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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Help/Repair/Maintenance → I need a new hotend, pronto!
I need a new hotend but I don't know where to turn. Should I just order from Solidoodle? I hear horror stories about their service but I have never had any issues with them. Is there a general consensus on what is the best aftermarket hotend for the Solidoodle? I've had my printer since December and I know they have updated their design but is there somewhere else I should be looking? As the topic subject implies, time is of the essence. Thank you in advance.
I have had a lot of success with my J-Head MK V - B from hotends.com. Do a search on the forum for j-head and look around. However, be careful and avoid buying the cheap chinese ebay versions.
If you are getting an aftermarket hotend, look into Lawsy's MK IV extruder mount.
How does this look? How do I know if it's from China?
http://www.tridprinting.com/Hot-Ends/
I am sportin' the MK4. I'm sure there is plenty of info here about how to assemble and make changes to firmware and whatnot, so that shouldn't be an issue. Right?
Also, thanks for the prompt response. 
Whats wrong with your old one?
I was getting constant extruder clicking (extruder kicking back) and found that I had a really bad clog. I am unable to perform the heavy duty cleaning methods due to lack of resources. I have noticed that there are a lot of guys swap out hotends about as often I change my socks. I have been using the same one for about 6 months, and, I have noticed diminished quality so I think its time. I have been looking to upgrade anyway, just not so soon.
And yes, I broke the old one while "fixing" it.
I had the clicking and fixes it by heating the filament in the oven at 195 degrees Fahrenheit.
Might try a small piece to test it.
What part did you break?
Didn't break anything really, just messed up the top of the barrel. Filament won't go through right and if it does the clicking persists.
Do you have any ideas for a hotend replacement?
I like the the kind where I can remove the tip and clean it in acetone without removing a lot of stuff. I don't think the J-head is that way.
If you got the tip and barrel off the peek soak them in acetone.
I have never needed to remove the nozzle but I can't see it being a problem. it should actually be easier to remove than solidoodle's.
As far as firmware goes, it is very easy, you just need to change a thermistor code.
I am not sure about the tri-d printing nozzle, you might want to search around and see what others think.
When I remove the nozzle, I just unscrew it hot. No wires or anything. How could it be simpler?
The barrel and nozzle are one piece in this design, and the length of the threads in the J-Head is much shorter than in the Solidoodle one. If you need to remove the brass barrel from the Solidoodle, it has to be unscrewed for a longer distance. I had issues with PEEK melting and not being able to thread it fully back when I had the stock nozzle. Maybe it works fine for most people, but I did not fare so well.
I've been looking for some info on the tri-d hotends and I have not found anything bad about them, nothing good either. I've also been looking around for other j-heads and no one seems to have .35, 1.75 sizes in stock, besides tri-d, not even hotends.com.
I think I will go with the one from tri-d but I'm not going to order till tomorrow or Monday. I don't mind being a guinea pig. However, I do want to gather some more info before I commit.
Yeah, they are a bit hard to find sometimes. I do know that hotends.com stocks them around noon every friday, but that's almost a week from now, so I understand not wanting to wait.
I've got a Solidoodle hot end, never used, that I can mail you if you need one fast - just shoot me a PM.
Elmoret, I appreciate the offer and I love your attitude, the Solidoodle parts department could learn something from you. A buddy of mine wanted some parts printed for a project but he's put it on hold. This is not the emergency it once was and it might be good to take some time away from the printer. I hear the weather has been nice but I wouldn't know, maybe I should see for my self. 
Iv'e decided to try my luck with Tri-d. Hopefully all goes well and if it doesn't, I know where to turn for support. Thank you to all and I'll let you know how it goes.
I have everything wired and ready. Now what? Why is the hotend temp jumping up to 350? PID autotune is not working and I cannot find clear and concise directions on what to do after a hotend upgrade.
you need to have set the correct thermistor value for the type of thermistor you have installed on your hot-end. Most of the J-Type hotends come with EPCOS thermistors which you set to 1.
It is at the very top of configuration.h .
If its an original hot-end from Solidoodle, then it will be the same as your previous one, so no change neccesary. That means if its an SD hot end and you are reading 350°.. then you've not installed it properly and have a short somewhere... as at 350° your PEEK would be a gloopy mess already
So double check that the thermistor is not shorting on the hot end somewhere etc etc... if its an SD hotend. If its not, confirm what type of thermistor you received and then set that in Configuration.h , recompile and upload.
I'm guessing change that top 6 to a one?
#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 6
#define TEMP_SENSOR_1 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_2 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 6
ya - if its an EPCOS 100k of that type
Is there an actual guide somewhere that explains how to do this?
Not that I know of, but that's all you need to do. Change the thermistor setting.. Everything else is normal firmware stuff documented on lawsy GitHub readme
Could I have wired something wrong? Nothing is on but the temp is bouncing around.
UPDATE: Not sure how but I got it.
The 350 reading is a short in the thermistor. If you had a section of the wires near the head of the thermistor without insulation that are both touching the brass of the nozzle, it will short and read 360. The same if they are able to touch each other.
Yup, tis why I suggested earlier:
....you are reading 350°.. then you've not installed it properly and have a short somewhere.......
I'm guessing the 'fix' here was moving it so the short was removed.. but if its still bouncing, then its probably still close to a short condition and causing parasitic readings...
Given the importance of the thermistor on the hot end to avoid catastrophic failure... I'd be double and triple checking the thermistor is insulated all the way to the glass head...
Just curious, is it bad to use Arctic Silver brand thermal paste?
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Help/Repair/Maintenance → I need a new hotend, pronto!
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