMaker 1]

So that didn't work! Help!!

[gr5 2,172]

If you have underextrusion, lowering the temp will definitely just make it worse.  Raising might help but better not to mess with temperature - better to slow down.

 

1) Is this a brand new hardcore?  First I would try a different core to make sure the problem is with the core and not something else (filament, bowden, feeder, cura setting).

2) Which nozzle are you using on the hardcore?  Does it match the "line width" in cura?  You can't slice for a 0.4 core and then put a 0.25 nozzle on there and expect it to work just fine.  You have to adjust the line width.

3) There could be a bit of dust/dirt/metal/sand in the nozzle of the hardcore.  To get that out the normal procedure (for both UM Core and hardcore) is a "cold pull".  You can do hot and cold pulls from the menu on both the S5 and the UM3.  Additionally since the nozzles come off of the hardcore you can do a cold pull over a gas stove (I call it the gr5 pull 😮)

 

4) Did you mess with speeds?  Are you using default profile speeds?

[LexMaker 1]

1) Is this a brand new hardcore?  First I would try a different core to make sure the problem is with the core and not something else (filament, bowden, feeder, cura setting).

 

It is brand new, but i was printing with another core without underextrusion.

 

2) Which nozzle are you using on the hardcore?  Does it match the "line width" in cura?  You can't slice for a 0.4 core and then put a 0.25 nozzle on there and expect it to work just fine.  You have to adjust the line width.

 

I'm a newb, but I'm not an idiot.  I've altered settings applicable to this nozzle size, which is 0.4mm

 

4) Did you mess with speeds?  Are you using default profile speeds?

 

I tried adjusting speed with no change in the underextrusion issue. 

 

Here is the result at 125% (on the right) as compared to 100% (on the left):

 

 

EDIT: 150% made it worse.  Trying to slow it down significantly next

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by LexMaker

[gr5 2,172]

Do a cold pull.  Especially because this is a brand new core I'm thinking some small piece of metal was in the nozzle.  I resell 3dsolex cores and I inspect EVERY Nozzle and about 1 in 50 have a piece of metal from the manufacturing process.  I remove those but I may have missed a speck.  Or you may have gotten a nozzle that bypassed me.

[gr5 2,172]

https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/23132-clean-the-print-cores

[bsekle 0]

Hello all.  I recently obtained one of the PVA BB solex hardcores for my UM3.  I also upgraded to the DDG Bondtech extruders (for extruder 1 and 2).  For whatever reason, after installing the BB hardcore the PVA filament extrudes the prime blob just fine (and when I first load the material)  but then extrudes little to no filament when the print begins.  The extruder also starts clicking as it tries to extrude the filament.  With the regular Ultimaker BB core there is no issue.  Does anyone know what the cause and a fix might be?  I don’t know if maybe there’s a change in settings required.  I had the same problem when I tried printing PVA with the AA solex hardcore (which is apparently the same with different coding) .  It seems like it can’t be that the extruder doesn’t have a firm enough grip but that the filament must be catching on something inside of the core.  The tension on the extruder was set to halfway.