How To Install a Metal Extruder upgrade on the Ender 3 & Ender 3 Pro
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ส.ค. 2019
- In this episode, we’ll install an upgraded METAL extruder for the Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro 3D printers. Gearbest provided this to me, free of charge, but I have since terminated my relationship with them. I'll link to equivalent products on Amazon.
LINKS:
Official Creality 3D All Metal MK-8 Extruder - Aluminum - 1.75mm for Ender 3
• amzn.to/2Yy16XP [Affiliate Link]
Less-expensive Aluminum Extruder
• amzn.to/2YWE5P2 [Affiliate Link]
BV3D Aluminum Extruder Cable Support
• www.thingiverse.com/thing:379...
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Disclosure:
I sometimes receive compensation such as discounted or free products, and when applicable, this is disclosed in videos and their descriptions. Whether free, discounted, or paid full price, any reviewed product is tested to the best of my ability, and I give my honest impression. All opinions expressed are my own.
#Ender3
#Extruder
#3DPrinter - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
This was absolutely perfect. You’re one of only a couple people who has been able to communicate these instructions to me in a way I can understand.
Saved my blood pressure - and a 3Pro from an uncrewed (and fairly impactful) flight from a window. Thanks - you did a good deed! :)
Thank you for this! My stock plastic extruder broke (this is only my first month with the printer) so I'm so glad it was such an easy fix!
This is the de facto instructions for this install. Earned a subscription. Thanks!
I bought this red extruder from Amazon. I was also surprised that it came with no installation directions. Being new to the hobby, your video was a huge help!
Absolutely the best video for installing this change. Way to freaking go!
If your kit doesn't come with a brass pneumatic connector, look for a black, plastic cylinder in it's place. This connector fits the Bowden tubing and uses the blue plastic clips to hold it in place
I could not find that tidbit anywhere! Thanks!
Any idea where a replacement for the black cylinder connector could be found? Mine didn’t have it in the package and they wouldn’t send a replacement
@@larebearh1071 If I remember correctly, it came with mine. You'd probably have to contact the manufacturer for one
Ty
On this extruder, the fix to the tightness of the screw being finicky for the arm is simple. Just add a washer under it that's larger than the aluminum insert, but smaller than the hole in the arm itself. Then you can actually crank the screw down tight and the arm will still move freely. IMHO this is a design flaw of this extruder. That aluminum insert really should be half a mm longer.
Great instructions. Easy to follow. I'll be looking for you for all my installs. Thanks!
i swear you have a tutorial on everything that i've needed for my Ender 3 and i can't thank you enough for that!
Great guide. I replaced my stock extruder yesterday with the help of ur brilliant videos.
Thanks for posting this. Definitely made this upgrade much easier for me.
I've had mine converted for a few months. Working great! Printing out a direct drive bracket right now. I'll see how that goes when I finish printing other things on my long list. Great video!
That's awesome! I'm going to try to get a Bondtech BMG clone and print out a bracket in the next week or so.
@@BV3D do I need to print out that clip or is it okay to not do that bc I don’t have a working printer
This was so helpful, thanks Brian!
Thank you for this video: I'd just about figured out how to fit my replacement metal extruder myself, but this gave me more confidence. Also thanks for the tip about printing the cable clip: my cable has never been slotted in on the existing clip since new - I missed it! Do'h - newbie error. Stay safe. Stay sane... well... just a little bit.
Great Video! Very clear instructions
Good stuff Bryan. I just switched back to this extruder after having tried a 3d printed one. It works great, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Thierry! I think the two things I like best about this aluminum extruder is the freewheeling nature of the lever, even with the screw super tight; and the fact that filament can't chew through the lever. (om nom nom) 😋
I had thought about doing a video with a 3D printed one, but I figured it would suffer the same fate unless I printed other accessories to help aim the filament into the hole.
