How to make PLA work with All Metal Hot Ends (No More Clogging)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ธ.ค. 2022
- There seems to be very little information online about PLA and all metal hot ends (AMHE). In this video we'll go over the inner parts of a hot end talk about what changes from a stock hot end to an AMHE and how to make PLA work with it.
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Both of my machines are all metal now so I'll try this for sure, but for those still running stock hot ends there's an extremely simple way to make sure your tube is set perfectly. If you simply install it with the nozzle in place the act of it pulling back and locking will make a small gap. So I turn the nozzle out a few threads, roughly the same distance as those clips for the bowden collars. Insert the tube all the way to the nozzle and tighten the nozzle. This will push the tube back to engage the lock all while keeping a perfect fit to the nozzle. You can fo a bit further out with the nozzle too, some compression on the tube won't hurt but going too far might distort it and cause a restriction.
I never knew it was a problem with all metal hotends. Thought they were identical except the all metal one's could get hotter. I don't even have an all metal one and I'm having a hell of a problem. I'm not sure it's clogging though and seems to be a problem with the extruder. Clearing the hot end and temperature changes do nothing to fix the problem. Now I want to get an all metal hot end to upgrade, but I hope I don't start having clogging issues. (Guess it's always good to do research beforehand... but that's what I did before buying an Ender 3 and I deeply regret that choice. Have had every single problem I have ever heard was possible and 10x more than that in just 2 months).
I stumbled upon this video by accident while actually trying to remember what I took out to revert from a bimetalic heatbreak back to stock with capricorn tubing, and maybe I'm speaking too soon, but your tip really seems to work. I bought a small 100ml bottle just across the street for about $2. Used a few drops inside the hotend and started printing again. My Elegoo Neptune 3 went months without use because of the constant clogging. I had several spools of good quality PLA that I couldn't use because it would make a mess, just really shitty layers, having to use high temps and constant clogging. Earlier in the day I tried this tip, I actually printed 2 simple prints for my dad's project, and like always, clog, clean, print, clog, clean, print. Later the same day I tried the tip and have been printing at least 5 or so pieces without any issues with temps down by 20°C. Prints looking as beautiful as the first day I got the machine. That made me remember why I wanted a 3d printer in the first place. Thank you so much for this video!
In Chinese kitchen they season steel WOK pans. They pour oil and burn it in hi temp. Oil polimerazes and leaves natural anti stick film. Food does not stick to pan. You can TH-cam for that process. Maybe something similar happens when you drop oil in to hot nozzle.
Not just a Chinese thing.
It was also done in the West until people got lazy
@@PoetofHateSpeech not really lazy, just that we invented Teflon which already has non stick properties. Seasoning a Teflon pan in the same way as a cast iron is largely redundant.
@@StrokeMahEgo Teflon was an accident that just made a lot of people a lot of money and that made its way into a ton of applications we still use daily.
@@PoetofHateSpeech I don't think he was implying that it's only Chinese, just that he noticed it on the carbon steel wok.
That sounds like a great idea! You have to use an oil that'll oxidize so it turns into a plastic, so mineral oil won't work. But I really like the idea! I'll try it on the outside of my nozzle first.
I've been doing essentially the same thing just slightly different. I have a clip on container that I put a couple drops of mineral oil into sponges and clip around filament. I then run 2-300mm through the "oil box" and out of the extruder. Then remove the box and continue printing. I redo that periodically if I notice any anomalies in printing, typically the first layer purge line starts looking globby. Thanks for the video though, love that you're getting good ideas out there.
After switching to an all metal heatbrake I dropped the retraction down to 1.3-1.5mm and never had any issues with clogs, little to no stringing as well. I'm using the red stock Ender hotend, the one that you've placed in the middle of the three hotends. I also use the exact same style of heatbreake.
With the all metal, I had my retraction down to 3@40 instead of the standard 6@50. What I realized later is that the retraction distance is directly related to the length of bowden and type. Cap tubing has a much tighter tolerance (1.9mm ID?) therefore not much retraction is needed than normal PTFE (2.0mm ID), this is why many with DD setups have retraction at 1mm or less bc there is literally NO slack between the hot end and extruder.
