E3D All Metal Hotend for Ultimaker

[jonnybischof 60]

140k Ohms should be somewhere near 5°C (depends on the thermistor model)

The nominal value of 100k Ohms is for 25°C, and the resistance decreases when temperature rises. So, higher than 100k means it's colder than 25°C (or there is something wrong with your connection).

 

[zoev89 73]

I just measured mine and it 100K when not connected.

Yes I just received my hotend so I am also in that building process. I just found out that the fit of the bearings and the printed part from RAI is not a tight fit. I can easily mode the bearing in and out. Shout I put some glue between the bearing and the housing? Or do something else?

 

[jonnybischof 60]

I used Kapton tape to correct slight diameter errors. It is very thin and can be used for adding "that tiny little bit".

 

[zoev89 73]

Thanks Jonny,

I will try using Kapton tape. Fortunately I still have some.

 

[zoev89 73]

I have done it!

E3D is printing

I used the mount from Rai and the documentation from Jonny. Added the Alan xy blocks and used Nick his direct drive mount and bought 2 new axis by Conrad. All parts printed in black ultimaker ABS. I mirrored Nick his drive mount so I can use it on the back left side. My power supply is already sticking out on that side.

I had some trouble with the xy blocks since they broke when I pressed the bearing in. I just glued them and I will see how long they hold. Also the fans are a little close to the heater so I glued some alu foil on it.

I used the thermocouple of the e3d so I just added a 4k7 resistor and conected the thermistor on the yellow and black wire. I run the heater on 24V so I asked E3D to swap the heater for a 24V version and that was no issue. Good service and also good packing for postage and clear web instructions from E3D!

I run all the fans on 12V from a separate DC DC converter. So I can have the small 30mm cooling fan still running even when I reset the ultimaker (nice bonus if you run into trouble while printing just turn the machine of the cooling fan will take care that the hotend cold part does not heath-up).

I made 2 small circuits, 1 for the heater and 1 for the fans to adapt the 19V signal coming from the ultimaker. They are designed in such a way that even if the ultimaker is powered off there is no power going into the ultimaker board due to the protection diodes in the ultimaker board.

Actually the 40mm fans are a bit of a overkill I think, when they both go on at full speed dust will be blown away in the area where you are printing. So 30mm should be enough but then you need to redesign the fan mounts.

Here some images

 

Also the drive mount.

 

Asn my first print. I played with the retraction left is with 2mm and right with 2.5mm. Actually left I is 0.1mm layer hight and played with the temperature and speed while printing but the head bumped into the part to often so it let lose from the platform. Right is 0.2 layer hight and 70mm/s speed and 210 degrees. This was a little to fast so I got under extrusion for the flat bottom part of the print. Foto's are without any postprocessing.

 

I think the result is not bad given the fact that it is a retraction active part to print and I printed it with PLA as a test for retraction.

 

[ted 0]

Hi All,

With the kind assistance of Sanjay and and his Colleges at E3D I've had a v6 hotend running on my UM:O for a few months and its now hit the 1000 hour mark.

In this time, no clogs, jams or other horribleness has occurred and prints are faster (head is lighter so I can run the machine at a higher speed with less backlash at the end of a move).

Overall I've seen around a 15% improvement in the running of the machine, in terms of both the speedy printing, no jams and having the confidence to leave it running long builds un-observed. With the quantity I print this makes a huge difference!

If your considering your first upgrade this is a very good place to start, not challenging to fit and producing an excellent final result. If your using the original heater block and electronics then this is a very very easy mod to fit.

If changing to the supplied electronics then this will probably take you a few hours to fit, solder and update the firmware to recognise the change, you will probably find your head reaches its running temperature slightly more rapidly, and the overall weight of your hot end assembly will be slightly lighter - and for a heavier user this increment may be very desirable.

Either way if your a newer user or a grizzly veteran, seriously consider this as an option, especially as its about the price of eating out once or twice!

It also helps that the E3D crew have excellent customer service, and that's not just the harribo talking!

 

[anon4321 16]

May I ask:

- What version of E3D? V6?

- What mount did you use?

- Assuming you used the UMO's block, heater and temp sensor, what fan duct are you using?

- What material do you typically print?

- What are your retract settings?

