UM2 Hotend / Extruder Upgrade Options

[Mookie 0]

I recently purchased a second hand UM2 with the purpose of printing parts for a few projects. The materials I will primarily be printing are ABS, PC, and PC blends. I purchased the UM2 because of the ease of which I will be able to enclose the printer to reduce drafts and trap the noxious fumes so that I may pump them elsewhere.

One day I do plan on experimenting with dual extrusion, perhaps with Foehnsturm's dual extrusion mod. But, in the meantime this printer will pretty much be dedicated to printing functional prototypes.

My question is, which hotend and extruder would you run for printing primarily ABS, PC, and PC blends? I believe my best options are:

-UM's UM2 to UM2+ Extrusion Upgrade Kit ($395, can't print straight PC)

-E3D's UM Extrusion Upgrade Kit ($220, comes with Titan Extruder)

-E3D-v6 Hotend with personally printed mount and Bondtech QR Extruder(~$274 + material to print mount)

Advantages/Disadvantages:

UM's Extrusion Upgrade Kit

+Ease of nozzle changes

+Spare parts for Foehnsturm's dual extrusion mod

+No need to mess with the firmware

-Can't print straight PC

-Longevity of hotend at 270C

E3D's UM Extrusion Upgrade Kit

+Cost

+Ability to print PC

+Longevity of hotend at 270C

-Must calibrate the machine after nozzle change

-Must compile firmware myself

E3D-v6 with Bondtech QR Extruder

+Possibly the best extruder?

+Ability to print PC

+Longevity of hotend at 270C

-Must calibrate the machine after nozzle change

-Must compile firmware myself

-Must print my own mount for the hotend

If I were to print my own mount for the E3D-v6, are there any designs that some of you might recommend?

Would I be able to print the mount out of ABS with the standard UM2 head and have it last?

[SandervG 1,521]

If you have an Ultimaker 2, and not the +, I would recommend to upgrade using an extrusion upgrade pack. It also contains some other crucial parts which will make your entire Ultimaker like new.

The feeder is among others a very welcome upgrade.

Why would you not be able to print PC?

For some materials that require high temperatures, a door to shield of the front is recommended. Ultimaker has a solution with its advanced 3D printing kit, but there is a range of options you can choose from in this regard. Including, a simple cardboard cover you made yourself.

[LePaul 321]

Since he's mentioned using a different feeder (Bondtech), could he upgrade the Ultimaker 2 print head alone? What parts are needed? Spacer, Olsson block, bigger heater...what else?

[neotko 1,417]

So you thing that E3D fullmetall and high temps will save money on the long run because it won't need TFM coupler replacements right? Well, you are not wrong, specially if you want to have 2 heads, one for low temps, and other for high temps. For example PC-Max from Polymaker seems like a fantastic material that needs 250-270C, so having a full metal will open that door for you. But mind that using 2.85 on a E3D for PLA, that might be a door to headaches. But having 2 heads, that's nice if you plan to have a magnetic holder to change heads fast.

The part that I'm seeing weird on your pros/cons is the

"-Must calibrate the machine after nozzle change"

What do you mean? When changing nozzles, the readjust is just Z, no need to touch the bed calibration... Well yea since UM2 firmware forces a full 3 point calibration, but just do the first, and ignore the other 2 points, that will do all fast. Bed calibration can last long time, no matter the nozzle you use. Also you don't put this on the main um2+ kit. You will need to do it, no matter what anyone say, you are a human and you can't tight the nozzle exacto, so expect 0.0X errors no matter what. That, if you want precision, will force you to readjust the bed level (this can be done on the fly, using the thumb screws below the bed, no need to use the calibration stuff when you learn how to move them, it just take's practice).

About the "-Must compile firmware myself"

You could just use Tinkergnome firmware, it let you adjust everything you might need, from PID to esteps, from the little screen. No need to compile since there are already .hex files ready to use (afaik)

But main things first, UM2 feeder is quite bad on torque, and if you plan to push mm3 you need a better extruder, that can be titan, bondtech, um2+ feeder. All three will work ok, but the best hands down is the bondtech feeder. And I doubt any um2+ or titan, could push the amount of retractions a bondtech can do without damaging the filament and keeping a full and constant control of the filament moves.

But seems you want a plug/play option right?

Buy a full um2+ hotend from a 3dsolex reseller (just get olsson, is cheper than the shiny v2) that's 60€, get a heater 35W that's 20€, get a Bondtech feeder, 140€. Update to tinkergnome, change the 2 settings to change, and enjoy life. Ofc, you could do the same with a E3D. Get a E3D hotend, print the adapters to UM, buy a Bondtech, enjoy life.

There are many ways cheapers. But Kits are the fastest way of not doing much tinkering, ofc they cost more.

Edit: Well 'cost more' is a bit exaggerated. UM2+ is quite nice, specially since you have a second hand, having new central x/y shafts might be a real necessity if that printer had much atomics without care. And the bed clips are quite welcome. But the feeder isn't better than the bondtech (ofc, bondtech feeder is more expensive).

Edited March 31, 2017 by Guest