Second this. With all metal the filament cools more quickly as it retracts from the hotend. Reducing retraction keeps from pulling melted filament into the cool zone causing clogs. I went from 6mm retraction to 3mm.
@boydm991 I just switched out to an all metal hot end on my stock set up. I saw in the reviews for the hot end that clogs were common without retraction changes. Most comments said 1.5 so I tried it. I have a little stringing so I'm going to try 1.75 and 2 to see if I can dial it in.
Hey this is a great tip. A newbie here who just got my first 3D printer for Christmas. Everything is running fine right now with PLA but want to try some high temp filaments like PETG & Nylon etc. Been worried about the stock PTFE tube getting ruined and not withstanding the higher temperatures for long. Hence wanted to upgrade my hotend to bimetal/all metal heat break but then heard about the lubrication issues for PLA. So I was about to embark on the Luke's hotend fix with a small piece of Capricorn tube and washer etc.
Then I stumbled upon this video - what a great explanation and the solution. I am now ordering a bimetal heat break and will use the mineral oil when using PLA.
One question - if I switch between PETG, Nylon and PLA for my prints, is it OK to leave the oil lubricated hotend as is? Or this technique will have issues if I just changed the filament and left the hotend oiled from an earlier PLA run?
TIA and I have subscribed for more such content.
Thanks for the description about the hotend and your fix
Great video and advice!!
I thought I needed all these fixes but turns out if you grab a piece of Bowden Tube and run your filament through it and if it catches or has resistance it is due to the poor filament not being exactly 1.75mm +/- in diameter. This is why I think a lot of people switch to direct drive as you can get away with inconsistent filament diameter not being stuck inside the bowden tube at various points of the roll. I figured people would mention this but no one does, especially now that filament is increasing in price and the want to switch to a cheaper alternative will be poorer results. My two cents.
Thank you for this tip! I have a Flsun QQS-Pro that I recently changed to an all metal hot end. I have had nothing but clogs with PLA since. After watching your video, I applied couple of drops of mineral oil that I let set at 225 ish for about 5 mins. When I pushed filament through, my clog cleared and spurted out several small blobs of filament with the extra oil. My clog is cleared! My next two prints have been beautiful and reminded me why I bought this machine in the first place. My one question is - how often should I reapply oil? Thank you so much.
It depends on the machine honestly. My E3Pro printers have been running for months since I originally seasoned them.
The quality of your filament also comes into play.
would this ALL METAL HOT END work on an ARTILLERY SIDEWINDER X-2 ?
Did you try dropping your retraction to 3mm before doing this to see if that solved it for you?
Thanks for this tip. I just installed a Microswiss all-metal hot end to run ABS at 260 degrees. Would this work with ABS? Also how often do you need to add the mineral oil?
Shouldn't need oil for ABS, but I don't have any experience with that material.
Allmetal has not been an issue for PLA since the thin throat ones became available. It's just the old fat E3D style ones that had heat creep. The Triangle Labs/POLISI3D one in the middle is great. If you were getting heat creep with it maybe you're retracting waaaay too far.
Hey, I just upgraded my E3Pro with a bi-metal from Slice Engineering, and I started getting clogs in it. I looked at other reviews, which suggested a retraction of 2.5. I changed it, and was still getting clogs. How would I go about doing a retraction test to find the optimal retraction?
@@NIGHTDREADED Hey mate, I'm also running a bi-metal with 2.5mm retraction. To be frank with you, I tried to tune retraction a lot, but nothing really fixed it. I came across this video by accident when actually researching how my hotend looked before I swapped parts, and the mineral oil drops inside the hotend really helped me. The printer now works just as good as it did before I swapped to a bi-metal, and retraction is still at 2.5mm.
@@GrandmasterKnox Damn, and here I was thinking that Bi-Metal would really solve all the problems of PTFE...
@@GrandmasterKnox How often do you re-oil Hotend? Hours/weeks
@boydm991 I just switched out to an all metal hot end on my stock set up. I saw in the reviews for the hot end that clogs were common without retraction changes. Most comments said 1.5 so I tried it. I have a little stringing so I'm going to try 1.75 and 2 to see if I can dial it in. Maybe Ill also try the mineral oil. I was thinking of using a sponge before the extruder like Ive seen others do. Maybe Ill design a little box to hold it?