 

[r4ix 0]

Hi All,

With the kind assistance of Sanjay and and his Colleges at E3D I've had a v6 hotend running on my UM:O for a few months and its now hit the 1000 hour mark.

In this time, no clogs, jams or other horribleness has occurred and prints are faster (head is lighter so I can run the machine at a higher speed with less backlash at the end of a move).

Overall I've seen around a 15% improvement in the running of the machine, in terms of both the speedy printing, no jams and having the confidence to leave it running long builds un-observed. With the quantity I print this makes a huge difference!

If your considering your first upgrade this is a very good place to start, not challenging to fit and producing an excellent final result. If your using the original heater block and electronics then this is a very very easy mod to fit.

If changing to the supplied electronics then this will probably take you a few hours to fit, solder and update the firmware to recognise the change, you will probably find your head reaches its running temperature slightly more rapidly, and the overall weight of your hot end assembly will be slightly lighter - and for a heavier user this increment may be very desirable.

Either way if your a newer user or a grizzly veteran, seriously consider this as an option, especially as its about the price of eating out once or twice!

It also helps that the E3D crew have excellent customer service, and that's not just the harribo talking!

 

Are you from E3D crew?

If don't i don't undestand so many compliments. E3D is fine, but is not as marvelous as you said.

First of all there are not many mounts for ultimaker and you should deal with the existing ones or design one your self. I choose the second option, it's a long long way and still improving it.

I have not been printing too much with E3D cause of the holidays, i still have to test retraction.

What i can say by the moment is, for ABS it seems to be great, but not too much difference with the original hot end with the mods i'd done (add a cooler for the PTFE and drill the nozzle to 0.7) That hot end worked great and not very different. the fact is with original hot end i could only print 2.85 filament cause 3.00 (2.95 mostly) clog.

I expected to print with 3.0 filament with e3d so i could get from a distributor in my city but i'm not shure it works as good as i expected.

Printing PLA is a hell, i try 3.0 filament (i had not problem with original hot end) and i couldn't finish one print. It clogs constantly in the cooler block in e3d.

I have not experiment with retraction yet.

I spend many time designing the hot end mount and testing and sincerly i expected more improvements from stock (mod) hot end

I don't recommend this hot end unless you want to print in ABS mostly and don't want to modify the stock hot end.

There aren't big difference between this one and the original one if you add a cooler to the ptfe...

I'm still testing it and i will put my impressions with retraction and more pla but i'm asking myself if this was a good investment... i would like to compare with UBIS or othe hot ends.

 

[jonnybischof 60]

Just. Don't. Use. 3.00mm filament...

 

[r4ix 0]

I didn't find significant improvements even with 2.85

[ted 0]

May I ask:

- What version of E3D? V6?

- What mount did you use?

- Assuming you used the UMO's block, heater and temp sensor, what fan duct are you using?

- What material do you typically print?

- What are your retract settings?

 

hi, in answer to those:

Its the bowden v6

RaiX's

I'm using the E3D block, heather and temp sensor - fans are the 30mm that comes with the kit and a pair of 40mm from maplin's bargain bucket (they have blue LEDs - oooh shiny) - I did try to make the large 50mm work but there wasn't a good way to make it fit without sacrificing a fair bit of build volume

PLA primarily

Haha yes the retraction setting are the bit that requires fiddling with - it very much depends on the plastic/temperature and ranges from -40% to +20% of the default settings

 

[r4ix 0]

I update size of fan mounts, the old one was too close to the heater block.

Solidworks file on youmagine.

 

[zoev89 73]

In the meantime I have been printing with PLA and so far no clog. Note I reduced the retraction to 2.5mm. And I stick to the 2.85mm filament. I was thinking about some 2.95mm filament but decided not take that plunge.

 

[zoev89 73]

I had some trouble removing PLA from the e3d hotend. What is the best way?

This is what I did for PLA:

Set temperature at 120 degrees wait until it reaches 120 and then pull at the extruder end on the filament. Nothing happens. Increase temperature till 150 no success. Increase to printing temp 210. Was able to pull a little but then it got stuck. Removed the boden connection at the e3d side and pulled there. Filament broke and I could not get any hold any more. So I removed the nozzle and tried to push from the top. No success, I can't get through. So the filament is glued on the metal in the cold zone. So I turned of the power so that the 30mm fan does not run any more and the rest heath of the heather heats up the cooler. While pushing down I was able to break through. Clean the mess with a wooden pick and I was able to print again.

