I was prepping a stock hotend upgrade, and shopping a thermistor and heater cartridge online, when I checked microcenter on a whim. They have started carrying parts from B3 Innovations out of Ohio. I ended up getting my parts from my local store.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4427 ... Thermistor
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4427 ... er_12_volt
Microcenter components
Re: Microcenter components
It looks like a very well done hot end, I might have to get one or two for the printer I'm working on. I really like the attachment of the thermistor, I was tempted to go with a screw in thermocouple, I just hate how fragile normal thermistors are.
Re: Microcenter components
I backed their kickstarter when they first launched the Pico. Very good machining, but I can't recommend the hotend. I got both a 3mm and 1.75mm version, and I printed with both.
Everything had to be printed 20-30C above the regular temp (they were the ones who recommended it) and so to get good results out of .3mm layers on 645 Nylon I had to print it around 295C, right around the temp limit of the thermistor. I really only got good results with the 3mm version, I couldn't get the 1.75mm version to print well on really anything. I eventually scrapped the idea of using them and just bought a Kraken.
Changing filaments was a difficult procedure (especially with a bowden system). Its impossible to remove any plastic from the hotend cold (which is a common trait, though I have removed a few plastics from my Kraken cold), and the procedure to remove it even when hot is a bit tricky due to the large heat zone. The plastic melts all the way up the heat zone, and there isn't a real heat break point, so the plastic will melt all the way up around 3-5mm into the cooling zone when extruding, and if you leave it to sit the cooling zone will do its job and cool the plastic. The unfortunate part about this is the plastic already swelled to the diameter of the hotend (3.1mm or so I think?) and created a plug that you can't remove by just pulling it out. The solution is getting it up to printing temperature and then doing this extrude and retract sequence where you extrude enough material by hand quick enough to keep whats in the heat zone molten and out of the cool zone, and then you gotta pull it out very quickly after, hoping that it doesn't have enough time to swell and plug again. I had one of these plugs in Nylon once that I had to drill out to get it out of the hotend. I even tried pulling it with pliers to no avail.
From all of my experiences, I don't thing PLA would be a good candidate for this hotend.
Like I said, the machining is good, but its not really polished (like Mhackney does with his nozzles, etc to keep plastic off of them), which considering how much care (and how expensive they are) they've put into machining and everything I think they should do some sort of polishing, because plastic LOVES to stick to the hotend/nozzle. Both of my Picos are mostly black now because of the amount of plastic that likes to stick to them, and I'm pretty sure (been around a year since I last used them) that they've lifted a few skirts onto themselves, and I wouldn't put it past them to ruin a print this way.
All that said, B3 is a very nice company, and their customer support is excellent. When I did first order, I asked for a 1/8th BSP grove mount adapter for my 3mm one and they custom made one for me for no additional charge. Additionally, another one of the customers was wanting a mount for their new kickstarted backed printer they were getting in conjunction with their Pico, and B3 actually talked to the company making the printer and figured out a mount for the guy. I didn't have the best of experiences with their hotends, but at least they are trying something new and different, unlike the million E3D, J-head, Buddashnozzle, or other clones out there. I think it is their 3rd revision of the Pico, and I think if they keep developing it they will eventually have an all metal hotend that rivals the performance of the E3D.
Everything had to be printed 20-30C above the regular temp (they were the ones who recommended it) and so to get good results out of .3mm layers on 645 Nylon I had to print it around 295C, right around the temp limit of the thermistor. I really only got good results with the 3mm version, I couldn't get the 1.75mm version to print well on really anything. I eventually scrapped the idea of using them and just bought a Kraken.
Changing filaments was a difficult procedure (especially with a bowden system). Its impossible to remove any plastic from the hotend cold (which is a common trait, though I have removed a few plastics from my Kraken cold), and the procedure to remove it even when hot is a bit tricky due to the large heat zone. The plastic melts all the way up the heat zone, and there isn't a real heat break point, so the plastic will melt all the way up around 3-5mm into the cooling zone when extruding, and if you leave it to sit the cooling zone will do its job and cool the plastic. The unfortunate part about this is the plastic already swelled to the diameter of the hotend (3.1mm or so I think?) and created a plug that you can't remove by just pulling it out. The solution is getting it up to printing temperature and then doing this extrude and retract sequence where you extrude enough material by hand quick enough to keep whats in the heat zone molten and out of the cool zone, and then you gotta pull it out very quickly after, hoping that it doesn't have enough time to swell and plug again. I had one of these plugs in Nylon once that I had to drill out to get it out of the hotend. I even tried pulling it with pliers to no avail.
From all of my experiences, I don't thing PLA would be a good candidate for this hotend.
Like I said, the machining is good, but its not really polished (like Mhackney does with his nozzles, etc to keep plastic off of them), which considering how much care (and how expensive they are) they've put into machining and everything I think they should do some sort of polishing, because plastic LOVES to stick to the hotend/nozzle. Both of my Picos are mostly black now because of the amount of plastic that likes to stick to them, and I'm pretty sure (been around a year since I last used them) that they've lifted a few skirts onto themselves, and I wouldn't put it past them to ruin a print this way.
All that said, B3 is a very nice company, and their customer support is excellent. When I did first order, I asked for a 1/8th BSP grove mount adapter for my 3mm one and they custom made one for me for no additional charge. Additionally, another one of the customers was wanting a mount for their new kickstarted backed printer they were getting in conjunction with their Pico, and B3 actually talked to the company making the printer and figured out a mount for the guy. I didn't have the best of experiences with their hotends, but at least they are trying something new and different, unlike the million E3D, J-head, Buddashnozzle, or other clones out there. I think it is their 3rd revision of the Pico, and I think if they keep developing it they will eventually have an all metal hotend that rivals the performance of the E3D.
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drunkenmugsy
- Printmaster!
- Posts: 115
- Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2014 2:26 pm
- Location: Texas
Re: Microcenter components
Good info. I saw some 3d printers when I was there the other day but didnt bother to look for parts. I will now.
They are getting a good amount of raspberryPi and arduino stuff in stock too. Much more so that Fry's any day.
They are getting a good amount of raspberryPi and arduino stuff in stock too. Much more so that Fry's any day.