Upgrading the print head
I have a Mk3S+ and up till recently I was very happy with print quality. Then after a while of not using it, I came back to it and the print was horrible and getting worse. I spent a lot of time playing with calibration and it got marginally better, but then I looked into the hole by the BondTech gears and they looked odd, so I had it all apart, and found that they had gone rusty!! 😯 I was surprised, the printer lives in the main house, and it never gets cold or wet there, but while I couldn't see a good reason for it to rust, it was rusted, so here I am.
The idler gear had rusted into a solid mass with the bearings and the shaft, and the whole assembly was turning in the plastic carrier, which had worn the carrier away, so I guess that was the cause of the bad prints.
I was going to simply buy another idler carrier and a pair of BondTech gears, but then it occurred to me that if I was going to make that kind of investment, (~£60 delivered in the UK) there might be a better after-market solution, that gives better performance...I'm thinking of replacing the whole of the printing assembly: hot-end, fans, extruder, the works? If it is a better solution I have budget, but if I'm going to upgrade, I need to be sure that the upgrade is worth the investment, hence asking for real experience from you all.
While on the subject, has anyone else suffered rusty BondTech gears?? Is it common or am I doing something uniquely stupid? My filament is kept in a dry box, so I don't think the moisture came from that...
Thanks for any advice
Roo
RE: Upgrading the print head
I have a Zorbiter extruder on my mk3s, with a phaetus dragon hot end
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Upgrading the print head
Hi Joan,
I guess either the Zorbiter or the Dragon upgrades will require a F/W flash to make them work? and is there a "howto" that describes the process?
And BTW, you sent a link to smooth idler wheels...apparently not related to my Extruder post....was that intentional, and am I being obtuse?
Cheers
Roo
RE: Upgrading the print head
Hi Roo,
No I didn't intend to send a link for smooth idlers.
this link should take you to the Zaribo Zorbiter Blog site where the STL's and firmware are.
https://zaribo.com/blog/download/#elf_l1_RklSTVdBUkU
the Phaetus Dragon is almost a drop in replacement for the e3dV6 hot end. the only difference in dimensions, that I am aware of, is the length of PTFE in the extruder heatsink.
I Have no idea how long it needs to be,
What I did was to measure the length of PTFE Projecting from my e3dV6, when I removed it, then fit a new ptfe to the Phaetus Dragon, and cut it to the same length, then countersink / internally chamfer the top opening on the PTFE...
MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T GET ANY PTFE CRUMBS INSIDE THE HOT END ASSEMBLY... THEY WILL NOT MELT AND WILL BLOCK THE NOZZLE...
If the phaetus dragon clamp area, at the top, is not tight enough to stop the extruder rotating in the plastic parts, consider adding a wrap of tape around the aluminium clamping area, this should support one handed nozzle changes in the future.
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Upgrading the print head
Bear Exxa is also very good, and reuses a lot of parts from the Prusa extruder. You need to flash the "bear calibration firmware" in order to calibrate, but once calibration is done, you can flash back to the standard firmware if you want. The Bear firmware has support for more effective hot end cooling fans, although you can turn on the "altfan" option in the standard firmware to achieve the same thing.