There's a couple I tried. One is for flexible filaments and adds a piece of PTFE inside the extruder portion that you then cut for a perfect fit (it leaves no wiggle room for filament). The second is a DIY bondtech style. You buy the gears and go from there. I don't think either adds a lot to this metal extruder TBH.
thank-you was very simple to understand 😁 i had to replace my lever because it snapped instead of making the hole bigger. this fancy new red one is also a lot easier on my tiny hands when it comes to the spring, and i love that it comes in my favorite color! kinda wish my whole printer was shiny red now 😉
The exact same thing happened to me
well explained and easy to follow, Thanks!
Bryan, thanks. Just upgraded my Ender 3 V2. Looks great, works perfect !
I’m going to do mine later today. It just arrived in the mail! 🙌🏾
What the duck you have 11k subs and the quality of your vid is amazing. You deserve more...
Great Video and review Bryan!
Thank you, Mad Mike! 😃
Great video that helped me put it together easily. (As of 09/09/20, still no installation instructions included!) They did fix one of your complaints by using a new type of fitting for the bowden tube connection to the extruder housing. (cheap looking, but seems to hold as well if not better than the old style brass fittings) I bought mine from eBay seller: Christmas-gift from Walnut CA, so it may have been slightly different from the actual manufacturer, or model you have. Mine didn't have any extra fittings, nozzles, etc. Just the parts and screws for the conversion. For
This is so helpful. Thank you!
Thank you for the instructions. Couldn't have done it without you
The spring that came with mine was trash. It was giving me fits! I had to apply slight manual pressure to the arm (back) to get filament to realiable extrude. I ened up using a spare bed screw that i lengthened slightly. So far so good! Thanks for posting the video! I just wish that there was a mention of the depth of the screws on either end of the spring. Had to play with that adjustment as well, but maybe it's because a lot of this is still new to me!
Thanks - this video helped us install a very similar Al extruder - you might want to mention to recalibrate the extruder after you've done it though, as the grip gear is way smaller, and eSteps need major adjustments....
Thank you Bryan; just installed mine.
Great tutorial Bryan, it's gonna help beginners a ton. We all have Doh! moments from time to time, it gives us the chance to laugh at our own Dohness lol. Looking forward to a video on your direct drive conversion, it's just the thing I want to do with the Borg, although I plan to use the Bondtech BMG.
Hi Spike! I've bookmarked a BMG-compatible direct drive extruder on Thingiverse, that works with the stock hot end. I may print that out, and pick up one of those cheap BMG clones from Amazon to see how good (or bad) it is when doing it on the cheap.
@@BV3D That's superb! I have the Micro Swiss hotend with a PetsFang blower assembly at the moment. Looking to make it a lot less bulky, so your video is sure to help with tips/ideas 👍
Very helpful thank you!!!
Great job today i will upgrade the metal extruder and print the clip for the cable thnx a lot
Extremely useful tutorial
Awesomevideo. Thanks!
If you're here in 2021, these instructions are a bit outdated as there is no longer a pneumatic connector included, there is a compression fitting that you push into the extruder, and your Bowden tube goes directly into that, then locked with the blue plastic clamp. Also the button screw to hold the spring in place doesn't do it alone, it screws in the opposite way and has a cap that goes spring side to hold the spring. The item was updated, so look for MK-8 when you buy it and you'll know what to do. This video does cover the major install though, so just make those modifications as necessary.
Hi Matt, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I found the kind you're describing. I think I'll pick one of those up and do a new installation video, so it's up-to-date with the newer extruder design. 👍
Hi Bryan, firstly thanks for all these excellent posts which are really friendly and helpful.
I have a problem with my filament recently concertina-ing at the extruder end of the boden tube after about 40 mins of printing. I've changed the stock manifold to the metal one as you've mentioned, changed the boden, changed the nozzle and following the procedure to clean out any molten metal that may come from gaps between the old bolden and the nozzle.
