1 Topic by leenanj

  • leenanj
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Topic: My hot end mods

I made a modification to the stock Da Vinci today and to my surprise
I had to up my extruder temperatures for both PLA and ABS by at least
30 degrees from what I was using for the last month.

I started this project to see if I could make PLA printing a lot
less critical as far as temperature settings and the feed drive
clicking.

Some of you more experienced guys may have gone through this already
but I found its not about adding heat sinks or closing off the air
flow and trying to redirect it or even reversing the fan direction.

It's about more air movement across the upper extruder and heat sink.

I removed the PCB board and mounted off the head assembly.
Half the air flow or more was being blocked off.
I left all of the holes open so air can move more freely and
at a greater volume.

After printing several PLA models and moving the temperature up and
down with reason I could no longer get the feed problem to appear.

I was equally surprised after switching back to ABS that I had to up
my temperature 30 degrees to get the proper flow that I had before.

Time will tell if this modification will prove itself but so far after
several builds in ABS and PLA its working good.

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2 Reply by scobo

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Re: My hot end mods

Interesting.
What temps are you using for the bed and extruder for PLA & ABS ?

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

3 Reply by leenanj (edited by leenanj 2015-02-10 15:59:59)

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Re: My hot end mods

scobo wrote:

Interesting.
What temps are you using for the bed and extruder for PLA & ABS ?

With this mod I am running a bed temp of 90 for both.

Extruder PLA 235, ABS 250

This is up 30 degrees after the mod and I use Hatchbox filament.

Just ran a 5.5 PLA hour job last night and woke up to a beautiful Geo Cache container.

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4 Reply by scobo (edited by scobo 2015-02-10 16:23:51)

  • scobo
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Re: My hot end mods

Good stuff !
I've been playing with PLA the past few days myself and now getting good results after a bit of trial and error.
Like yourself, I'm not using any fancy mods, just some kapton tape round the sides of the extruder fan. The only other thing I do is keep the door and top lid open.
I was getting good results with 180C and 50C but was having to use glue.
I've now discovered I can print PLA on kapton tape at 225C and 90C without glue.
The main thing I find in order to print PLA with the Davinci is to avoid any back pressure during the 1st layer. If there's not enough gap between the bed and the nozzle, the first 10mm of filament swells and wedges in the tube just above the nozzle and refuses to extrude till you unload it then reload.
So I check the bed height when it's up to temperature each time I print.

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

5 Reply by leenanj

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Re: My hot end mods

scobo wrote:

Good stuff !
I've been playing with PLA the past few days myself and now getting good results after a bit of trial and error.
Like yourself, I'm not using any fancy mods, just some kapton tape round the sides of the extruder fan. The only other thing I do is keep the door and top lid open.
I was getting good results with 180C and 50C but was having to use glue.
I've now discovered I can print PLA on kapton tape at 225C and 90C without glue.
The main thing I find in order to print PLA with the Davinci is to avoid any back pressure during the 1st layer. If there's not enough gap between the bed and the nozzle, the first 10mm of filament swells and wedges in the tube just above the nozzle and refuses to extrude till you unload it then reload.
So I check the bed height when it's up to temperature each time I print.

Yes I have experienced all of the above just like you, lots of trial and error.

I always use a glue stick with abs and pla because there is always a chance of warping and lifting off the glass.

And yes that 1st layer is critical with pla especially, I replaced my bed with that new bonzi glass that was being sold here
and it stays in calibration much better. However the plastic does not stick as well to it so definitely need glue
or something else.

6 Reply by scobo

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Re: My hot end mods

Apparently, blue painters tape works well with PLA on a cold bed, but I haven't tried it yet.

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

7 Reply by oscahie

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Re: My hot end mods

On my experience, with blue painter's tape I can set the bed at 50º and then turn it off after the first few layers, and it will stick perfectly.

But regarding the stock extruder, I tried multiple things for PLA before I ended up installing an E3D hotend. The thing is some objects do print fine, but with others you'll get clicking no matter what. I think that 'simple' objects with long straight lines or circles are mostly OK, but when it has many small pieces and such there will be problems.

The E3D may be installed with minor mods, on the same carriage, and one you have it you don't look back. It just works smile

8 Reply by scobo

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Re: My hot end mods

Yeah, I did consider the E3D but it seemed like a lot work involved.
Plus I'm still under warranty but I might give it a go when it's up.

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