E3D Dual Extruders OR???

[Volcom7114]

Hey guys! I'm wanting to upgrade to a dual extruder setup. I have heard such great thinks along with a few bad things here and there about the E3Dv6 and I know E3D also make's the Chimera and really have been looking at it also. Now other than Thingiverse http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:280766 I don't see much out there in the way of what way to go in mounting either of them and if the direct drive would be the way to go over the bowden system since the extra weight on the X axis could cause some problems? I'm not sure and I just want to be sure before pushing the buy on the dual E3D's or the Chimera witch I may get to tinker with for the fun of it since it can also be fitted with the Cyclops.. So as far as mounting the direct drive motors (witch is what I would like to stay with) would it put to much strain on the X and also where can I get the extruder mounts and all that good stuff? I take it buying an extra direct drive filament motor off MG along with the wiring harness would be the way to go ??

again thanks for the help!

[insta]

If you have a newer machine with the single power brick, the dual v4 upgrade straight from MG is the way to go. It's a very straightforward installation.

Older machines it's a little more up in the air because there is a whole bunch of retrofitting elsewhere.

[Volcom7114]

If you have a newer machine with the single power brick, the dual v4 upgrade straight from MG is the way to go. It's a very straightforward installation.

Older machines it's a little more up in the air because there is a whole bunch of retrofitting elsewhere.

Hey insta, This is a a new machine that has the 24v brick.. I know MG said about releasing a dual v4 setup but I haven't seen anything on it, I'm not even sure where to buy the v4,s at lol I don't see them on their site?

I know a ton of people say how great the E3dv6 is and how nice it prints and so on and so on also they are a proven design that seem to be used on a lot of M2's, I was told that the dual v4 setup would be coming out anywhere from the middle to the end of the month and i want to be able to print in Nylon and other high temp filaments this is what made the E3d stand out to me the most. Is the X axis stepper strong enough to handle two extruder steppers and everything else? I my self would thing so as its very well built but since i have never done the dual extruder setup on one I'm not 100%..
I found the extruder stepper motor on MG's site but not the gear for it??

[insta]

You're wanting this: http://www.makergear.com/products/m2-upgrades Rick doesn't make it public but we keep finding the link anyways

The (official) dual extruder upgrade for the M2 puts two extruder motors on the X axis, and it handles it fine. There is a 3rd party upgrade from Micron that puts two bowden-fed hotends on the X axis and mounts the motors on the frame, and while the pictures of their prints look good nobody has tried it. The X axis is plenty beefy though, and I've had no issues with skipping (when using the right firmware...).

The PTFE extruders can handle Nylon, and while rated for 265C, Josh says they've used them at 290C which would do polycarbonate. I'd get the dual-v4 and purchase an all-metal hotend when those are finally released, changing between PTFE and all-metal hotends on the v4 is like a 2 minute job.



edit: just noticed MG is now selling all-metal electronics enclosures why you guys gotta keep me poor i got 3 damn mouths to feed in the basement!

[jimc]

the new m2 i just got here has the metal enclosure. i had to email rick when i got it saying how nice that was. way nicer than the stock plastic box.

[sthone]

the new m2 i just got here has the metal enclosure. i had to email rick when i got it saying how nice that was. way nicer than the stock plastic box.

Wait what's this about a metal enclosure now ???? (Runs downstairs to tear open the box to the new printer that showed up this week.)

Edit - Damn got the plastic one still, least my other printer won't be jealous.

We're going to need to see some pictures of this new enclosed though....

[insta]

the new m2 i just got here has the metal enclosure. i had to email rick when i got it saying how nice that was. way nicer than the stock plastic box.

Sigh, post a pic. About to be a hundred bucks gone, and I haven't even unpacked the final ABS one I ordered from MG :p

[jimc]

IMG_4184.JPG (57.16 KiB) Viewed 15534 times

[Volcom7114]

the new m2 i just got here has the metal enclosure. i had to email rick when i got it saying how nice that was. way nicer than the stock plastic box.

jimc that is definitely a nice setup and a big step forward as far as looks are concerned...

Ok so as far as feeding the filament I know some have switched over to the bowden system, does this work on the V4? I could see where the bowden could be a good and bad thing.. What are your thoughts on this setup? from my point of view I could see it's down side as the X axis would pull on the filament when moving away on the axis and then putting slack in the filament when going back, I know this has a lot to do with how tight you have the filament in the direct drive but wouldn't it still have some effect?? I'm sure this is aimed more towards the guys that have had both or just more experienced in the 3D printing world... Thanks for the feedback guys and I like the idea of buying everything I can here on U.S soil but its not always possible now days but since these are going to be released soon (I hope) I may just hang out for the release.. I love how so many have gone many dif routes with their printer's! I'm pretty new to the whole Forum thing but I am liking it more and more lol

[insta]

Bowden is inferior in just about every way on a moving-bed printer. On a gantry like the Ultimakers it's fine, because X and Y have the same mass, but it doesn't get you anything on the moving-beds because regardless of how lightweight X gets you still have the mass of Y "holding back" the acceleration.

One thing that may sway your opinion is that you can't use flex filaments on the bowdens...

Also, because the filament is fully constrained in a tube, the X axis moving doesn't tug on the filament at all. This is the case with the direct-drive setups as well.