However even after all this I still get underextrusion as a result of the filament concertinaing at the extruder. I think it's the amount of pressure being placed on the filament by the pulley, and I can't change the tension on it. I've limited the number of retractions in Cura to 10, still not getting completion of prints. Any advice?
Is there a way to send a PM with images?
Thanks man, saved me a lot of cursing and headache! Sent you a little bit PayPal 👍
Awesome, thank you! 😀
Jesus christ...
Noone ever said to put the Spring Screw on the opposite and i kept having Skip issues on 2 printers after i upgraded them on Metal Extruder.
I spent 2 days assembling and disassebling everything from Extruder, down to Hotend to clean everything because i thought i had a clog.
I removed the metal spacer that comes with the stock extruder and used the new spring and turned the spring screw opposite side like in the video.
Both printers are currently printing for 5 hours without issues.
NOONE mentioned this NOOONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Thanks mate, you saved me a lot of troubleshooting
Another fantastic video, great instruction was pretty easy to follow. I wonder however Brian how you know where to set the gear on the extruder motor?
Hi David! Thank you! With regard to positioning the gear, I just kind of eyeballed it. The gear is pretty tall, so you don't have to be super precise with its vertical placement. If you want to place it a bit more precisely though, you can adjust its height once you have the motor and extruder mounted (but before you attach the lever). If you sight through the hole in the body of the extruder, you can line up the gear so that it's centered. I hope that helps! 👍
Thanks for making this video! It helped when the default one provided by creality was absolute garbage. Just curious - I installed the kit but forgot to change the brass filament feed gear from 3:27 of your video. Is that important or can I just live with the default one on my ender pro? I don't want to have to uninstall everything again if I don't have to.
hi! great video! I have a question for you. what do you think about Dual Drive Gear Extruder? because I saw that you only use a single gear extruder. Thanks!
Your video was great, help me somewhat, after I realised that the new extruders bowden tubes (purchased March 2024) are now all push in.
The push in version seems to be weak, so I got my extruder threaded.
I agree with you, still Creality do not include instructions with these kits.
Thanks.
Thank you sir!
Great video very helpful! So you don’t have to do any measurements or Estep changes after installing this like other videos show?
Yes, i had to do that after replacing my stock extruder on my Ender 3 v2.
i know this video is three years old but still holds up used it to upgrade my printer as after a year + not printing
Great vide, helped a LOT. Wish I had known about the different gears before so I've ordered a new motor. Can't find the link for the clip you designed. Is it still available? Thank you for speaking slowly and distinctively, helps this ole southern boy understand.
Thanks for this, I just got this upgrade to fix the issue with feed slipping and it took me almost 6 months to figure out what I needed. Out of curiosity are there any 3D printing clubs here in 210? I think that it wouldn't have taken me nearly as long to figure out if I had been part of a community and I don't do facebook so I was kinda in the wind. lol
Hey Bryan. I added the upgraded extruder to my CR6SE. It feeds easier than the plastic enclosed extruder and is easier to work on if I need to.
How are you liking your CR6 SE? I still haven't taken mine out of the box!
@@BV3D It’s pretty darn good. That’s coming from a the Maker Select. Huge step up. I bypassed the power switch and use a smart plug. It prints well and I’m never going back to manual bed leveling.
1000th like thx for the help
I bought a kit that had a metal spacer that went inside the spring and the spring screw was fitted from outside allowing adjustment of spring load. It looks identical to yours but for the added spring spacer and fitment of screw from the other side. What do you think about having no spring tension adjustement?
The gears are stripping the filament still, do you have any suggestions? I’ve tried looking on forums but nothing seems to work.
Is there any difference between the red vs grey version of the Creality metal extruder? all the same? I have seem reports of the grey one being a better version when compared to the red one. Any comments on that?
I have done all the above, plus even changed the stock springs. I am printing a print that I have printed many times before with no problems. So it’s not the slicer. But now about 45 minutes into the print it starts skipping, not all over, just the same spots over and over.
