Different Hotends  

RE: Different Hotends

@jasii

Love your design, I’m going to be using SEs Mosquito once it comes in this week. 

RE: Different Hotends

Posted by: @justin-10

@jasii

Love your design, I’m going to be using SEs Mosquito once it comes in this week. 

Thanks, but my designs for the Mini are for the Copperhead, not the Mosquito.

RE: Different Hotends

Just did first two prints on my Mk 2.5S after installing a  standard Mosquito using the extruder recommended on Slice Engineering's website. I printed the entire extruder in ASA.

Using the Slice 50W heater and a standard E3D thermistor, the Prusa prints just like always so far. It was only necessary to redo the first layer calibration.  I noticed the 50W heater heats up more quickly and maintains temperature a bit better when the part cooling fan comes on.  I had previously upgraded the power supply to a 320W Meanwell, so I'm not concerned about the additional load.

The big reason I chose the Mosquito is the extreme ease of nozzle changes!  Several of my projects had either taken far too long or had other compromises because of E3D Nozzle Change Dread.

As the Mosquito extruder I used is a standard Prusa extruder modified to fit the Mosquito, I made some comparisons.  

First, the basic layout is the same and the critical dimensions identical. Particularly, the X/Y position of the Nozzle in relation to the PINDA is the same.  Using an E3D nozzle, even the Z axis is virtually the same as the PINDA is within 1 thread (1.25mm) of the position it held in the old extruder. Possibly a Slice nozzle might be a bit taller or shorter.

Second, the Mosquito extruder, without the stepper motor, fans or part cooling duct, is about 20 grams lighter than the E3D extruder, both with a copper heat block. Less mass is good, especially considering that... Third, the Mosquito with the T-mount attached is considerably shorter, stiffer and stronger than the E3D v6 with its integral mount.  This *should* result in more consistent printing in addition to better survivability. 

So far so good!

RE: Different Hotends

@chicago-keri

I am posting  a reply here as well as to your post on Thingiverse regarding the part cooling duct (shroud). The Mosquito's design required that it be mounted 90 degrees for airflow through the heat sink. That worked great for the cabling, as you noted, but not so much for the part cooling fan & shroud. As the Mosquito's hot block is asymmetrical relative to the cooling fan output I simply took Prusa's shroud and cut it in the middle and stretched it out to fit. No science there. Since I print 99% in PETG it was not a concern for me as I do a lot of printing with the part fan turned off. Sorry I could not have done better.

RE: Different Hotends

With the mosquito, do you lose print area?  

RE: Different Hotends

Posted by: @cwbullet

With the mosquito, do you lose print area?  

Not on the MK2/3. In fact, on the MK2/3 mounts, I could have designed it so that you gain some 'Z'. The Mosquito is shorter than the stock hotend so it could have been mounted higher. I simply chose to emulate the relative and absolute stock postions of the nozzle/Pinda to the printer space so that no/minimal adjustments would need to be made. (Note: I started a Mini/Mosquito mount which would have behaved the same but, when the Copperhead was released, I shifted gears and made that for the Mini. Some existing Mosquito/Mini mounts I have seen do have an adjusted offset that may affect print area.)

RE: Different Hotends

Posted by: @4nthonylin

@kevman

You can use the M206 command, for the mount I'm using Prusa Mini Mosquito Mount | PrusaPrinters, I use  "M206 X0.5 Y-6.625" after mesh bed leveling command. Also I would suggest resetting the offset back to 0 at the end of the print. Also I would reset offset to 0 before homing. I saw some issues where having the M206 offset set would mess with autohome. This is a known bug and you can see the issue on github:  https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/issues/693

This mount appears to be taller so I would think you might lose z height.  

RE: Different Hotends

Has anyone tried just using the Copperhead heatbreak in the Mini hotend, rather than the full copperhead, as per this CNC article https://www.cnckitchen.com/blog/testing-bimetallic-heat-breaks ? Will it even fit into the stock hotend as a straight swap?

RE: Different Hotends

Posted by: @lung

Has anyone tried just using the Copperhead heatbreak in the Mini hotend, rather than the full copperhead, as per this CNC article https://www.cnckitchen.com/blog/testing-bimetallic-heat-breaks ? Will it even fit into the stock hotend as a straight swap?

It turns out this isn't possible on the mini, you have to change the entire hotend if you want the copperhead heat break.

RE: Different Hotends

@lung

Just to concur, none of the Copperhead heat break/heat block variants will fit Prusa's custom Mini heat sink. You will need the entire Copperhead hotend (currently listed as variant A or B - recommend B) and print an adapter.

Slice Engineering has a chart on their Copperhead page that shows which printer works with which variant.

Note: The Mini heat break tube is a custom 5.5 mm OD with an un-threaded end going into into the heat sink with a length of 17.279 mm.

RE: Different Hotends

Can someone help I have ordered the Thermistor: High Temperature, Extension Cable for Fan, Thermistor, 50W Heater Cartridge, Boron Nitride Paste and The Mosquito Hotend. I went to print the relevant parts to fit it to my Mini but there are a least 6 different variations of the printed parts needed can someone please tell me which is the best to suit this upgrade as it is very confusing, thanks for any help.

RE: Different Hotends

I used this one:  

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/36643-prusa-mini-mosquito-mount

RE: Different Hotends

@cwbullet

Thank you for the quick reply will print now in ABS

RE: Different Hotends

@owens2303

So one thing about the mount I designed, it requires you to source longer M2.5 screws. You can use this remix https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/37387-mosquito-mount-for-prusa-mini that uses the provided M2.5 screws for a slide in installation. Otherwise they are basically the same! 

RE: Different Hotends

Has anyone seen a mount for a Phaetus Dragonfly for the Mini+ ?

RE: Different Hotends

I'm wondering if Jasii's Copperhead mount would be suitable, either the groovemount or screw mount if the threads are in the same spot, or with a slight modification if not.

RE: Different Hotends

Posted by: @lung

I'm wondering if Jasii's Copperhead mount would be suitable, either the groovemount or screw mount if the threads are in the same spot, or with a slight modification if not.

Looking at Phaetus Dragonfly I doubt either of my mounts would work. I assume you already have purchased that hotend. Only reason to ask is that it is close to the same price as the Copperhead which has Mini mounts.

RE: Different Hotends

Posted by: @jasii

Posted by: @lung

I'm wondering if Jasii's Copperhead mount would be suitable, either the groovemount or screw mount if the threads are in the same spot, or with a slight modification if not.

Looking at Phaetus Dragonfly I doubt either of my mounts would work. I assume you already have purchased that hotend. Only reason to ask is that it is close to the same price as the Copperhead which has Mini mounts.

No, I've not purchased it yet. The Dragonfly is considerably cheaper than the Copperhead in the UK, and it reviews incredibly well, so I was hoping it might fit.

RE: Different Hotends

@lung

OK, understand. I am in Florida and Slice Engineering is just up the road. So prices can/will be skewed.

RE: Different Hotends

@lung

I have used one off and on for 6 months.  I swap it between my MK3s and my Mini clone.  It works well and seems to jam less.