1 Topic by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Topic: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

I don't want to hijack the other thread so I'll just start a new one.  This is my E3D v6 mount  and Bowden mod.  This mod reuses all the stock parts and it involves very little disassembling.  Best of all it does not require custom firmware, making it fully reversible.  My main motivation is to improve this printer while making the process easy and user friendly.  I know a lot of folks want to mod their printers but are intimidated by the amount of work involved.  Again, with this mod you can quickly and easily revert back if you don't like it.

I will finalize all the design and document the install process & BOM over the next few days.  The mod itself is very self explanatory, but I will to take the time to spell out step by step what needs to be done.  That way you can determine for yourself whether or not you  can perform this mod before diving into it.

http://youtu.be/dpZDC1HZqIw

2 Reply by leenanj

  • leenanj
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-01
  • Posts: 68

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Looking forward to your write-up.

Did you use mounts and drive already on Thingverse or create your own?

I'm still not sold on the Bowden setup, seems over complicated.

3 Reply by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

I designed my own. There are a total of 3 small parts to print for this mod.  The Bowden extruder uses the stock drive wheel and idler mechanism.  I know not everyone like Bowden drive, but most of those have not tried it before.  To each his own.

4 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

leenanj wrote:

Looking forward to your write-up.

Did you use mounts and drive already on Thingverse or create your own?

I'm still not sold on the Bowden setup, seems over complicated.


The biggest advantage to the Bowden is a major reduction to the weight of the head. This allows for more accuracy and higher speed while maintaining accuracy.

The disadvantage is you will not be able to use flexible filaments.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

5 Reply by scobo (edited by scobo 2015-02-23 20:33:04)

  • scobo
  • scobo
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Scotland - UK
  • Registered: 2014-08-09
  • Posts: 993

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Looking for forward to your write-up with interest.

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

6 Reply by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Here's another video of it running at 80mm/s print speed. Retraction is set to 5mm and so far it seems to be printing fine.  I still have a few minor changes to make and then it's onto documentation.

http://youtu.be/dgInrivLf8k

7 Reply by browning54213

  • browning54213
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-11-01
  • Posts: 142

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

carl_m1968 wrote:

The disadvantage is you will not be able to use flexible filaments.

i am finalizing a extruder where you can use a bowden setup to print flexible fairly quickly and reliably.

8 Reply by knucklbustr

  • knucklbustr
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-10-15
  • Posts: 137

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Very simplistic. Nice. Has the opto sensor been eliminated ?

So moving the stepper asy, reducing wt, and using Bowden tube made a big difference w/ speed ?
or is it a combination using a E3D v6 ?

Im sticking w/ stock and modding the OEM extruder itself.

DaV1.0  10/13
Repetier FW 0.92, Solidify3D

9 Reply by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

I just placed a piece of filament to keep the optical sensor happy.  Originally I only wanted to replace the extruder with E3D.  Like everyone else, I knew it requires moving the extruder assembly upward to compensate for the extra length of the E3D hotend.  I wasn't happy with having to move the center of gravity up even higher so I started looking around for different options.  As I was going through the process, I noticed that the frame has the same exact cutouts as the extruder carriage.  So moving the motor and idler arm over to the frame makes the Bowden conversion a no brainer decision for me.

I don't know if the hotend itself makes more of a difference than the Bowden, but I do see significant improvements overall.  The carriage moves with ease at any speed, and I'm sure that will add to the longevity of the bushings and linear rods.

10 Reply by jasonb.194

  • jasonb.194
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-20
  • Posts: 67

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Looking forward to doing this myself.

I have a stock DeVinci at the moment. I had some questions about this and firmware. I assume that you need to flash the Davinci with Rep to use different hot ends? Also, While i have my machine calibrated with the stock hotend, how do you do initial calibration without the sensors?

11 Reply by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

This mod requires zero wiring changes and firmware changes.  The stock bed calibration goes away, but you can still perform manual calibration which is much more accurate and reliable anyway.  Plus this is something that you'll most likely have to do once.

I'm still working on the build documentation this week. Hope to release everything soon.




jasonb.194 wrote:

Looking forward to doing this myself.

I have a stock DeVinci at the moment. I had some questions about this and firmware. I assume that you need to flash the Davinci with Rep to use different hot ends? Also, While i have my machine calibrated with the stock hotend, how do you do initial calibration without the sensors?

12 Reply by genesat1 (edited by genesat1 2015-06-01 17:33:04)

  • genesat1
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-04-26
  • Posts: 184

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Is the stock fan really enough to cool the E3D properly?  Can it do it at nylon level temperatures too?  Not wanting to solder on my printer for the 12V fan (it would be the first thing I've soldered and that's probably best not done on a $500 printer) is my biggest impediment.

13 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

genesat1 wrote:

Is the stock fan really enough to cool the E3D properly?  Can it do it at nylon level temperatures too?  Not wanting to solder on my printer for the 12V fan (it would be the first thing I've soldered and that's probably best not done on a $500 printer) is my biggest impediment.