I’ve replaced nozzle , extruder, ptfe tube, springs, calibrated, changed filament, aligned bed over and over and even added a washer with the horned to keep Bowden tube close to nozzle. I’ve been living on TH-cam and google for help. I’ve tried everything. Please help.
I’m about to pull my hair out lol. I have an Etsy store and have many orders overdue. I’m at my wits end. Any advice is much appreciated!!!!
Thank you for the video and thank you for the file
great video, I did that long ago. I do agree instructions would be great. I also bought some replacement fittings since the one in the kit are just pure garbage.
Hi Ron, thanks! I wonder if it's just a global issue with the fittings in these kits?
good video
Just did it but had to skip the motor one. As mine are both backwards, amd have harder plugs to get out. I'll figure it out if I decide to go back and print that clip. Never knew the first one was there.
How’d you get the tube assembly in there? It’s just loose on mine
i had to cut the brass gear off on my ender 3 as it was pressed on but great video thanks Bryan.
How did you cut it off??
3:25 - i am disappointed to report my ender 3 pro that i bought a few days ago does not have a detachable filament feed gear. the brass gear has no grub screws, and appears to be a completely different assembly altogether -- the brass gear doesn't even appear to come off.
this didn't stop me from being able to install the rest of the upgrade, but it's something to note if you're buying the printer nowadays... if the gear wears down over time, it will require a full motor assembly to replace, not just the gear.
despite this, thankfully the upgrade kit appears to be working fine. thanks for the step by step guide.
I guess it's a cost-saving measure. If Creality gets the motors with the gears already pressed onto the motor shaft, they don't have to spend 27 seconds putting the gear on and tightening the grub screw.
Funny thing is, you could buy a mini pinion-pulling tool to remove the gear from the shaft, but then the shaft won't have the flat spot for the grub screw.
Or you could buy a whole new motor.
The tool and the motor cost pretty much the same, within a dollar, last time I looked. That brass gear that's on the stock motor should last you a while, though.
Question: when you replaced the brass filament feed gear with the new one did you put it upside down?? Or is that how that replacement goes???
I was wondering the same thing!!
It's upside down compared to mine as well
Thanks for the great video. Just a thought. Wouldn't a piece of brass or even a copper tubing/sleeve inserted into the worn filament guide hole do the job?
Great idea, you'd just need to smooth the opening of the tubing so the filament didn't snag or get shaved on a sharp edge. The sleeve idea has been implemented by Creality on the Ender-3 V2's extruder. I like the look of the anodized aluminum myself.
@@BV3D The thought only came to me after first buying an anodised silver one and then also a red one like yours a few weeks back but it was only after watching your very helpful video yesterday. that the penny dropped. Could have saved AUS$50 :-(.
Superb and superior video to anything the manufacturer provided. (which was a link to a poor video). I have it all installed, and the gear is turning, but the guide wheel seems to either not spin (too tight?) or kickback slightly (too loose?) so right now, my "click" nouse is gone, but I'm not getting any true feed through the hot tip. Any recommendations? Another improvement for the design would be for it to have some sort of a top case to keep dust out.
i just got my ender 3 pro i am having such a hard time getting it set up and to print things perfectly and i bought some upgrades like metal bed wheels and springs and i bought that in the video but havent put it in yet i printed out what you suggested and the screw hole isnt rount or open like it suppose to be. if i could share a picture i would so u can see what i mean. cant get my prints to print perfect and im getting aggravated and sad uhg .
Do you need to recalibrate extruder after upgrade?
I just got one today and the brass filament feed gear is not able to be changed any idea what do to about that?