So what is the best way to change filament. Clearly this was not the way to go.

 

[ptommson 0]

Hi all,

 

Just wondering how do you guys rate the E3D V6 hotend on an UM1 with ABS after using it for some time now?

 

I would like to start ABS printing, wasn't sure what the options were and started digging through this thread.

 

At the moment i'm using a self built heated bed (powered by a single rail PC PSU), but not sure what hotend to go for.

As another option, is the UM2 hotend any good for ABS and is it compatible with the UM1?

 

If I go for the E3D, what will I need?

e.g. the v6 HotEnd Full Kit - 3.00mm Bowden ?

 

Also, will the existing 2.85m plastic I already have be ok for that?

 

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[zoev89 73]

E3D is designed for printing ABS. Quality wise I don't see much difference with E3D or the stock UM hotend. The difference is the Teflon part that will deform over time when printing with ABS. Mine was 3.1 by 2.9 after half a roll of ABS. That will not happen with E3D. Given the issues with the UM2 hotend I would not print a lot of ABS with the UM2 hotend the Teflon part there also deforms. You have to get into flow modifications to resolve the UM2 hotend issues for printing with ABS.

I bought the full kit and I have the fan-duct and the boden tube left over. The question you need to resolve is how to operate the 30mm fan it is 12V and the heater which you can get for 12V or 24V. In your case if the PC PSU has power left over you could run the heater with 12V. Don't operate it on the UM power supply since it is 19V which is way to much.

How to connect the hotend to the um hotend output and power it with the extra PSU can be done in many ways. It is similar to the heated bed without using a relay.

I made a separate mosfet switch for it to make sure that the 24V that I am using will never power the UM board in case I power down the UM.

Using the 'old' 2.85mm ABS is fine I would actually recommend it. I think you could use 3.0 filament since the inside is 3.2mm but I do see people on this forum having issues with it. If you want nice prints use good filament with little tolerance on the diameter.

 

[ted 0]

Are you from E3D crew?

If don't i don't undestand so many compliments. E3D is fine, but is not as marvelous as you said.

 

Hi R4ix, sorry I've only just seen this, in answer to the question, no I'm not and if I where then I'd be very clear about it as that'd be a bit weird otherwise.

Compliments related to the printing are based on the results of a large number of hours of printing with it compared to a similar amount with the original head (mount changed back and forth a few times to see if i could fit bigger fans on it). That said its not a scientific study. I like it, in comparison to what I've experienced previously and have said so - but obviously that's a subjective opinion which can differ from person to person.

Equally the customer service bit is based on the experience of it, and this was good to - and as this is something I value highly in companies, mostly as its less common in the UK than could be hoped, I thought I'd comment on my opinion of it as well.

Hahaha on re-reading the original post it does sound a bit like a hammy work placement student has tried to write an advert, I think my cheese filter must have been set to off !

However, cheddar aside, I think it reflects the concerns I had going into fitting the thing - "will it work, oh god there's soldering and firmware updates argh!" and so on. It was really good that none of those thing turned out to be horribly difficult.

TBH if i though the head only matched the UM:O i'd probably still go for it as its not very pricey especially compared to the UM official gear - delivery is a pain!

This might be a really dumb question but you mentioned going from ABS to PLA and having clogging issues - is it purging completely - have you tried doing this with the isolator fan off to allow it to clear residue that is normally outside the melt zone?

I'm mostly using faberdashery and UM plastic so I've not had to much of an issue with inconsistent diameter to deal with - is the clog/jam defiantly occurring in the hot end? Sorry if that's a bit teaching grandmother to suck eggs, I'm just thinking through the things I'd check if I where having a similar issue.

 

[ptommson 0]

E3D is designed for printing ABS. Quality wise I don't see much difference with E3D or the stock UM hotend. The difference is the Teflon part that will deform over time when printing with ABS. Mine was 3.1 by 2.9 after half a roll of ABS. That will not happen with E3D. Given the issues with the UM2 hotend I would not print a lot of ABS with the UM2 hotend the Teflon part there also deforms. You have to get into flow modifications to resolve the UM2 hotend issues for printing with ABS.