Like seasoning your cast iron skillet. I get it I’ve had nothing but issues I will definitely try this I’ve got five of these in my failure drawer.
So, I run 3 Creality printers for part of my business, I recently took one off line to do a full top to bottom upgrade (CR touch, SKR mini, linear rails, duel z rods, brace, cooling,,,,,) and today i just got in the Creality Sprite, and the c reality spider hot end "not much info online on the spider". I print mostly TPU, PETG+carbon fiber and things that are considered structural and will be taking a beating. however once in a while, on complex parts i like to use the plethora of PLAs i gotv, like PLA+wood or just PLA but still are functional parts. So my question is, does the oil interfere with layer adhesion?
Yes ofc, it's oil, so it doesn't evaporate. Plz doesn't use this oil "tip"!
Add oil works very well, i use olive oil, give you a pleasante smell, maybe once a month i do 2 dropes, very few times i use pla, abs, pet g, also pet b ( from rececled bottles, and no problems, thanks for the video.
I wonder if CV-2 grease would work. It's a moly grease that's good for high temperatures, but it also never comes off. You can put it inside the piston walls of a car engine and run it for 200,000 miles and in the end the grease will still be coating/protecting the surface. It just might be hard to use, because you'd probably have to put it on where you need it and then wipe it off the best you can. It might seem like you got it all off after wiping it very well, but there will always be a very thin coating lubricating that area for as long as that hot end or its parts exist.
I have best experience with stock hotend by using an all metal hotend (titanium) and taking off these 2 screws between heat block and cooling ribs. Just fixing the heatbreak at cooling ribs with the little black made screw fix it very well and much enough. This setup performs best printing results, has best temperature qualities, and never more heat creeping all time. One of the problems are these 2 screws, there transporting up some heat and inceases the temperature in upper side of heatbresk up to 150°C or more. PLA melts to early and heat creeping nerves you. I considered stock hotend without these 2 screws and all metal heatbreak to micro swiss hotend and creality's spider hotend. The first setup makes ALWAYS better results then hotends, which are much more expensive. It's awsome how cheap and easy it is to power up hot ebd efficiency 👌😉 Maybe just the phaetus dragon and volcano hotends performs better, but they are made for higher printing speeds with longer melting zones, it's not for conventional use.
I am actually starting to convert all my E3Pro printers over to a new hybrid hot end using a bimetal heat break and volcano heat block.
Does it burn at higher temps such as when printing PETG or ABS?
I was getting clogs and got some Ziro filament which comes with free nozzle cleaning filament which I use to clear out my hot hend when I change filaments and this reduced the amount of clogs but did not stop it completely.
The oil shouldn't burn, but I don't print with PETG or ABS yet.
tune retraction. 2 years with all metal on 2 sunlu s8s, a year on an ender 3 and haven't had to oil anything. Flow, linear/pressure advance, and retraction. in a bowden setup i am good with about 2.5-3 mm and on direct drive .9-1.5mm.
So if you don't have a lubricant pla is basically off the table so can you print petg without lubrication?
Thank you!
I changed the entire assembly. And replaced the thermistor and heater cartridge to what was provided spare by creality. Using pla, the hot end starts smoking while preheating. It started smoking at 140 c. I turned it off. What must be wrong? Or is it normal?
I have been smashing my head to the wall since I insalled my all metal heatbrek on my ender 3 v2, I Have checked everything (extruder, capricorn tube, couplers, possible heatcreep) and I think this might help. Just one question, does lubricating with mineral oil could have bad consequences for printing with PETG? . Because I bought the all metall heatbreak for printing both PLA and PETG. Thank you. There really isnt enough info on the internet regarding this topic
PETG should be fine, but I haven't printed with it yet.
I am in the same path as you with a new Ender 3 V2 and about to install a bimetal heat break to help with high temp filaments like PETG. What is your experience? Did you try this trick? Did it help with your clogging issues and did it also work with PETG. Really keen to know before I try this. Thanks in advance.
@@ashokmoghe8035 PETG and ABS shouldn't need lubrication.
