Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.  

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

There are a number of members here using TC nozzles and I think the source you mentioned is a popular supplier for them.

I’m sure one of them will share their experiences once they see your post. Good luck.

Cheers

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

I used a TC nozzle for many months until I broke off a cleaning bit in it and could not get it out.  I'm currently using brass, but I have a new TC one which I will install the next time I do anything significant to the machine.

The first thing that comes to mind is that there may be some debris between the bottom of the heat break and the top of the nozzle preventing a close intimate junction between the two.

It also may be a simple case of not being tight enough.

I do not use a torque wrench.  I once printed one of those plastic torque wrench things, but I went to simply using a small breaker bar with a very nonscientific 'two fingers' of torque when hot-tightening a nozzle.

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Glad to hear you got it sorted. I imagine if you’re printing abrasive filaments, the expense will be justified over time. 

Thanks for closing the loop re your experience and answering your own question. I’m sure the info will benefit someone else down the road.

Cheers

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

did you also do a PID Tune? to configure the printer for the new parts?

regards Joan

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Yep, I PID tuned at the temperatures I usually print at. So far it prints all my usually filaments just as well as a normal brass nozzle, and does carbon fiber filaments well without having to worry about nozzle wear. 

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Could you link all the parts you changed?

I'm interested in printing carbon fibre!

RE:

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I ordered the parts directly from E3D

Titanium heatbreak:      https://e3d-online.com/products/v6-titanium-heat-break?_pos=2&_sid=a7f31a138&_ss=r

Copper heaterblock :      https://e3d-online.com/products/v6-plated-copper-heater-block?_pos=1&_sid=d3d1b5e92&_ss=r

Although with price of the upgrades, the total cost is significantly higher than I originally expected. Maybe it would be better to get a diamond tipped nozzle instead:

https://www.amazon.com/Diamondback-Nozzles-Compatible-Polycrystalline-Extrusion/dp/B0B3C53GTR?th=1

I've heard good things about it and considering that the main body is brass, you won't need to change any other parts of your printer and maintain the exact same print settings (I still use default settings with my tungsten nozzle and haven't noticed any differences, although tungsten is supposed to have slightly less thermal conductivity than brass.) However, I'm not sure about how printing high with abrasive filaments will affect the brass part of the nozzle. 

If you do plan to go tungsten, I will say that it's been printing all types of filaments reliably with my tungsten nozzle and aforementioned upgrades without issue, and also allows for more exotic filament types due to the copper heaterblock and titanium heatbreak. 

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

having changed so many parts of the extruder it would be a good idea to re run the PID Calibration. at the temperature that you expect to print most items

regards Joan

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Unfortunately after leaving the printer for a few weeks and loading up a print, it would appear that the nozzle came loose again. I swapped out the ASA I usually print with for some prusament PETG and it printed fine. Yet when I swapped in some Oveture PETG at 230*, the nozzle came loose and formed a blob after 40 minutes or so into a day long print. 

The thing is though the nozzle was tight for a lot longer than with the stock aluminum heater block, and only loosened after I swapped filaments. I don't think it would be the cause of the temperature change because I had cycled through PLA, ASA, and PETG multiple times without it loosening. I'll clean out the parts and reassemble them again and see what happens. If it loosens again, I may have to switch to some nozzle with a brass body. 

I'm just not sure what's causing the issue though. I meticulously cleaned every part and made sure I installed the nozzle correctly. I did accidentally chip a tiny piece of the uppermost thread off of the nozzle by dropping it, but I doubt that it would be the cause of the issue. Any ideas? 

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

A couple of months ago I installed a 0.4 TC nozzle from 3dMaker Engineering on my MK3s+. I’m not using the stock Prusa/E3D hotend but a Mosquito and I don’ t know if that can make a difference with your setup, regarding the loosening issues. The heater of the Mosquito is nickel platted copper alloy and not sure about the composition of the heatbreak. I used a 3 Nm torque wrench to tighten the nozzle.

During this time I printed mostly PLA/PETg but also some ASA, TPU and PA-CF. So far, zero problems.

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

I'm using a TC nozzle from 3DMakerEngineering together with a titanium heatbreak and copper heater block (both original E3D). I've tightened it with a 3Nm torque wrench from Aliexpress, so the tolerances could be skewed a bit. At 280C if I remember correctly. I have no issues with it so far.

Tbh if I had your issues, at this point I'd contact 3DMakerEngineering and explain the situation. Their customer support tends to make things right, from what I've seen. Maybe the nozzle you've received is slightly out of spec, TC is a very difficult material to work with. Back when I was researching TC nozzles about half a year ago, I've seen a few people on Reddit having similar issues, receiving a new nozzle and no longer having issues with that second nozzle. It's worth a shot.

RE:

I also use a carbide nozzle from ( https://www.3dmakerengineering.com/collections/3d-printer-nozzles/products/tungsten-carbide-3d-printer-nozzle) in combination with a titanium heatbreak and nickel-plated copper block. I mount the nozzle in cold condition and tighten it with 3Nm. This combination has been running flawlessly since a year. Possibly the nozzle has a bad thread, which is why I would also contact the seller.

wbr,

Karl

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Thank you guys for the suggestions, I'll try contacting them.

