Kodama Trinus E3D v6 mod v1 by vat_pom

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

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 (normal version with small heat block, not the upgraded heat block) with 100k thermistor. Other name is e.g. "E3D v6 1.75 long distance with PTFE"
The mod was done with the OLD E3D v6, that means with the small heat block and NOT with the new bigger heat block sold since mid 2016. E3D v6 clones use the old heat block.
The thermistor as well as the heater cartridge fits for the trinus.
Why did I use the old one ? Because I had the old version and I don´t see any real advantage for the customer of the new one. It is bigger (and there is not much space for the mod) and is made for a PT100 thermometer or special (more expensive) thermistors.
So if you want to use the moded fan duct, you need the small heat block. E3D v6 clones are available for < 5 Euro, the heat block for < 1 Euro, so that shouldn´t be a problem.
I don´t say you should buy clones or cloned parts at all, as well as I don´t say you are a bad guy doing it. There are 1.75 mm E3D v6 clones available without PTFE - don´t use them !
It there are request for the v6 new version, I will adapt the mod.
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, 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 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 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 heatbrake - so 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" and 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, when doing my tests, the E3D was mounted without the part "E3D_bracket" (so it works even without), but you should mount it now. Be careful and look which side of the "E3D bracket" needs to be up
mount the fan duct of your choice including the 5015 trinus 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 5015 fan to the "E3D_fan_extruder_mounting_plate"
rotate the fan duct to its end position and snap it onto the 5015 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 40 mm 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 5015 fan and the M3 worm screws are used tofix the filament guide
you will propably need to rewire connectors of the E3D cold 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 an 4010 cold end fan, it is an advantage to use it also 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/hetaer 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 e.g. 0.2

"E3D_extruder_fan_mounting_plate"
PLA might not work, or only for low print temperatures (200°C), at least PETG, BDP, ABS, ASA or filaments with high heat resistance
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 ducts
Use a filament with the highest possible heat resistance, PLA might work for a certain time, I use extrudr BDP which survives about 115 °C without problems
like all other circular fan ducts, if the nozzle is close to the bed, the air gets redirected towards the nozzle/heater block, this can lead to
-> Additional cooling load for the cold end (increased risk of jamming), therefore block hot air flow by air shield or mount bigger cold end fan, or increase PSU-Voltage
-> Temperature increase for the base plate (PLA might get problems), therefore block air flow by air shield or mount bigger cold end fan, or increase PSU-Voltage
-> Temperature drops when operating at high temperatures close to the bed, therefore block air flow by air shield already before the nozzle, use cotton insulation of the nozzle
To prevent this, I tested different fan duct designs and ended with the 2 following
"fan_duct_cold_filaments" (PLA) , a fan duct for low-temperature filament, hot air redirection isn´t that big problem because of the lower temperature, can be used with or without hot air shield
"fan_duct_hot_filaments" for higher temp filaments with included air shield, prevents air going upwards towards the heater block and above, material is very close to the nozzle/heater block, so it will get shiny, but that doesn´t matter, this design gives less maximum air flow than the other, but in general high temp filaments need less air flow.
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

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, if you want to use the triuns fan print the part "trinus_40mm_cold_end_fan_mount_E3D". Another advantage of the trinus fan is, that the electric connectors will fit for sure.
hot air shield (not 3Dprinted)
Optional, depending on your needs, if you notice temperature drops when close to the bed, or too high cold end temperatures you should block the air moving upwards
The hot air shield can easily be made of insulation cotton or recycled cardboard or metal, if you are more ambitious. All you need to do is to put e.g. a piece of cardboard between the E3D heat block and the E3D cold on cooling block. If the air cannot move upward, it is not influencing the cold end or heater block anymore.
Used with lower temp fan duct, to prevent air getting towards the heater block/cold end

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Pictures from left to right
mod in real life with 40 mm cold end fan mounted
mod in real life with 40 mm cold end fan mounted
mod in real life with 40 mm cold end fan mounted
Overview, 40mm fan, extruder/alu block and filament guide not shown
mounting plate for E3D, 5015 hot end fan and fan duct and extruder alu-block
fan duct for higher temperature filaments (> 200 -220 °C)
fan duct for lower temperature filaments
mounting bracket for E3D
filament guide for extruder alu-block
trinus 40 mm cold end fan mount, instead of standard 30 mm E3D fan
Overview, 40 mm fan, extruder/alu block and filament guide not shown, fan rotated to maintenance position
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Outlook and improvement potential
Optimize hot air management further
Improve sight to 1st layer --> modify fan duct further
Move nozzle a few mm up, this needs to change the fan design
Maybe reduce weight further by exchanging the extruder block with 3D printed parts
If some wants add a casing
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If one needs some small mods of the mod, i could probably change it.