Advantages of a E3D hotend

What are the advantages of the E3D hotend versus say the one that comes on a Folger Tech 2020 printer? I have seen people upgrade to them but I would like to know the advantages before I go and buy one.

I just got the e3d lite6. I have noticed it extruder a little smoother and doesn't leak. The advantage of the e3d v6 is that it's all metal and can run things that need a higher temp.

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Newbie with Folgertech 2020 i3.

Hi,

Well, the E3D is a proper hotend.
Folger's system is lead by profit.
On Folger's, the heatbreak is screwed on a big block
which is in contact with both the motor and the heatsink.
So the motor acts as a thermal mass.
The more temperature you ask, the more issues you'll get.

On the E3D system, each part have a single function.
The cooling parts are more efficient.
And the cold end stays cold anytime.
And you can use a performance extruder like the wade, bowden or not.

If you upgrade to an E3D system or any proper hotend (hexagon, J-head...)
You will get a better print quality immediately.
With a good extruder, and part's fan, you will be able to reach high standards.

If you're going to print mostly PLA,
plan to buy a teflon tube heatbreak for the E3D V6,
or buy a Lite6 instead.
If you plan to print with two colours someday,
buy directly a Chimera.

++JM

Well, I myself uses e3d v6 and never had any clog issues yet, the last clogging issue i had isn't really on the nozzle or heater block area, rather the part of heatbreak entrance were blocked by the chipped plastic fell into it

I am thinking about getting the E3D and making a Bowden setup for my printer but I have a question about the Bowden. Aren't you wasting material if you run out since the extruder is so far from the hot end? I understand that taking the weight off the x axis makes for better prints at a faster speed, but what are the other advantages to the Bowden extruder?

You are correct about wasted material. This will only affect the amount of filament you are left with at the end of a roll is very marginal amount, probably a few cents of material. Bowden extruder Excell at printing at fast speeds due to the lack of mass to move around. Your print quality would remain around the same. Also flexible filament are more difficult to print in a bowden
than a direct drive extruder

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Prusa i3 Rework - Ramps 1.4 - E3d Lite6 - Full Graphic LCD Controller

Another upvote for E3D, I have spent lots of money trying out various hot ends but they were all worthless compared to the Chimera and V6.

if you're considering getting a full kit with bowden addon, probably you should be considering a mount that can be converted into either direct or bowden type. My design can be converted but so far I've been using only direct drive

Remember that if a moving bed, like an i3, your speed is limited by the bed mass.

I have an E3Dlite6, and through Slic3r 1.2.9 I can manage 5 mm3/s volumetric extrusion of PETG at 225C. Probably more at 245C but the 225 keeps stringing down.

One thing about the Lite... the little black clip that hold the PTFE stopped working and the PTFE slipped. So I melted the wades pathway at the top, to keep the PTFE inside it just below the bolt.

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sarf2k4
if you're considering getting a full kit with bowden addon, probably you should be considering a mount that can be converted into either direct or bowden type. My design can be converted but so far I've been using only direct drive

Can I see this design?

I have an e3dlite6 on my FT i3 and it's awesome. No leaks, never clogs, prints some exotic filaments better also.

Quote
built350camaro

Quote
sarf2k4
if you're considering getting a full kit with bowden addon, probably you should be considering a mount that can be converted into either direct or bowden type. My design can be converted but so far I've been using only direct drive

Can I see this design?

Here you go [www.thingiverse.com], I recommend you to use the scad file to configure the screw holes you want. I am still working on v4 because on the current version 3, the flat area are same level with the e3d groove mount and I didn't accommodate any extra gaps for the bowden fixing/lock ring (might not able to be removed in the future). In the end, I just stay with direct drive.

Still no mood to continue the v4 development although it is already underway. There are other parts as well, do look for other designs under mine

I forgot to mention that the design are primarily to adopt the mk8 extruder design without sacrificing or salvaging the current mk8 extruder, I just replaced the heatsink and fan that were supposed to be originally there with a block to fix the motor, addition for servo tower pro 9g or inductive proximity sensor there. fan duct that I designed doesn't fit well though

Also my design able to fit with greg's wade extruder, just that no one has ever confirmed that it's working with it

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2015 08:31PM by sarf2k4.