E3D dual head on Velleman VERTEX K8400 with space gain and light by Bo_Ris

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

Update 19-Mar-2017 New and improved revision of the printhead is available from here.
This set of things allows to upgrade Velleman VERTEX K8400 printer with single- or dual-head E3D hot-end.
Almost all other designs that "marry" K8400 with E3D are reducing print area because of 2 reasons:
new hot-end is bigger than the original and
the fans hanging on E3D heat-sinks take a lot of side or front space.
My design allows to attach E3D hot-end(s) to K8400 and gain extra print space. No need to re-position X and Y home sensors, however you may need to adjust the positions of the pulleys, as the new print head literally uses every single millimeter of available space.
New distance between nozzles is 23 mm; the original was 23.7 mm
X max = 210 mm (0..210); the original was 200 mm (0..200)
Y max = 193 mm (0..193); the original was 180 mm (20..200)
Z max = 190 mm - no change
IMPORTANT: This design fits the GENUINE E3D hot-end http://e3d-online.com/E3D-v6/Full-Kit/v6-1.75mm-Universal-Bowden It cannot be used with Chinese replicas that are bigger in size.DISCLAIMER: This hot-end replacement requires soldering skills. If you don't have such skills, you may end up damaging your printer. If this happens - total responsibility is with you.
Required Parts
One or two E3D v6 HotEnd Full Kit - 1.75mm Universal (with Bowden add-on) (12v). You can purchase them from here: http://e3d-online.com/E3D-v6/Full-Kit/v6-1.75mm-Universal-Bowden
One 40mm x 40mm x 20mm 12V or 15V high speed fan (attached image shows the exact model I used)
Four M4 x 16mm hex socket cup screws
Two M3 x 12mm screws and two M3 x 6mm screws, or
four M3 x 12mm screws and two 5mm high plastic spacers.
Four countersunk screws M3 x 50mm and four self-locking M3 nuts. They all are part of the original hot-end mount and can be re-used.
Two M3 x 10mm screws.
Heater cartridge(s) - one per print head. You MUST reuse the original ones from K8400. Do not install the cartridges that came with E3D as they are for 12V, while the printer supplies 15V DC.
Optionally, six bright white LEDs with 5mm diameter and six 510 Ohm 0.25 W resistors.
Three designs in one
The set of thing files allows to build print head in 3 different configurations.
1) With LED lights and filament cooling ducts
2) With LED lights and no filament cooling
3) With filament cooling and no lights
Print the subset of the files matching your preferred option. See details in file descriptions below.
File Descriptions
main.stl - main body for configurations 1 and 3 (with filament cooling ducts). Print with Touchbed support.
main_no_duct.stl - main body for configuration 2 (without filament cooling ducts). Print with Touchbed support.
holder.stl - central piece holding E3D heat-sinks. Print with Touching Bed support.
holder_with_support.stl - same as holder.stl, but includes easily removable support. Print without support.
right_holder.stl - holding piece for right extruder
left_holder.stl- holding piece for left extruder
insert.stl - extruder board and PTFE Tubing holder. Slides in above the fan.
cable_holder.stl - optional piece allowing to tie and hold the extruder cable
duct.stl - air duct for configuration 3 - without LEDs
duct_with_LEDs.stl - air duct for configuration 1 - with LEDs
LED_holder.stl - LED holding piece for configuration 2 - without duct.
dummy_e3d.stl - This piece replicates E3D shape and should be used in single print-head setup as a replacement of the left extruder. This is required to provide proper air flow.