This might sound stupid but I have only had my printer a week. What’s the purpose of changing the Extruder gear if it’s not worn? I bought this kit but left the original gear on as mine as it’s press fit and not held on with grub screws. I attached the new gear to the top section of the extruder motor shaft and used is a manual motor knob since mine is a round shaft and not one with a flat side. I also used my original Bowden tube fitting as the one supplied with the kit didn’t seem to hold the tube tight enough. Also my original stock arm had a brass insert so the filament wouldn’t chew a groove in the arm but I have heard they often break, often mid print. Which is an issue I now won’t have to deal with
Hi! It's not a stupid question at all. I changed the gear because it came with the kit, just to show how to do it. Honestly I can't imagine a metal gear being worn down by plastic, unless it was maybe some particularly abrasive material, and even then it would probably take a really long time.
I *can* imagine the gear getting plastic stuck in its teeth, but you could just brush the gear's teeth with a brass brush and it would probably be good as new.
I guess Creality started press-fitting the gears a little while back, because a lot of the more recent comments mention it.
I laughed when you said you forgot to plug in the motor afterwards and I said, I won't make that same mistake.....20 minutes later trying to figure out why my print wasn't coming out and I realized it didn't plug the motor back in.....lol Karma
I upgraded my ender 3 with a direct drive extruder - unfortunately it still has the plastic extruder arm, will this still fit?
My brass filament speed gear is different. Has no allen wrench screw. How do I get it off?
Extruder metal dual gear OR BMG in ender 3 pro?
My stepper motor 42-40 can't be upgraded because it's just a rounded tip with no screw holes. How can I change the head on it?
Hey Brian. Can u send me a purchase link for the metal printing upgrade
Hi Eric, here are a couple of them I had linked in the description. One is from Creality and one is from another seller.
Official Creality 3D All Metal MK-8 Extruder - Aluminum - 1.75mm for Ender 3
• amzn.to/2Yy16XP [Affiliate Link]
Less-expensive Aluminum Extruder
• amzn.to/2YWE5P2 [Affiliate Link]
How did you attach the pneumatic thing to the extruder assembly my metal part does not have any teeth in it
Did you figure this out? I have the same problem
Okay so apparently you put the black clip in the hole then you insert your tube feed past the teeth of the black clip in the hole then attach the blue clip to secure both parts
My stepper motor had a feed gear that didn't have a set screw to remove it. I couldn't find any way to remove my existing feed gear and replace it with the new one . . . is that ok that I left the old one on? Or is there some other way to remove it?
That's perfectly OK to do.
@@BV3D Ok, thanks!
Ok, so my 3pro doesn't have the screws on the extruder pusher gear thing that feeds the filament through. Is there any other way to remove it?
There are three paths forward.
1. Leave the current press-fit extruder gear on the motor, and replace everything else.
2. Buy a small "pinion puller" to remove the press-fit gear.
3. Buy a replacement stepper motor.
Option 1 is perfectly fine as long as the extruder gear is in good shape.
Options 2 and 3 cost about the same. If you choose Option 2, you'll probably also need to file or grind a flat spot on the motor shaft so one of the two set screws has something to press against.
So if you're doing this upgrade because the gear on the stepper motor needs to be replaced, I'd recommend Option 3.
Is there a guide for how high the gear needs to be?
Hi Cathy! I like to center the gear on the idler, because the idler controls where the filament touches the gear. But as long as the gear is fully engaging with the filament, it should be fine.
My extruder tube won’t connect to the new piece and the new parts didnt come with one
Hey my extruder gear doesnt have the grub nut on it to put the knob
I bought a creality kit like this from Amazon. In the kit the extruder nozzle part was not threaded and I did not get a new nozzle.
Disappointing.
I have ordered two of these now and where the pneumatic fitting screws in isn’t threaded. Has anyone else had this happen and is there something knew that I’m missing?!
Mine doesnt have a brass filament feed gear set screws.. how do you get it off?
At some point after this video was released, Creality switched to using a pressed-on gear on the extruder stepper motor. This is not removable, unless you have a pinion puller or gear puller. But really it's OK. The only reason I replaced brass filament drive gear in this video is because there was one in the kit, and I wanted to show that it was easy to do (which, at the time, it was). I wouldn't expect the filament to wear the brass down in any significant way. You might need to "brush its teeth" from time to time if there's plastic buildup. Temporarily removing the extruder motor and using a small brass brush on the gear should take care of that pretty easily.
