Custom heater block to fit E3D nozzle on Ultimaker 2 ("The Olsson Block")

[reibuehl 42]

But that just transfers the heat faster into the wrench, doesn't it? I kind of like the idea of a replaceable plastic pin as the plastic doesn't transfer the heat so much into the wrench and it is easy to replace.

One other idea that I had: If you glue a M6 nut into the 7mm socket, the E3D nozzles do not sink so deep into the socket and it is easier to screw them in.

 

[titanoid 4]

Instead I used some silicon heat sink compound, rated up to 500F, to improve the thermal interface between the heater/sensor and the block. When the fans come on and bed is close the temp drops by 4C but its recovering faster than before.

 

Hey twistx, how are your experiences so far?

With my old heater block, I used Xilence X5 to stabilize my temps during prints (with great result!).

Unfortunately this brought me in big trouble when changing the block to the Olsson. This stuff dried and held the two brothers VERY well in place. I only got them out by carefully drilling holes from the front side (5mm deep, if someone is interested).

I already wondered if sth like that would improve temp handling with the Olsson Block. As it has holes to push heater and sensor out, the Xilence X5 might work. But it would be better if the stuff won't get dry and hard, right?

So what does your silicon compound do?

 

[meduza 191]

@reibuehl: Of course, if you heat it up for a long time it will conduct heat deeper into the core of the wrench, but as you may know steel is quite a poor heat conductor, and the extra thermal interface and the extra length you add would keep you good as long as you do not get the socket very hot (so the base of the hex adapter gets over 60 degrees in case of PLA, or even higher for XT or ABS) you should have no problem.

Sure, a plastic pin is easier to replace, but also easier to destroy than the hex+adapter version.

I have had no problems so far with deformation of the original plastic design, but then i do the change quite fast.

 

[twistx 0]

titanoid, this is what i'm using....

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Lube-98003-Silicone-White/dp/B0044NI2M2

The manufacturer says it will not dry out or harden. Long term I cant say yet but first impression it appears to be helping.

My heater/sensor are a loose fit in the block which might be why I was getting this error and others are not.

 

[swordriff 119]

Attention!

There is a product recall, brief:

 

• Affects: 3dSolex 025 JETs only. (Not an Ultimaker product)
  
• Symptom: May not print nicely.
  
• Action: Keep the nozzle, but Contact me
  
• Fix: Keep the nozzle and get a new one, no charge.
  

 

More:

While bringing out Batch #2 of the 3dSolex products at the 3d printing convention arranged by

http://www.3dverkstan.se this week-end, there was a mix-up of nozzles between the trays holding rejected samples and the few 1^st runs of the nozzles we had.

This mix-up may or may not affect the print quality provided by the 0.25mm JETs.

Unfortunately, we do not know who is affected.

YOU who bought 025 nozzles at the convention can PM me and an additional nozzle

will be provided shortly.

Web site orders are shipped March 9th.

Thank you for your undestanding.

 

[3dnerd 6]

Hi swordriff,

3Dnerd: Thanks a lot! Every suggestion I get which I CHOOSE to implement, is rewarded with a 3dSolex 040mm Nozzlem when they arrive. You are on the list too!

Thanks sounds great - thanks! If the new isolator is available I will order a 3D Solex and then you can put into same parcel.

Is there any new information about the isolators?

 

 

[swordriff 119]

Hi 3dNerd!

All orders received until today are shipped tomorrow Monday,

except some I2Ks and Nozzles which are sold out now.

You can have your I2K with the extra nozzle and The Olsson Block

week after coming.

 

[gr5 2,172]

I had some problems printing hotter than 210C with my heater block when fan was at 100% (fine at lower fan speeds) and it turned out my fan shroud was touching my heater block so I have changed this graphic to add the purple text!

 

[Anders Olsson 136]

I took some photos of how my heater block has to sit to get enough clearance to the fan cap:

Make sure that there is some space both on the side and towards the bottom, and problems with dropping temperatures when the cooling fans comes on should be gone.

It is tight already on the original block and even tighter with the custom heater block, so most likely you have to keep the custom block a bit higher than the original block.

I am not too worried about increased pressure on the teflon spacer.

The force from the spring only increases about 10% when compressing it 1 mm extra.

This is as much as the two springs I have at home differs in force when compressed to the same length.

So I think there is some margin for slightly increased force on the teflon spacer.

 

[Labern 774]

Hi Swordriff

I have noticed you now have the I2K insulators in the store.

In the passed you have mentioned that they will come with a teflon piece as well as the I2K washer. Is this still the case as its not mentioned on the website?

Mine has deformed so i need a new one.

 

[swordriff 119]

Dear Labern!

Our Teflon replacement is few weeks away. We are sourcing materials, also with the help of Meduza.

Looks like there will be 2 products; Teflon replica, but not glass filled, low price, and a version made from "impossibilium", which we hope will outlive your printer. We need to test friction and machineability, high price.

I had the same problem like you, needed a new Teflon piece.

I ordered several from alichina, and sent one to UltiArjan in the forum.

He had a massive leak, and i was my fault. These cheap couplers have the following flaws:

1) Its not the right Teflon

2) They are not flat on all surfaces

3) Dimensions are wrong.

When He inserted the one I wanted to help him with, there was a small, undetectable gap between the teflon piece and the hot-end-top-end (I avoid mentioning Olsson Block here), gap because the teflon piece was 20 microns to big diameter and did not fully insert into the SS coupler, the one with the radial holes in it.

There is a massive leak, like nothing you have ever seen. The nozzle looked like an upside down soft-ice.

So, your option is to ask UM to send you one which they will, or wait a few weeks.