@@xalt.3d.designs .... ok, but can you say why lubrication is only for PLA ?
I think, what is the purpose to put oil onto the metal walls 🤔 and outside the tube with filament ?
Wouldn't the oil contaminate the build plate surface causing poor 1st layer adhesion?
I use the a Micro Swiss all metal hotend and have never had a problem printing PLA or PLA+ with my CR-10s Pro.
Yeah, that's absolutely what will happen. The oily mess get's everywhere on and around your printer, so, don't do it, unless you want your printer and print area to look like a chinese restaurants kitchen.
It's not necessary to do it.
Retraction settings and nozzle temperature are good ways to get clogging issues away.
I have linseed oil and mineral spirits. Will either of those work?
Can you also use WD-40 for this?
Hmm this video leaves me with a question. A google search revealed this problem to be limited to mainly PLA on Ender 3, clones and printers with that undirected and loud stock hot-end fan. That means it's very likely due to heat creep. Never the less, I've ordered a bi-metal heartbreak for my old Ender 3 (Rev1) and a 5015 fan to test this theory myself, tho in my research i already found a video claiming to fix the problem by using high performance thermal paste. Please note that there's many options available that use "all metal" hot-ends stock and works flawlessly
PS Teflon (PTFE, the bowden tube) doesn't become lubricating or achieve lower friction at higher heat. It's fully stable until 260C, tho lower quality starts to degrade as low as 230C. At degradation PTFE loses all of it's beneficial properties. So if this is something you've read somewhere, i would be very interested in reading it myself, if you kindly will refer to your source
What is the retraction setting, more or less?
Where can I get those all metal breaks at I’m kinda new to this
go on Amazon and look for bimetal heat break. Just make sure to get the proper one, they come in 6mm diameter or 7. 7 is what fits the E3Pro and Biqu B1.
Another note, make sure the heatbreak has a top indent for the tube to sit inside, makes it much easier to guide the filament.
Now I am curious what the ignition point of mineral oil is lol :)
Hi there.
I uploaded a simple part to Thingiverse(called: PTFE-Straightener😁), that sits on the pneumatic couppler, on top of the Ender-3 hotend, and it's there to straighten the PTFE-tube entering the heatsink, so that feeding the Filament into one of these cheaper Heatbreaks won't be a problem anymore.
Should you still get problems, what you can additionally do to help with feeding the Filament, is moving the print-head all the way to the right before feeding the Filament, so that the PTFE-tube aligns even better with the Hotend.
But of course buying a copperhead-H.B. is also possible.
A better hotend fan is what you actually need
I would like to give this a try, but I can't even get the filament to come out. I even heated the hotend up passed the PLA melting temp. I will probably have to take the hotend apart.
Use a small Allen wrench to push the filament through if you can.
@@xalt.3d.designs I might try that.
If you are clogged high into the heat break, remove your hot end fan and then heat up the hot end. With no cooling the heat creep will start to soften the clog allowing you to push it through or yank out.
Reminds me of seasoning a cast iron pan for sure lol.
What would cause a clog two hours into a print? I have two printers with Titanium Heat Breaks. One printer has been working like a champ but the other one clogs up after an hour or two during a print.
What's your retraction? Bowden or DD?
@@xalt.3d.designs 5mm/s for distance and 45mm/s for speed. Happens in both configurations. Had it in a direct drive setup then changed it back to bowden thinking it was the extruder. figured out it was the hotend getting clogged.
Direct drive for the win.
Summary: The tube right before the heat break should be placed down carefully and should be made of metal.
4:40 shows where people typically have clogging issues
Can't you just spray liquid PTFE lubricant into the metal part of the hotend? It will give it a teflon coat on the inside
I thought the point of upgrading to an all metal was to avoid the off gassing of PTFE at high temperatures? Wouldn't the liquid PTFE have the same problem?
Hello, I have an Ender 3 v2 to which I installed a bi-metal barrel, and lately I'm having clogging problems with this type of barrel, when printing in PLA.
I wanted to ask you, if you think that the lubricant you use could be used for the model of barrel and printer that I have? Thank you very much in advance for your advice.
