RatRig V-Core-3: Printheads, Fasteners and the Amazing EVA

All about 3D printer hotends, extruders, fasteners, and the really cool EVA concept adopted by RatRig to give builders a diversity of options for their printers. And a bit of a sob story about my struggles with an otherwise awesome concept.
==Links==
* Phaetus Rapido UHF Hotend: amzn.to/3PxSWJi
* Orbiter 2.0 Extruder: www.filastruder.com/products/...
* Heatset Inserts (M3-M5 variety kit): amzn.to/3Fw5NY1
* Soldering Tips for heatset inserts (not strictly necessary, but improves the experience): amzn.to/3BIhN7H

[@eva-3d948]

Hi, Paweł here, good thing you eventually looked at the EVA docs :) Thanks for the good word, EVA is a lot of work

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

Hey Paweł, thanks for watching! I'm sure it's a ton of work to design and maintain a modular system supporting a bunch of third-party components. But you've done a great job! I was a little overwhelmed by the whole RatRig DIY thing initially, and when I saw that the EVA stuff was already included the RR CAD files, I mentally checked it off as one thing I didn't have to think about. I wish I had realized there were options.
So, on a scale of 1-100, how well did I pronounce your name? 😅 Any other corrections you'd like to add? I'll pin your comment or add it to the description if something else needs to be said about it. Thanks!

[@livedeliciously]

I'm going to find a way to mount the EVA to my Ender. It's such an ingeniously designed toolhead.

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

@@livedeliciously FYI there is a channel in the RatRig discord called #eva-on-ender (or something like that.
However I should point out that you will lose some of your X-axis because EVA has to wrap all the way around the X axis beam, which will limit it's motion on the sides since it would collide with the vertical rails. Just something to think about... Maybe the guys in that channel have a solution 🤔

[@livedeliciously]

@@ObsessiveEngineering I'm humbled trying to figure out a simple solution for making this work. It seems like there isn't a way to mount it without making significant changes. Scrolling through the Discord on the "EVA for Ender" section shows me that smarter people have already tried and have to resort to the same solution. A complex one.

[@Tatertot597]

Now i know what to send you for Xmas 🎅🏻 😉

[@AudaceDetecting]

They should not archive old versions, many people still use 1 and 1.5 the files should be Always available somewhere. Is a very good project.

[@user-tj7xr6xd9z]

Been thinking bout getting a ratrig thx for this you potentially saved me a bunch of hassle

[@a_pullin]

That's quite a lot of parts to build up the actual print head. Think it will ultimately limit speeds? The Voron designs use some pretty damn compact & minimal print heads, although maybe that's not practically a problem unless you're competing for max speed?

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

It's a lot of parts but it's actually not that heavy. I was able to do a

[@marckart66]

I just purchased a ratrig with the petg parts (i just want to use it for pla and petg). It doesn't say whether the printed parts come with inserts or nuts. Hopefully I get inserts :(

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

You'll probably get the captive nut version, BUT they will be printed by RatRig with the correct tolerances so it should be okay. The parts will work as intended, it might just be a little more tedious to insert the nuts than using the inserts. It'll be fine 😃

[@alexey_sychev]

​@@ObsessiveEngineeringUnfortunately, not always. My printed parts from RatRig came with quite bad tolerances and some cracked when I tried to insert hex nuts :(

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

No way! That really surprises me. I'm sorry to hear that. If it's not too much trouble you should contact them and ask for replacement parts.

[@marckart66]

@@alexey_sychev how did you get on getting the nut in the pinta probe mount? 🤣

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

Yes! That is the most absurd captive nut placement possible. I remember being baffled when I realized what I was supposed to do. It's awkward, to say the least.
I just recently just replaced that part with the heatset version and it was very pleasantly simple.

[@rotarurazvan_petru4654]

U forgot about hero me hotend

[@anon_y_mousse]

Yeah, melt in threads are definitely the way to go. I suppose captive nuts aren't bad if you've dialed things in, but still not as good.

[@user-lx9jm1wo3h]

Are you new to 3D printing or something?

[@csadler]

I just pushed past 700 hours printing on my RatRig 3.1. I bought at 3.0 and did the 3.1 upgrade. Printed all my parts on my Lulzbots with ASA and ABS.
I can't stand the captured nuts like you and I also missed out on the EVA insert options as well! Next time on the next upgrade I guess.

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

I just checked RatOS and see I'm up to 340 hrs of printing. Still going great. The only thing was a couple nozzle crashes due to cold blobs on the nozzle when homing (which broke a non-critical piece I need to reprint), and my motors just started buzzing loudly on certain movements. I need to pull the printer away from the wall and do the XY motor wire reversal I keep hearing about.
It's an amazing machine, and I'm always reminded of it each time I try to print the same thing one of my other printers. Thanks for watching!

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

Hah, looks like my nozzle crashes just came back to bite me. Finally after 350 hours, my EVA assembly is falling apart from the force of those crashes. Out of commission until I figure it what needs to be replaced...

[@csadler]

@@ObsessiveEngineering I had been getting crashes with the BL touch so I switched to the Euclid probe and have not had one since. I changed over 3 printers and it's so much more reliable. I was sick of watching with my finger above "Emergency stop"!
I built my own, but the kits are better I think.

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

@@csadler This was not really the printer's fault, besides the short detection distance of the SuperPINDA probe. I was printing with a lot of weird materials for an upcoming video, and some of them like to ooze large blobs that harden on the nozzle and effectively make it longer. Otherwise the probe has been great. But I want to try a stowable probe next

[@ObsessiveEngineering]

@@csadler What was your experience setting up Euclid? Now that I think I need to reprint the EVA parts anyway, I might as well give it a go. I really wanted a garolite sheet for my bed but it's not going to work with the inductive sensor I have now.
Did you just pull the printable files from github? Where did you mount it? Seems like a good excuse to update to RatOSv2 which has native support for stowable probes.

[@aeiounix]

Bro. The video just stops. You left off the middle and the end of it!