Our High End Coupler will cost more than the original ones, and the low end ones will cost less.

[Labern 774]

OK thanks

I machined up a spare at work. FREEBIE

You had mentioned a modified one to suit the I2K so was just wanting that to have a good match.

Ill wait to see what you come up with then and give one a try when its ready.

thanks

 

[korneel 176]

Hi;

since Ultimaker has now switched from non-glass filed to glass-filled, is there a reason you would not do this?

or is it just cost?

 

[swordriff 119]

Labern: At first we thought the teflon coupler had to be shorter with the I2K, but Anders measured some springs, and they have such huge tolerance already so we decide to bring out the coupler at the same length, 18mm.

 

korneel: It is like you probably suspect already, filling the teflon with fiberglass does not change the transition point of the teflon. It may however, live longer under pressure, which it is under.

The fiber glass adds friction, easy to test yourself, "unwissenschaftlich": slide filament through it, feel the rough.

Now imagine it is trying to collapse on the filament, see?

We recommend a combination of a pure teflon coupler ( but the right teflon ), and an I2K to keep it insulated from the hot metal.

We have excellent results, and Anders ( who is our high temp guy ) has not had to replace a teflon spacer yet, using the I2K. This winter he photographed the Teflon coupler after ca 300h more than less continuously at 260C.

The coupler looked like new.

However, if you have a lot of retraction of hot material (+230), then the teflon is adversely affected on the inside. But slowly..

 

[IRobertI 520]

Regarding the spring. I'm considering getting rid of it completely and replacing it with a rigid spacer to keep the PTFE in place and get rid of the constant pressure. Since fine tuning of the nozzle height isn't really necessary anymore (no dual extrusion) the spring seems unnecessary.

 

[Labern 774]

if you loosen the 4 thumb screws the push the bowden tube down and re tighten the screws again, the slight pressure from the bowden should hold it in place.

 

[swordriff 119]

No, sorry, that does not work. The pressure is formidable!

You need the spring or this what iRoberti refers to.

 

[IRobertI 520]

It can work, that's how the original did it. The issue with using the bowden is that it can move ever so slightly during retractions if it isn't held in place absolutely perfectly. This could cause the PTFE to move up slightly (unlikely, but could happen) and allow plastic to flow into the gap between the PTFE and heater block which in turn leads to bad things . That was a cause for a LOT of headaches back in the day.

 

[gr5 2,172]

@Labern (and others) - Ultimaker will almost certainly give you a free teflon isolator if you convince them your's is defective. Even if your printer is out of warranty they are likely to give you one for free.

 

[IRobertI 520]

Spent the last few hours installing and playing with the block that Anders kindly supplied me with last Friday (thanks again). I have to say that 0.8mm is just silly! It looks like freakin' toothpaste as it comes squirting out of the nozzle I tried printing a simple block with 0.5mm layers, it's amazing how much faster it is. I mean, I knew it would be faster, but seeing it is different. That said, I don't think I'll be using 0.8mm much, it's just too beefy, no detail. Might go with a compromise of 0.5-0.6 I think, that sounds reasonable for quick(er) prints. I'm sure I'll have uses for it down the line though.

Installation went smoothly as I lucked out and the PT100 wasn't stuck. I did get the dreaded heater error a few times though so I'll need to keep that in mind when/if I print with 0.8 (no, nothing is touching the shroud, I triple checked during installation).

From the little I've tried it I'm liking it though. I think an order for a couple of more blocks and nozzle assortments for my other printers will follow in a couple of days

 

[Labern 774]

@Labern (and others) - Ultimaker will almost certainly give you a free teflon isolator if you convince them your's is defective. Even if your printer is out of warranty they are likely to give you one for free.

 

I have seen that you have mentioned this before and SandervG has also said that they would do this for your first one that has worn out. So I created a support ticket. After a few weeks of back and forth emails (takes days to get a reply) and sending photos and serial numbers etc.. they came back saying it comes under normal wear so I need to go to the store and Order a new one.

So no luck there.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

As swordriff said i can confirm its a bad idea to use china teflons.

I do think it would be better to have a little shorter teflon with the i2k.

[mohissa 0]

Hey guys,

I've been having problems with my 0.8 nozzle. I believe the problem is my settings on Cura so I would appreciate your help.

The problem is that the initial layer is very thick. And in some cases (depending on the speed) it doesn't stick to the bed and the head drags it around the bed. The lines are round and obvious with spaces between them, it's not being squished into the glass.

Here are my settings:

0.8mm nozzle

0.4mm layer height

0.2mm initial layer (and I tried 0.1mm as well)

Infill is 100% so other stuff doesn't matter

Print speed 35mm/s (20 for initial layer)

3mm PLA (it's more like 2.9mm)

I levelled the bed with minimal tolerance. Lots of friction between the head the paper (but not enough for the head to touch the bed when the paper is away).

When I printed it, with all the above settings, I reduced the speed from the printer to 30% but in some cases the head still drags the filament around.

It's really frustrating, any clues?

Thanks,

[renthal 8]

You can try glue stick, hair spray, blue tape or extra strong hair gel. I use got to be glued mega hold clear hair gel and it works great. I have a clean sponge I moisten with 90% alcohol and add a small amount of hair gel and apply to the bed while it heats up. I apply it like waxing a car in small circular motions and find the gel lasts for several prints.

Also keep in mind that a .8 tip flows 4x the material a .4 tip will at the same height and speed, so you may need to print hotter to get better adhesion.

I hope this helps.

Also in the future include what brand filament, bed, and print temps you are using so we have more to go on.

 

[gothampixel 10]

your initial layer height should be equal or greater than the set layer height. Looks like you are going smaller.