I bought the full kit and I have the fan-duct and the boden tube left over. The question you need to resolve is how to operate the 30mm fan it is 12V and the heater which you can get for 12V or 24V. In your case if the PC PSU has power left over you could run the heater with 12V. Don't operate it on the UM power supply since it is 19V which is way to much.

How to connect the hotend to the um hotend output and power it with the extra PSU can be done in many ways. It is similar to the heated bed without using a relay.

I made a separate mosfet switch for it to make sure that the 24V that I am using will never power the UM board in case I power down the UM.

Using the 'old' 2.85mm ABS is fine I would actually recommend it. I think you could use 3.0 filament since the inside is 3.2mm but I do see people on this forum having issues with it. If you want nice prints use good filament with little tolerance on the diameter.

 

Thanks very much for the info, that helps me a lot, now to order the kit also and see how it goes.

Had some great results with PLA but now time to go ABS i'm finding PLA a little weaker and bit brittle (even the reinforced stuff).

 

Regarding the PC PSU, it should have plenty of power left over - it's 800W and manages to put most of the power on a single rail, but i'm not sure exactly how to wire up the hotend to both the PC PSU and the Ultimaker. For the heated bed, I used a totally separate circuit (mosfet/switch), with a small oled screen and a rotary encoder to monitor the temps and set the time.

Any tips on this would be great, i'm also interested to hear what makes/types of ABS you've had most success with.

Thanks again

 

[zoev89 73]

If you always turn on the PSU and the UM at the same time then you might get away with using the onboard MOSFET and power the heater via your PSU and let the ground be switched by the onboard mosfet.

The problem comes when you turn off the UM and let the PSU on. In that case your PS will start to power the UM via the heater and the buildin protection diode on the UM board. That is not what you want.

There are 3 solutions to that problem

1) Remove the protection diode and connect it parallel to you heater (close to the UM board since you want to reduce spikes in the leadwires of the heater).

2) Remove the mosfet and make a external switch using that mosfet

3) make a external circuit that solves this issue.

I decided for option 3. I have some schematic but I can't get to it from here.

 

[zoev89 73]

Here are the schematics of my extension boards. The MOSFET I used is not a very special one. It is jsut what I had laying arround.

 

For the 2 fans I did the same. Note I changed 2 of the 10K resistors to 220E resistors since the switching frequency on the fan output is much higher and the capacitance of the mosfet made the circuit slow. So I had no regulation only on off. With the 220E resistors I had good control again. Only the last 30 steps do not work since the darlington transistor on the board saturates.

 

[ptommson 0]

Nice schematic! thanks for sharing, if you don't mind me copying then i'd like to setup something similar when I get time.

Until then, is there a quick way to get up and running? for example will the UM1 heater work or can any other UM1 parts be swapped in temporarily such as the block? If yes, are there any major downsides?

I'ts hard for me to know yet since I haven't got the kit in my hand yet.

Cheers

 

[zoev89 73]

Some people have reused the UM heater but it sticks out quite a bit. If you reuse the UM heater then you don't have to change the wiring for the heater. So mechanically reusing the UM heater is not so nice, electrically it is very simple.

There is also 1 person who reused the thermocoupler from the UM but you have to take it apart to do so. If you do that then there is no electrical modification needed on the UM electronics.

So it just depends or your skills which you prefer. Copy the posted schematic is fine by me but don't blame me if something goes wrong... I know it works since I use it on my machine.

I don't think you can reuse the heaterblock since the E3D heaterblock is small by comparison of the UM block. Also the UM nozzle does not fit on the E3D. Out of the top of my head E3D uses M6 bore and UM uses M8 (correct me if I am wrong). If you have the E3D nozzle then the UM nozzle looks big.

 

[ptommson 0]

Thanks for the advice, on order now and looking forward to trying it out!

Next thing for me is to try putting the Ultimaker in a glass cabinet or cupboard to keep the heat from escaping and cracking the ABS

 

[zoev89 73]

Making a cabinet will help, but be careful with the XY motors they might not like the warmer ambient temperature. It is easy to put them on the outside, just turn them around and switch the wires.

 

[ptommson 0]

Good point about the motors!. I put in a direct drive system on my UM some time ago so hopefully t should be a bit easier to work around them.

Cheers!