Kodama Trinus E3D v6 mod v2 by vat_pom

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

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This is version 2 of the mod. Version 1 can be found here http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2186559.
Differences between V2 and V1
V2 supports also the new bigger heat block of the E3D v6 and not only the small (old) one (v6 lite is also supported)
V2 has improved "air management" (less air is directed to the heat block and baseplate, important when printed in PLA), up to about 220 °C there is no temperature drop when using the fan close to the bed.
V2 has a stiffer baseplate, helps with higher temps if printed in PLA
V2 the fan duct has a nice snap fit, which fixes the fan duct (it still can be rotated in maintenance position)
V2 moves the nozzle about 3 mm up in z-direction
...and there are some minor changes
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UPDATE 28.04.2017: I have added two fan ducts:
"fan_duct_v3" is my last iterration step. It provides a better view to the 1st layer, is smaller (prints quicker) and doesn´t have the problem all circular fan ducts have. The problem that when the nozzle is close to the bed (or above a horizontal surface), the air is pushed to the nozzle from all directions, but cannot get there because it blocks itself.
Compared to the circular versions, it is also much less sensitive to overheating.
"fan_duct_PLA_v3", same as "fan_duct_v3" but only the air jets/nozzles are cut back, because when testing, i found out, that when printed in PLA in the long term the air jets curled up. So if you want to print it in PLA, i suggest this version.
Both fit for the e3d v6 old and new as well as lite version.
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There is no need to talk about the E3D v6, it is a state of the art reference hot end, you won´t get a better one.
What is the use of the mod, what are the differences compared to the trinus hot end:
Even the E3D v6 has a PTFE inliner, it is a full metal hot end and at the time being only the trinus firmware limits its max temperature.
No PTFE degradation, no changing extrusion problems over time
No unstable extrusion/retraction problems, printing speed is only limited by trinus resonance problems and not by the hot/cold end extrusion capacity, I print PETG infill at 230 °C 0.2mm and 80-100 mm/s, before the mod I struggled to achieve 20 mm/s without problems, 80-100 mm/s will only make sense for some prints on such a small build volume, but it makes a huge difference if you print at e.g. 60-80 mm/s in average than compared to <20 mm/s.
Reliable consistent extrusion, not sometime it works and sometimes not
Much quicker heat up time, better temperature control after PID autotune,
with same heater cartridge higher printing temperatures are possible –but right now they are anyhow limited by the firmware
If the fan blows fully to the nozzle, the temperature drops, but much less
At same printing speeds no bleeding edges, bleeding edges occur much later at much higher printing speeds
If you need spare parts you can get them everywhere (nozzles, heat block, heat break….), quick and cheap, no need to wait for Kodama
no jams/clogging (it is still possible depending on what you do, but only if you do something wrong and not because it is a misconstruction)
much better fan duct (evenness of air flow)
reduction of moving masses
more easy maintenance, no black box which blocks sight
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What you need:
E3d v6 1.75mm Universal with 100k thermistor.
The mod v2 supports the new and the old E3D v6, that means with the small heat block and with the new bigger heat block sold since mid 2016.
The thermistor, as well as the heater cartridge fits for the trinus.
"Clones": An often used name is e.g. "E3D v6 1.75 long distance with PTFE"
E3D v6 clones use the old/small heat block, which is fine and no disadvantage at all. There are 1.75 mm E3D v6 clones available without any PTFE tubing at all - don´t use them (they will not work for PLA at all) !
There is only one part, where quality can be an issue - the heatbreak.
There are clones available with PTFE tubes on both sides of the heatbreak (throat) and others only have a 4.1 mm hole for the 4/2 mm PTFE tube like the genuine version. (and some have no PTFE at all in the heat break, don´t use them !!!).
In principle both version work, but if you want to use the full E3D capacity (e.g. printing PETG, or just best quality), you should look for the heat breaks which have the PTFE tube only at the cold side (4.1 mm bore), there are often called
"E3D v6 1.75 mm full metal throat", although they have the PTFE on one side. The reason why the clones are most often sold with PTFE on both sides is the roughness. PTFE is cheap and foolproof smooth but it is expensive to drill a smooth hole in metal. There are suppliers which sell "smooth full metal throats". Another way is to buy only the genuine E3D v6 heat break from E3D and cold sink and heat block from china.
For assembly see here https://wiki.e3d-online.com/wiki/E3D-v6_Assembly#HotSide
E3D cold end fan including duct (should be part of the E3D v6 order) or you use the existing 40mm trinus cold end fan, which i recommend
PTFE tube 4/2 mm, some cms, in principle it even works without when printing higher glass transition temperature materials and using the trinus 40 mm fan on the cold end, but i don´t recommend without.
the Thingiverse 3D printed parts shown in the pictures above.
Optional parts
Thermal paste to use in between the E3D heatbreak and the round cold end cooling body
Cardboard or Insulation cotton to insulate the nozzle and as air shield
Spare parts, e.g. if I change the nozzle for a print, i just change the whole hot end, because the clones are anyhow very cheap
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assembly:
remove/disassemble the trinus hot end cold end, strip it down until only the alu-block and mounted extruder remains, according to https://www.kodamaforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1721 remove parts L, H, M, N. All other parts shown on the picture can remain.
remove also the plate which is screwed onto the x-carriage. The part "E3D_fan_extruder_mounting_plate" gets directly screwed to the x-carriage
mount the part "filament_guide_extruder" and the alu-extruder block. Use the 2 existing worm screws to fix it
prepare the 4/2mm PTFE tube and cut it to about 49 mm, push the PTFE tube into the assembled E3D v6, you will need to push it really "hard" to get it into the heatbreak of the E3D. To other end of the PTFE tube is inserted into the "filament path" of the alu/extruder and by that pushed into the end of the part "filament_guide_extruder". If necessary adjust the length of the PTFE tube, but 49 mm should fit about +-1mm. If the 49mm
seems to be much too long, then you probably didn´t push it into the heatbreak - push harder;)
The E3D including the PTFE tube should now be fitted to the extruder alu-block.
screw the extruder block to the part "E3D_fan_extruder_mounting_plate"
press the E3D into its snap fit, the E3D snap fit is quite tight, maybe you need to put it to a table and press it into it. Be careful and look which side of the "E3D bracket" needs to be up.
mount the fan duct including the 50mm trinus fan to the "E3D_fan_extruder_mounting_plate" using the hole which fixes the fan duct to the "E3D_fan_extruder_mounting_plate"
use the upper hole to screw the other end of the 50mm fan to the "E3D_fan_extruder_mounting_plate"
rotate the fan duct to its end position and snap it onto the 50mm fan
check the distance between fan duct and bed, when the nozzle touches the bed, it should be exactly 2mm
mount the cold end fan, if you want to use the trinus 40mm fan, you have to print the part "trinus_40mm_cold_end_fan_mount_E3D"