I would suggest trying it, yes. Also make sure to raise your hot end temp about 10C from your previous stock hot end settings.
OK thank you. What would be the generic name of the lubricant? Because where I live, you don't get that brand of product.
@@carlasalvatore2911 just mineral oil
@@carlasalvatore2911 Check the pharmacy isle. Mineral oil is sold as a laxative.
@@xalt.3d.designs , can it be Castor oil ?
Hallo, rissbildung am Gewinde(Edelstahl Gewinde sandstrahlen). Atmt Gruß
Should have got the nail clippers at right aid too
Step 1: Get a proper hotend (like an e3d V6). Seriously, it's all about a smooth filament path.
/me facepalms. OF COURSE! This is exactly like cooking with Cast Iron: You use oil to build-up a non-stick patina on the raw metal. BTW: Teflon (the coating on non-stick cookware) is another name for PTFE.
Oiling your Filament is the Dumbest and most genius idea ever. Ahahahahha you will completely ruin your Z cohesion. This might be the most funny idea I have ever seen.
Go say that to Stefan prom CNK Kitchen...
@@exequielross You mean CNC kitchen. I don´t need to tell my fellow German enginner that lubrication filament is dumb due to the Z strength xD It´s not something rvolutionary new.
As a newbie I am i had clogs and wend to all metal 👍
After a few clogs i tried WD40 when installing the components 🤔
But sinds then i didn't have any clogs anymore 🤗
I was wondering about this, as it's a lite 'oil' and I have plenty laying around.
Tell me pls, where did you put the oil ?
On the metal walls of the hotend ?
What is the purpose of this ?
I thought the oil should be inside the tube to easier move down of the filament ?
@@zorabixun this is about getting it on the metal. Though, just using a sponge with some oil on it will do good as well. search for filament fridays, sponge and you'll find that solution.
@@zorabixun The PTFE only goes in a few millimeters, It is the metal part after this that needs to be lubricated.
I claim nonsense. Competently installing the PTFE tube with a few mils protrusion to effectively compress/seat against the nozzle is
Very Basic 3d printer operator skill level. The hole in the 'mostly' all metal hot end into which the PTFE tube goes into has a tapered bottom.. Because of the drill used..
THAT mismatch between PTFE and the tapered heatbreak seat is Exactly where a Blob of Filament will and Does form for a blockage.. heat creep is real.
Oil seasoning (an Old Time Bodge) the tube is a poor solution given the oil will soon enough bake off .
Could ?? simply use High temp capricorn PTFE tubing which Will tolerate 250 C (arguably More) temp... indefinitely.
I have to admit to not having hardly any clogging problems with the original Creality (or copies) hot ends with PTFE tubes near the heat-break. I did all the time with an experimental all metal purchase, as mentioned here, and then went straight back to original design. Could not be bothered with messing with 'solutions' for no real reason.
damn bro you coulda saved us alot of time if you just said "use mineral oil if your sh*t clogs!" damn repeated yourself for 12 mins
recommendation - wash yur hands and clean your nails before you film/shoot.
I work in industrial. Comes with the territory.
I'm not trying to be mean at all, but if I'm gonna watch a video of your hands, please wash them and get the dirt out from under your nails. Not intended as rude, but I couldn't watch the video any longer because of it. Working guy here, use my hands and get them disgustingly dirty, but I wouldn't make a video with them that way. Sorry not trying to be offensive just a tip to get some more viewers.
I love these types of comments.
Lol sure doesnt sound like your a "working guy" that gets his hands "disgustingly dirty" if you couldnt watch the video any longer because of a small amount of dirt under his nails. Clearly youve never worked a job where it takes days to get dirt and grease to wear off of your hands because it wont wash off all the way. You sound like a prissy office guy with a weak stomach 😂
It would be better if you show the proper preparation on only 1 hotend, because i have a mix conceptions what is good, what isn't good .... 🤔
Why to add 2 drops of oil to the hotend, when later on you insert the PTFE and filament inside it ?
That oil is outside of everything ....
In an all metal hot end the PTFE only goes in a few millimeters. The oil is for the section below that. In a regular Ender hot end the PTFE goes all the way to the nozzle.