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Posted by: @ti7anium

I know this question has been asked a few times both here and on reddit, but I can't seem to find a definitive fix for it. I recently installed a carbide nozzle by 3DMakerEngineering, but it keeps loosening after every heating cycle. It will be tight when heated and will print flawlessly for the duration of that print, but once it cools down and heats up again, the nozzle loosens itself and can be spun with next to no force. 

I've made sure to torque it down at the proper torque and at a higher printing temperature, but both changing temperatures and torque values have not helped the issue. I'm currently using the stock E3D aluminum heater block and steel heatbreak. I've made sure that there's a small gap between the nozzle and heaterblock, even using a feeler gauge to ensure a 0.5mm gap between nozzle and heaterblock after tightening. 

I've read that the nozzle loosening is likely caused by the different thermal expansion of materials, and that a copper heaterblock and titanium heatbreak would fix the issue, but I can't seem to find a solid answer on if it would fix the issue. I just wanted to make sure before I drop a pretty hefty sum in to upgrades. 

Thanks!

Does changing the heaterblock / heatbreak require adjustments in print settings?

(I'm asking because my understanding is one of the advantages of the tungsten carbide nozzle is you can just use the brass nozzle settings. Does changing heaterblock / heatbreak change this in anyway?)

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

don't forget to do a PID tune, if you change the hot end components!

Joan

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Posted by: @joantabb

don't forget to do a PID tune, if you change the hot end components!

Joan

Thanks, I will.

But will print settings intended for the default Prusa heaterblock / heatbreak still apply after the change?

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Posted by: @bmemd

 

Posted by: @ti7anium

I know this question has been asked a few times both here and on reddit, but I can't seem to find a definitive fix for it. I recently installed a carbide nozzle by 3DMakerEngineering, but it keeps loosening after every heating cycle. It will be tight when heated and will print flawlessly for the duration of that print, but once it cools down and heats up again, the nozzle loosens itself and can be spun with next to no force. 

I've made sure to torque it down at the proper torque and at a higher printing temperature, but both changing temperatures and torque values have not helped the issue. I'm currently using the stock E3D aluminum heater block and steel heatbreak. I've made sure that there's a small gap between the nozzle and heaterblock, even using a feeler gauge to ensure a 0.5mm gap between nozzle and heaterblock after tightening. 

I've read that the nozzle loosening is likely caused by the different thermal expansion of materials, and that a copper heaterblock and titanium heatbreak would fix the issue, but I can't seem to find a solid answer on if it would fix the issue. I just wanted to make sure before I drop a pretty hefty sum in to upgrades. 

Thanks!

Does changing the heaterblock / heatbreak require adjustments in print settings?

(I'm asking because my understanding is one of the advantages of the tungsten carbide nozzle is you can just use the brass nozzle settings. Does changing heaterblock / heatbreak change this in anyway?)

Nope, like Joan said, make sure to do a PID tune. I actually did two at PLA temps and ASA temps, the two filaments I tend to use more of. I'm not sure its necessary but it dosent take too long. Otherwise I've printed the same filaments as before and my printer performs exactly the same, if not better. I haven't had any nozzle clogs yet. 

RE: Tungsten Carbide nozzle keeps loosening after heating cycle.

Posted by: @ti7anium

 

Posted by: @bmemd

 

Posted by: @ti7anium

I know this question has been asked a few times both here and on reddit, but I can't seem to find a definitive fix for it. I recently installed a carbide nozzle by 3DMakerEngineering, but it keeps loosening after every heating cycle. It will be tight when heated and will print flawlessly for the duration of that print, but once it cools down and heats up again, the nozzle loosens itself and can be spun with next to no force. 

I've made sure to torque it down at the proper torque and at a higher printing temperature, but both changing temperatures and torque values have not helped the issue. I'm currently using the stock E3D aluminum heater block and steel heatbreak. I've made sure that there's a small gap between the nozzle and heaterblock, even using a feeler gauge to ensure a 0.5mm gap between nozzle and heaterblock after tightening. 

I've read that the nozzle loosening is likely caused by the different thermal expansion of materials, and that a copper heaterblock and titanium heatbreak would fix the issue, but I can't seem to find a solid answer on if it would fix the issue. I just wanted to make sure before I drop a pretty hefty sum in to upgrades. 

Thanks!

Does changing the heaterblock / heatbreak require adjustments in print settings?

(I'm asking because my understanding is one of the advantages of the tungsten carbide nozzle is you can just use the brass nozzle settings. Does changing heaterblock / heatbreak change this in anyway?)

Nope, like Joan said, make sure to do a PID tune. I actually did two at PLA temps and ASA temps, the two filaments I tend to use more of. I'm not sure its necessary but it dosent take too long. Otherwise I've printed the same filaments as before and my printer performs exactly the same, if not better. I haven't had any nozzle clogs yet. 

Thank you both very much.