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Hi all,

I'm realizing that I am going to need to go beyond the stock hot end. My hot end has trouble getting over 233 c, and I really need 240+ to get good layer adhesion with nylon. Nylon bridge prints fine below 230, but layer adhesion blows. I'm also very interested in printing PC - so again, need more power.

I've seen the e3d v6 hot end mentioned a lot on here. Is that the gold standard right now? Any other alternatives I should know about?

If i go with the e3d - How hard is the installation process for the e3d - any chance anyone has a guide of some kind? Are there US sellers or do i have to order from UK?

Thanks for the help! =)

Got mine from Filastruder.

There are a couple of members' hot ends available too - IIRC the prometheus and the sexy hexy thing.

That said, there's been very little in the way of reviews of these johnny-come-latelies so, although they may be as good or even better than the E3d, they have a bit of a way to go in terms of garnering forum/market acceptance.

I'm on the brink of a purchase too and I'd like to support some of the "local talent" but would first like to see some solid reviews from the other members who jumped at them as soon as they could!

Cool! Just bought the e3d from filastruder!

someday i'll have to upgrade to two or three or FOUR extruders, but not today

Gotta admit I messed up my E3D-V6.

Far TOO heavy handed with the allen key, pinched the heck out of the fibre glass sleeve the first time, one lead shorted to the block (or the screw, or the washer), so I didn't go any farther.
Slipped the sleeves down a bit more to cover up, but they seem to split on the sharp turns in the leads.

I think this procedure may need a note to tighten the screw LIGHTLY and use a dab of loctite, then let it set overnight.
Glue the thermistor in as well if you still have the copper RTV around - - the BEST solution is probably a screw in thermistor - ONE DAY !

I'll get back to it... at some point.

BTW, McMasterCarr claim their PTFE sleeving is good to 500C, so I might try that.

RegB wrote:Gotta admit I messed up my E3D-V6.



BTW, McMasterCarr claim their PTFE sleeving is good to 500C, so I might try that.

I only see them listing it at 500F. thats only 260C. I've been printing at 260C with the semi stock hotend for the past month, and the teflon tube bulges out a little where it slips onto the nozzle. 20 hours of printing at 270C shows the same bulging, but no failure, yet.

Ooops, my bad.

Thanks for the correction,
I really LIKE to be wrong, it is when I learn the most.

I don't know WHY the F got confused for a C

RegB wrote:Gotta admit I messed up my E3D-V6.

Far TOO heavy handed with the allen key, pinched the heck out of the fibre glass sleeve the first time, one lead shorted to the block (or the screw, or the washer), so I didn't go any farther.
Slipped the sleeves down a bit more to cover up, but they seem to split on the sharp turns in the leads.

I think this procedure may need a note to tighten the screw LIGHTLY and use a dab of loctite, then let it set overnight.
Glue the thermistor in as well if you still have the copper RTV around - - the BEST solution is probably a screw in thermistor - ONE DAY !

I'll get back to it... at some point.

BTW, McMasterCarr claim their PTFE sleeving is good to 500C, so I might try that.

Hint: loctite doesn't play nice at these kinda temps. Permatex on the thread instead, maybe?

How did you short the thermistor through the glass sleeve? Jeebus, that must have been tight. The reason for using glass fiber instead of PTFE is the higher temperatures, and keep in mind that over 260 degrees PTFE will emit toxic fumes. If you have a bird in the room, it will die.

Screw in thermistors are expensive and have no immediate strain relief. They work well but be careful with them. Once the price goes down (they can be retailed for $3 with a profit margin, right now they're ~$9 each) it will make sense to use them. My Tri hotend has an M3 hole for future compatibility with screw in thermistors, but it uses the glass fiber sleeve thing by default.

Generic Default wrote: The reason for using glass fiber instead of PTFE is the higher temperatures, and keep in mind that over 260 degrees PTFE will emit toxic fumes. If you have a bird in the room, it will die.

And some studies show as low as 200C. The common denominator I found so far with theses studies is teflon coated cookware. I do, however, have some pyrex tube to try, but I have to bore out the nozzle, and possibly the heat break a little for it to fit. I also expect to have clogging issues using the glass tube.

Maybe not a "pinch through", perhaps a "slide back" - hard to do a good P.M. at this stage.
I am going to get a new bit of sleeve, perhaps another thermistor and some spare whatevers to spread the shipping costs.

NEXT TIME... I will probably sleeve it, spread the wires, wire it, etc and leave the 90 degree bending until last, i.e. when there is less opportunity for the sleeves to slip.
It is at least POSSIBLE that bending the leads so close to the ends of the sleeves caused/allowed the sleeves to slip back a bit.
I am cautious enough to check for shorts before applying power, so it didn't ever get to a melt-down.

In the mean time I'm back on the stock hot end and that seems to be working quite well.
BTW, I bought some 20 Watt heater cartridges for that, a 5 pack for $13.xx on flea-bay.
A couple of weeks via China-post.
They look/feel very similar to the 40 Watt version that came with the E3D and at 6mm they will fit into the standard hot end.

Thanks guys for the tips! I also found this video helpful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr02pG58gaU

e3d up an running! was really easy to install. i still have my layer fan hooked up from the old setup. at the moment it's just taped down

I used to try all sorts of crazy stuff that "sounded right" (because they work on other hot ends, like the Buda, or because they seem like they'd help) when I got my first E3D last year. Using loc-tite or PTFE on the threads, coating the heater block with RTV, etc. I can tell you the E3D version 6 does just fine with none of that stuff. In fact, loc-tite and PTFE on the threads made things worse. The assembly instructions are really all you need... follow them to the letter and you should get a great, trouble-free hot end. If you don't, you'll be running a hot end in a configuration that E3D didn't test, and at that point it's a crapshoot. Not worth the trouble IMO.