• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.

Ender 3 Max extruder upgrade options

TorontoBuilder

TorontoBuilder

Sapientia et Doctrina Stabilitas
Okay, so I bought the ender 3 max because I wanted to learn 3D printing, and because I envisioned using it to build permanent fast to print large mechanical parts... likely using some carbon fiber reinforced filaments.

That goal hasn't changed but the ender 3 max is a little slow, and I sometimes have issues printing TPU... so I want to see the optimal combination of lowest cost versus reliability and higher filament flow so I can get faster printing. More specifically, I want to print certain parts, moulds and stamping blocks with an 8mm nozzle and 100% infill. Layer finish will be dealt with by other means.

So does anyone know of direct drive kits with hit ends that support higher temps, other than the sprite kit sold by creality.

Complicating the issue is that the max has a different mount entirely compared to the end 3
 
MicroSwiss make a direct drive extruder and hotend system that accepts the standard nozzles. I use one on an Ender5 Pro and it has worked without any issues for about 2 years so far.

It uses the extruder motor from the original printer.
IMG_5466 2.JPG
IMG_5465 2.JPG
 
Arbutus said:
MicroSwiss make a direct drive extruder and hotend system that accepts the standard nozzles. I use one on an Ender5 Pro and it has worked without any issues for about 2 years so far.

It uses the extruder motor from the original printer.
View attachment 58403View attachment 58402
Click to expand...
That's nice because you dont have to adjust the pot as you may have to with a smaller motor

turns out they dont have one for the ender 3 max
 
Curious to see how you like the new direct drive.

I have an ender 3 pro with a e3d v6 clone hotend, all metal heatbreak, high temp thermistor and I modified the original firmware for higher temps.

Printed a bullseye fan duct for mounting & cooling the hotend & have been more then happy with this combo.

I think if you go direct drive you may want dual z screws, if you don't have already. I installed mine pretty well when new so I couldn't say.
 
Jswain said:
Curious to see how you like the new direct drive.

I have an ender 3 pro with a e3d v6 clone hotend, all metal heatbreak, high temp thermistor and I modified the original firmware for higher temps.

Printed a bullseye fan duct for mounting & cooling the hotend & have been more then happy with this combo.

I think if you go direct drive you may want dual z screws, if you don't have already. I installed mine pretty well when new so I couldn't say.
Click to expand...
I had considered dual z mod long ago and never pulled the trigger. Similarly I haven't yet purchased the sprite direct drive yet. I gotta get on that next
 
If you want more flow I would probably be looking at a volcano style or similar hotend.

The nice thing about Ender's is the options and ability to upgrade is almost endless and mostly cheap.

Triangle lab on AliExpress is a good supplier and is(or at least was) much cheaper then amazon etc.

My unreliable printer in the picture(on the left) and then the Ender3 on the right:
1000009966.jpg
 
Last edited:
I put an Titan e-3d extruder, geared unit, on my Prusa i3 with a v6 hot end, a whole new carriage to mount to, changed the travel shafts, and new longer linear bearings. This was done before trying it out, as it came from my son and had likely many hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours on it. The old carriage had twisted some as was a printed unit with the stepping motor hanging out a long way from the travel shafts. The travel shafts had some wear and a few scores in them, the lingier bearings had some wear also. The new carriage was made from a piece of aluminum plate with a steel stepping motor mount fastened to it and many lightening holes added. The new stepping motor is half? the length of the old one and half? the weight. With the geared extruder still have the needed torque while running the motor faster. Will need to go into programing to change the default speed someday, but that can be adjusted from settings in the interm, (maybe forever).
It works, is it a Bamboo or klipper fast, no, but I am also trying to figure where I am going or not in this area. A laser cutter/engraver also keeps crawling in the back of thoughts. AND another how many other things!
 
Last edited:
Jswain said:
If you want more flow I would probably be looking at a volcano style or similar hotend.

The nice thing about Ender's is the options and ability to upgrade is almost endless and mostly cheap.

Triangle lab on AliExpress is a good supplier and is(or at least was) much cheaper then amazon etc.

My unreliable printer in the picture(on the left) and then the Ender3 on the right:
View attachment 58991
Click to expand...

I'm more after reliable TPU printing, but a little better print speed from higher flow would be good.

I will look at that ali store, because I can't find what I want more other places when I look. Creality doesn't seem to have ender 3 max dual z kits. I looked at two other direct drive units and both had parts no longer available and the updated parts no longer fit the systems. Very frustrating for me at times. Looks like your printer has auxiliary braces which seems wise if you want increased speeds too... are they from triangle lab?
 
IIRC the dual z kit and braces I got from amazon.

