Ender 4 Dual Extrusion Upgrade Guide by krestoverson

Last crawled date: 4 years, 1 month ago

For all your Ender 4 Dual Extrusion upgrade needs.
Note: It's a good idea to print all parts required for the upgrade before disassembling and rebuilding your printer.
Take care when upgrading, and double check your wiring before turning on the power.
I'm not responsible if you mess something up.
Printed Parts List
Extruder Mount (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2580850)
Spool Holders (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2458189)
Hotend Mount (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2854221)
MKS 1.5 to Creality Ender 4 Motherboard Adapter (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2854232)
30mm to 40mm fan adapter (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1049548)
Additional Printed parts (not required for the mod)
Leadscrew Stabalizer(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2763889)
Printy McPrintface(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2854199)
LCD panel housing (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2675998)
Leveling knobs(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2603493)
Purchased Parts List:
New motherboard, that supports dual E
Additional Stepper
Additional Extruder
Bowden Tube/M6 fitting
Chimera Hotend (Chinese or genuine E3D Chimera, they both work)
Cooling Fan (24v 50mm radial fan)
24V heater cartridge
M3 bolts
M5 bolts
M5 2020 Extrusion T-Nuts
Parts I used for my upgrade
Motherboard
(https://www.amazon.com/BIQU-MKS-BASE-Plate-Controller-Printer/dp/B01FVTQQ2K/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1523203781&sr=1-1&keywords=MKS1.5)
35.99$
Additional stepper
(https://www.amazon.com/Stepper-Motor-Bipolar-64oz-Printer/dp/B00PNEQI7W/ref=pd_sim_328_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00PNEQI7W&pd_rd_r=T8ATDMXGHN2V4R3MXWD9&pd_rd_w=ejACE&pd_rd_wg=ZElyI&psc=1&refRID=T8ATDMXGHN2V4R3MXWD9)
12.99$
Extruder
(https://www.amazon.com/Iverntech-Printer-Extruder-Aluminum-RepRap/dp/B0774JZ9N5/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523207619&sr=8-3&keywords=MK8+extruder)
8.69$ (x2)
I purchased two and replaced the plastic one that came with the printer.
24v Heater
(Chimera kits come with 12v heater cartridges. These are not useful in this mod, as the Ender 4 supply is 24v.)
(https://www.amazon.com/BALITENSEN-Ceramic-Cartridge-Heater-Printer/dp/B078SQ4BPR/ref=sr_1_5?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1523207715&sr=1-5&keywords=24v+heater+cartridge&dpID=41KrrGy9eGL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch)
8.90$
NOTE: Make sure you mark your 24v cartridges, or keep them sorted from 12v cartridges you will get from Chimera kits. Do not use a 12v cartridge on a 24v system. This will blow the cartridge, and likely start a fire.
Bowden Tube
(https://www.amazon.com/Teflon-2PC4-M6-Fittings-RepRap-Printer/dp/B07BT3F1PP/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1523204022&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=M6+bowden&psc=1)
6.28$
Cooling Fan
(https://www.amazon.com/SoundOriginal-50x50x15mm-Humidifier-Aromatherapy-Replacement/dp/B0755BY9RH/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1523205243&sr=1-1&keywords=soundoriginal+24v)
11.49$
Chimera Hotend
I used the WINSINN Chimera Kit, which isnt the least expensive, but it comes with a lot of other options for changing and rebuilding the hotend.
(https://www.amazon.com/WINSINN-Chimera-Hotend-Extruder-Full/dp/B075CK4JRN/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=S0SB0QXJF6XAF1CQSYYY)
49.98$
There are other options as far as chimera setups go, an E3D Chimera will fit in the mounts that you will need to print, there is also the cheapest chimera set I could find which is the Wangdd22 hotend on amazon
Wangdd22 Chimera (purchase at your own risk)
(https://www.amazon.com/Wangdd22-Printer-Chimera-Extruder-Multi-Extrusion/dp/B076DDZMS7/ref=sr_1_7?srs=14414428011&ie=UTF8&qid=1523203197&sr=8-7&keywords=3d+printer+hotend) 35.99$
Total Upgrade Cost: 134.32$