@@BV3D I see. I wanted to upgrade to a dual extrusion kit. Guess I will need a new motor
Hi I have 2 issues, 1 my extruder didn’t come with a threaded insert for the ptde tube connector, and the motor doesn’t spin even when it’s connected.
I have the same issue with the lack of threads and 2. my extruder gear has no screws that hold it in place. It looks like it impressed on to the shaft. Any ideas?
@@jimboness350 I've got the same issue here, so I don't think I can get any further with the install :(
When you put the gear on the motor, you don't say how high to place it on the shaft? I had to stop here and find another video.
Bryan with a Y, I would wait for the new E3D Hermes direct drive extruder from what I have seen I think this will be the business, complete for under a £100 and in production at the moment, regards RobUK
Cool, thanks! I'm going to go check that out. 👍
Does anyone know if I can buy new gear set screws?
Does this let you print in TPU material?
I was able to print a relatively stiff TPU with the stock plastic extruder. The aluminum one looks like it has the exact same shape as the plastic one, so I would expect it to be about the same. But for really soft stuff, you'd probably want a direct-drive extruder. There's just too much of a chance for the soft stuff to bunch up in the Bowden tube on the way to the hot end!
BV3D: Bryan Vines thanks for your swift reply friend. Just bought my first ender 3 last week and been enjoying your videos. Keep up the fine work.
I could’t print TPU it stucked the gear :(
How do you find that allen wrenches 3:24
That's my Wera ball head hex wrench set I got on Amazon back in 2018. Right now it's about $36 on the US Amazon site ( link - amzn.to/3RhMR3V )
Ballhead hex wrenches/Allen keys/hex keys/Allen wrenches are THE BEST. (I use all those terms interchangeably and probably incorrectly).
i cant take the brass piece off my stepper motor?
Hi, other people have run into that too. Some printer manufacturers use a pressed-on brass drive gear. There are three options. One is free, and the other two cost about the same.
1. Leave the existing press-fit drive gear on the motor. If it's not actually worn out, no problem. [free!]
2. Buy a small "pinion puller" to remove the gear from the motor shaft [about $15]
3. Buy a new stepper motor [also about $15]
Cool
Thank you, Paul! 😃
I didn't get the pneumatic fitting.
Forgot to put the electrical connector into the stepper motor aswell...
I am unable to take off the copper gear on mine
Cant get the idler to stop slipping
I hope this fixes my printer... Slightly different design but looks similar enough.
Your stepper motor cable reminder didn't help me... d'oh!
Ever forget? Happened to me. 😊
Hello I just got an ender 3 pro. I can’t get that one brass gear off for some reason. On the pro series there’s no screw. Like there is on the ender 3 regular
Asking the same question!! Purchased in Feb 2021. There is no collar with set screws on the new models so I just left the original part on the motor.
@@tishaandmegan so I actually bought a new stepper motor. When you do it will come with the crease on the bar
I purchased the Hictop version of this, because I waited 3 weeks on the Creality version and it was still unavailable thru Amazon. It appears to be the same, just re-badged. I also got a bad pneumatic fitting in this kit.
www.amazon.com/HICTOP-Upgraded-Replacement-Aluminum-Extruder/dp/B0761PGLZ4/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=hictop+ender+3+extruder&qid=1592754171&sr=8-3
I didn't see you use the smallest screw at the top left of the video at 2:10. I also have this small screw. Approximately 7 mm long. What is it supposed to used for?
...except at least some Pro models come with a press-fit extruder gear...
well damn now i feel dumb i watched a slightly different tutorial and he did the gear a different way my printer started making wierd sounds and couldnt get it to extrude
... The darn lock washer was under the bearing 🤦
42-40