You don't solder, you use crimp on connectors and just splice into the 12 volt side of the power supply. Takes about 5 minutes just for the connections. Mounting is up to you.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

14 Reply by genesat1

  • genesat1
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-04-26
  • Posts: 184

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

carl_m1968 wrote:
genesat1 wrote:

Is the stock fan really enough to cool the E3D properly?  Can it do it at nylon level temperatures too?  Not wanting to solder on my printer for the 12V fan (it would be the first thing I've soldered and that's probably best not done on a $500 printer) is my biggest impediment.

You don't solder, you use crimp on connectors and just splice into the 12 volt side of the power supply. Takes about 5 minutes just for the connections. Mounting is up to you.

Hmm, I need to see if I can find more about that.  I was going by this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHUv_tWh2-c but I think that guy solders a lot so it's probably second nature to immediately think 'solder it!' for him.

15 Reply by evanalmighty (edited by evanalmighty 2015-06-01 21:33:14)

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

The stock fan has been running fine for me.  It's a lot bigger/stronger than the fan that comes with the E3D kit.  In fact it was too strong I had to create a shroud that blocks the excess airflow going to the heat block.  I couldn't figure out why the E3D hotend couldn't get up past 170C at first.

BTW, here's the mod that I uploaded to thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:846434
I also have a different version for the E3D volcano.  I'm working on the E3D v6 Lite version as well.

16 Reply by genesat1

  • genesat1
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-04-26
  • Posts: 184

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

evanalmighty wrote:

The stock fan has been running fine for me.  It's a lot bigger/stronger than the fan that comes with the E3D kit.  In fact it was too strong I had to create a shroud that blocks the excess airflow going to the heat block.  I couldn't figure out why the E3D hotend couldn't get up past 170C at first.

BTW, here's the mod that I uploaded to thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:846434
I also have a different version for the E3D volcano.  I'm working on the E3D v6 Lite version as well.

If I can reuse the fan that makes it easier, definitely.  The alternative idea was to buy a P4 extension cable (2 yellow, 2 black, it is the same as a normal P4 right?), and a t-tap connector (think that's essentially what carl was saying but with the benefit of not altering the original wiring, only altering the wiring on the extension cable).

I want to eventually print Ninjaflex though (I probably need to stick with direct drive from what I understand), so I need to figure out a way of attaching a shroud to whatever mount design I end up using.

17 Reply by mozzieblue

  • mozzieblue
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-09-10
  • Posts: 36

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

evanalmighty wrote:

I don't want to hijack the other thread so I'll just start a new one.  This is my E3D v6 mount  and Bowden mod.  This mod reuses all the stock parts and it involves very little disassembling.  Best of all it does not require custom firmware, making it fully reversible.  My main motivation is to improve this printer while making the process easy and user friendly.  I know a lot of folks want to mod their printers but are intimidated by the amount of work involved.  Again, with this mod you can quickly and easily revert back if you don't like it.

I will finalize all the design and document the install process & BOM over the next few days.  The mod itself is very self explanatory, but I will to take the time to spell out step by step what needs to be done.  That way you can determine for yourself whether or not you  can perform this mod before diving into it.

http://youtu.be/dpZDC1HZqIw


Did you ever do a howto? I guess i could work it out but a guide would help.

18 Reply by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Someone who did the mod offered to write up an instructables.  I guess that never happened.  I'll see what I can whip up.

19 Reply by mozzieblue

  • mozzieblue
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-09-10
  • Posts: 36

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

evanalmighty wrote:

Someone who did the mod offered to write up an instructables.  I guess that never happened.  I'll see what I can whip up.

it's ok I have done it smile

20 Reply by mozzieblue

  • mozzieblue
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-09-10
  • Posts: 36

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

My normal test print took 25 minuets insted of 56 minuets and came out looking the same. I am going to print this tomorrow http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:594392 smile

21 Reply by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

So it's working ok?

22 Reply by mark.burton

  • mark.burton
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: United states
  • Registered: 2015-05-28
  • Posts: 336

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

@browning54213

It is the flexible filament scrunching up in the Bowden tube after it leaves the extruder that is the problem not the extruder. so not sure how you can fix that.

23 Reply by mozzieblue

  • mozzieblue
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-09-10
  • Posts: 36

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

evanalmighty wrote:

So it's working ok?


Yep. Works great. No problems so far and, as I said, shit fast.

24 Reply by Telemachus (edited by Telemachus 2016-02-05 15:31:55)

  • Telemachus
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Riverside, CA
  • Registered: 2016-01-19
  • Posts: 289

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

Intrigued.  Me want PLA and PETG.  Taking the whole printer apart doesn't scare me, so I  was going to move the whole thing up some with the other mods out there.

I like the Bowden idea, though.

Did you have to remove a resistor for your temps to be correct?

Da Vinci 1.0a.  Repetier 0.92.  E3D V6.  Titan Extruder.  Sllic3r.  Octoprint on Raspberry Pi B+.

25 Reply by evanalmighty

  • evanalmighty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-04
  • Posts: 224

Re: 1.0A E3D & Bowden conversion mod

I reused the thermistor from the stock extruder so I did not have to modify/remove anything.