I don't try and print fast speeds, anything normal usually PETG @ 50mm/s with a .4 nozzle, .4 layer height and .8 layer width which saves a lot of time. Temperature, whatever it takes to keep the extruder from skipping which is usually 275 for me. I also run a hardened nozzle so I think it's less efficient with the heat vs brass
 
Last edited:
Maybe want to take a look at Spool 3d in Calgary, where I got parts, the extruder and hot end etc. from. They have an online? Catalog and I believe there is mail order also. They answered my questions, looked at me a bit funny about some of the parts I wanted, but did have everything I wanted. I didn’t use all that I got for parts. I did the piecing together of the carrage and modifying of parts as needed for lightening and putting together everything. They have a fairly large selection of nozzles also. A heating block threaded for common nozzle type maybe in order too.
A bamboo/etc. maybe would have been easier but not cheaper at the time, though the info was not out there about the super push and play units then.( likely on a forum somewhere but not here).
Remember, if looking for speed, mass of moving carriages and/or plates with larger printed objects on them can mess with accuracy of printed objects. Running, stopping, reversing or changing directions mess with things. I believe I read where part of the “klipper” programming was the slowing of movement before a change, and some kind of vibration management also involved. No idea if the “klipper” programming can be added to the Ender 3 max or not, but that appears to be where the speed of printing comes from, in hand with a larger nozzle—finish dependant.
Wish I knew more to help you @TorontoBuilder, and a lot of this you may know already.
 
Bandit said:
Maybe want to take a look at Spool 3d in Calgary, where I got parts, the extruder and hot end etc. from. They have an online? Catalog and I believe there is mail order also. They answered my questions, looked at me a bit funny about some of the parts I wanted, but did have everything I wanted. I didn’t use all that I got for parts. I did the piecing together of the carrage and modifying of parts as needed for lightening and putting together everything. They have a fairly large selection of nozzles also. A heating block threaded for common nozzle type maybe in order too.
A bamboo/etc. maybe would have been easier but not cheaper at the time, though the info was not out there about the super push and play units then.( likely on a forum somewhere but not here).
Remember, if looking for speed, mass of moving carriages and/or plates with larger printed objects on them can mess with accuracy of printed objects. Running, stopping, reversing or changing directions mess with things. I believe I read where part of the “klipper” programming was the slowing of movement before a change, and some kind of vibration management also involved. No idea if the “klipper” programming can be added to the Ender 3 max or not, but that appears to be where the speed of printing comes from, in hand with a larger nozzle—finish dependant.
Wish I knew more to help you @TorontoBuilder, and a lot of this you may know already.
Click to expand...
Any printer can be converted to Klipper. The work involved can range from trivial (e.g. Creality K1C) to very involved (e.g. Bambu X1C)
 
Last edited:
TorontoBuilder said:
I had considered dual z mod long ago and never pulled the trigger. Similarly I haven't yet purchased the sprite direct drive yet. I gotta get on that next
Click to expand...
I put a sprite on my daily use ender 3 pro and it has been a really good upgrade. My other ender 3 was an s1 so it came with it. Klipper is a great upgrade. Where klipper really shines is when you need more control and adding an accelerometer changes the printer a lot. Another upgrade if you do not have it is a cheap filament sensor. Klipper should be dead simple with an rpi and files from online. If you search there is lots of help should not be more then an afternoon to get it up and running.

2018 ender 3 pro, sprite upgrade, btt rrf board, octoprint on rpi3+, cheap filament sensor, bed wheels and upgraded springs, ptfe build plate.

2021 ender 3 s1, sprite, dual z, added the filament sensor, stock board. octoprint on an rpi3+

Kickstarter CR30 belt printer. Running stock board and lots of upgrades. Ldo stepper mod, linear rail mod, heat bed mod, all metal heat break and stock extruder mods. Octoprint on a rpi3+.

Ender 3 neo, this is my daughters printer and works pretty well for small prints and she loves using it.
 
TorontoBuilder said:
BoxTurtle... that is what it is called. An open source AMS style filament changer for Klipper machines.
Click to expand...
Damn now I have to put that one on my project list as well. I looked at making the smuff system a couple years ago but it seemed to have a lot of issues. This one looks a lot more promising. Now its down to the build or buy decision process.
github.com

GitHub - ArmoredTurtle/BoxTurtle: Modular compact automated filament changer for klipper 3d printers

Modular compact automated filament changer for klipper 3d printers - ArmoredTurtle/BoxTurtle
github.com github.com
 
djberta said:
Damn now I have to put that one on my project list as well. I looked at making the smuff system a couple years ago but it seemed to have a lot of issues. This one looks a lot more promising. Now its down to the build or buy decision process.
github.com

GitHub - ArmoredTurtle/BoxTurtle: Modular compact automated filament changer for klipper 3d printers

Modular compact automated filament changer for klipper 3d printers - ArmoredTurtle/BoxTurtle
github.com github.com
Click to expand...
For me I'd buy this kit:
store.isiks.tech

Box Turtle Kit (2-3 Week Lead Time)

All the parts you need to build a Box Turtle, except printed ABS plastic and frame. AFC-Lite PCB with TMC2209 Drivers Premium quiet and powerful Isik's Tech N20 motors ABEC-5 MR148ZZ and MR63ZZ Bearings and Precision (+0/-0.015mm) 8mm Shafts Stainless Steel Fasteners D2HW switches with MR63ZZ...
store.isiks.tech store.isiks.tech
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top