use the holes for the zip ties to zip cables as you like

the removed screws of the trinus can be used, you don´t need additional screws, the M3 small screws are used to mount the extruder/alu-block, the bigger M4 screws to mount the 50mm fan and the M3 worm screws are used to fix the filament guide
you will need to rewire connectors of the E3D 30mm cold end fan, or better use the 40mm trinus fan ("trinus_40mm_cold_end_fan_mount_E3D")
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IMPORTANT:
Before you use the E3D v6, you need to change the PID-tuning with gcode commands, e.g. with M106 S255; M303 S200; see here http://www.kodamaforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=1762
readjust your z-end stop
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Because the trinus has a 40mm cold end fan, it is an advantage to use it as E3D cold end fan instead of the standard E3D 30mm cold end fan e.g. --> part "trinus_40mm_cold_end_fan_mount_E3D"
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Maintenance position:
In order ot change nozzles and so on, the fan duct can be easily rotated by 180 ° to give free access to the nozzle/heater block, see very last right picture above.
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3D printed Parts:
all parts can be printed without supports, i used 3 outlines and 15 % infill, works with 0.4 and 0.5 mm nozzle and various filaments
"Filament_guide_extruder"
Optional, in principle stiff filaments work also without, but there is no disadvantage to use it
can be printed in every filament
i would prefer 0.1 mm layer height, but it works also with 0.2 mm

"E3D_extruder_fan_mounting_plate"
PLA might not work, or only for low printing temperatures (200-210°C), at least PETG, BDP, ABS, ASA or filaments with high heat resistance are much better
0.1 -0.2 mm layer height
If you use PLA increase number of outer lines to 4/5 and solid top/bottom layers to e.g. 5* 0.2 mm
Infill about >= 15%, according to number of top layers and material

"E3D_bracket"
Use filament with at least same heat resistance as 3
0.1 -0.2 mm layer height
It is the only part which could be printed using supports, I don´t use supports, this gives some unwanted bridges on the horizontal overhang, which can be removed easily afterward, so no supports needed

fan duct
Use a filament with the highest possible heat resistance, PLA works for about 210 °C and 50-60°C HTB fine, but higher temperatures will deform it. I use extrudr BDP which survives about 115 °C without problems and can be easily printed at low temperatures, without heated bed and enclosure
The V2 fan duct blocks the air upwards to the heater block by itself better than V1, so this has improved.
the fan duct design was optimized for evenness of airflow from all directions, design verified with CFD simulation, the target was not to maximize air flow, because this also can disturb the print, it should direct the cold air exactly where it is needed, therefore much less airflow is needed compared to not circular fan ducts
The ducts bedside has massive overhangs. They won´t print perfect, but that doesn´t matter. The duct uses the coanda effect to direct the air to the nozzle. so if the overhangs are rough, it doesn´t matter at all and nobody sees it....

trinus 40mm cold end fan
The E3D should come with a 30 mm cold end fan, which is fine, but the 40 mm trinus fan will provide even better cooling (sharper transition from cold to hot), if you want to use the trinus fan print the part "trinus_40mm_cold_end_fan_mount_E3D". Another advantage of the 40mm trinus fan is, that the electric connectors will fit.
insulation/heat block (not 3Dprinted), if you notice that the fan duct doesn´t survive because the lower part "melts/deforms" (especially PLA might melt where the heat block screw is), just put a cardboard or insulation cotton between the fan duct and the heat block
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Outlook and improvement potential
Optimize air management further
Improve sight to 1st layer --> modify fan duct further, try different (smaller) ducts
Maybe reduce weight further by exchanging the extruder block with 3D printed parts
If some wants add a casin
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If one needs some small mods of the mod, i could probably change it.