E3D's v6 hotend introduced a boatload of changes
from the earlier v5 models, which improve
its performance, reliability and looks.
I'm Tom and today i'm going to show you how
to put it together.
Before we start, if you want to know to know
more about what i think about the updated
design and what changes were introduced, check
out my review right here!
So, as with the previous versions, the E3D
hotend still comes as kit for you to assemble.
When you open up your package, you'll find
the heater block, the heat break, a nozzle,
the heat sink, a heater cartridge, a thermistor
with ferrules, sleeving, wire and heat shrink,
the fan shroud, a fan, a bag with screws and
a hex wrench, and, if you bought a bowden
version, you'll also get the bowden connector
and the bowden tubing.
You'll also need a Philips number one screwdriver,
a 16 and 7mm wrench, a pair of pliers and
something that makes hot air, either a lighter
or a heat gun.
So let's get to it!
We'll start out with assembling the metal
parts.
So, take the heat break and screw it into
the heatsink until it's just finger tight.
Keep in mind that the heat break is a somewhat
fragile piece and should be treated carefully.
Then screw the nozzle into the heater block
from the side that is closest to the holes
for the thermistor and heater cartridge.
When it's all the way in, unscrew it by a
quarter turn.
Then screw the heater block with the nozzle
onto the heat break.
Again, just finger tight.
Make sure the nozzle stays at the quarter-turn-out
position, because you actually want the nozzle
to seal against the heat break and not against
the heater block.
Next up, we tighten everything down.
Use the 16mm wrench to support the heater
block and tighten down the nozzle, but don't
over-tighten it, you want to be able to unscrew
the nozzle should you need to.
Then let go of the heater block and grab on
to the heatsink and tighten the nozzle a bit
further.
This will actually tighten the heat break
inside the heatsink.
Next up, we'll install the thermistor.
Now, instead of having to deal with Kapton
tape as with the v5 and previous designs,
the v6 now uses a glass fibre sleeving and
a clamping screw to hold the thermistor in
place.
So to insulate the thermistor's legs, we'll
cut a piece of sleeving that's about a centimeter
shorter than the thermistor's legs and slide
it onto the thermistor's legs along with a
piece of heat shrink and a ferrule.
Strip about a centimeter of the connecting
wires' insulation and bend both the bare ends
of the thermistor's legs and the wire into
small hooks and hook them together.
Slide the ferrule over each connection and
crimp it down - you can also use your pliers
beforehand to compress the hooks and make
the ferrule slide over them more easily.
If your sleeving is long enough to reach into
the ferrules, make sure that it sits as close
to the thermistor's head as possible before
crimping it down.
Slide the heat shrink tubing over the crimped
ferrule and use your heat gun or lighter to
shrink it.
So, next up, we can install the thermistor
into the heater block.
Slide the thermistor all the way into the
matching hole in the heater block, then push
down onto the sleeving to make sure that it
sits all the way at the thermistor's head
and bend the legs over so that they are flush
with the heater block.
You can also bend the legs beforehand to ensure
that the sleeving stays right at the thermistor's
head.
Spread those legs until they clear the threaded
hole below them for the clamping screw.
Then grab the included hex wrench, the short
M3 screw and the washer and screw down the
thermistor's legs.
You should tighten this screw fairly well
to reduce the risk of it coming loose.
It's probably also a good idea to check and
re-tighten this screw after a couple of hours
of printing.
When screwing it down, don't hold on to the
heatsink, but only to the heater block or
you'll risk bending the heat break.
Next up, we'll install the heater cartridge,
which simply slides into its hole in the heater
block and then gets clamped down with the
long M3 screw.
Try and center the heater cartridge in the
heater block.
So all we have left now is the fan.
Screw that onto the fan shroud and push it
over the heat sink.
If you have enough space above the hotend,
you can install the fan shroud upside down
to get you a bit more room around the heater
block.
If it doesn't fit upside down, use it the
other way around, though that way you'll have
to pull it off the heat sink when you're working
on the heater block or the nozzle.
Now, if you're using a bowden hotend, you'll
also need to install the bowden coupler, which
simply clips into the top of the heat sink.
When installing the bowden tubing, make sure
to push it all the way down into the heat
break.
To release the tubing, hold down the bowden
couper and pull the tubing out.
Now, before you start printing, you should
hook up the fan to 12V, select the right thermistor
in your firmware, run PID autotune and then
heat up the whole hotend to about 280°C.
Once it's all heated up up, tighten the nozzle
down one more time.
This makes sure that nothing is going to come
loose even when things are expanding and contracting
as they heat up and cool down.
E3D's hotends require very little to no maintenance,
but should you need to remove the nozzle,
you can simply heat up your hotend and unscrew
and replace the nozzle by itself.
It's probably a good idea to unscrew the heat
break a bit first to reduce the chances of
damaging it.
Always hold on to the heater block when tightening
or unscrewing the nozzle.
And that's it, we're done!
Happy printing!
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