MakerGear Forum

My maker gear rocks, I love it!

Just wondering, is upgrading to V4 worth it?

What makes it better? What do I do with my now obsolete extruder?

Thanks guys!

One answer is that your old extruder is doing just fine and there's no need to upgrade.

The two main benefits of the v4 are (1) it is much easier to swap in and out, which is good both if you have a reason to change nozzles, and if jams or clogs occur; and (2) the heat break is physically separated from the filament drive, which allows the v4 to run at much higher temperatures. If you want to use PETg filament, you should be okay with the v3, but you will be at the top of its usable range. If you want to use polycarb or other higher-temperature filaments, you'll want a v4.

Personally, I only got the v4 because I wanted to try the dual extruder option, and the dual extruder is only designed for the v4. Before that I had an old ceramic heater v3a, and I never considered it to be "obsolete", and so I never upgraded to the then-new v3b. So it's really all up to you. Apart from the upper temperature range of filaments, you won't find any difference in quality of the prints you produce. For that matter, the v4 has a PTFE liner and so is not up to the extreme temperature ranges used for, say, PTFE (obviously), for which some people go find a 3rd-party all-metal extruder (MakerGear initially offered an all-metal v4---I have one---but I don't think they are making them any more).

Yeah, i would say so. The V4 makes it easier (insanely simple really) to set your Z-Stop gap - it's a totally different design. The V4 goes hotter, so you can print the higher temp filaments. And it's a lot easier to de-clog it if you have to.

Last argument in favor of......all the new goodies rely on it, so if you're planning on an eventual upgrade, it will need the V4 style setup.

What makes it better? What do I do with my now obsolete extruder?

If you figure it out let me know, 'cause I've got three of 'em, one un-used.

I am always amazed at how awesome this community is! Thanks for the answers

A side question; if I upgrade to the dual extruder, how does that work? I know if my extruded sits for a minute or 2, filament will ooze out a little; how does the dual extruder deal with this issue?

If you upgrade to the dual, you do not need to upgrade to the V4 first - the dual upgrade kit comes with 2 V4 nozzles. (make sure to specify you are upgrading from a V3B.)

The filament doesn't ooze out of the inactive nozzle if you have not heated it up. (ie: The dual can act just like a single, and that's generally how it's used.) But when you need it, that second nozzle is there.

I bought the v4 and it sat on a shelf for a few weeks until I got a pretty good clog in the v3b (too clogged for guitar string), then I swapped them and haven't looked back.

I haven't had a clog since I changed to the v4, not that I had a lot of clogs with the v3b.

A big difference that I've noticed is that the nozzle-to-bed gap doesn't change with the v4, whereas with the v3b it would slowly close during extended printing sessions. This makes sense if you look at how the nozzle is attached. With the v4, the hot and cold ends are separate, with the v3B, the hot end is the caboose on a train of parts and as they heat soak, they expand a little and slowly push the nozzle down. When I was using vinyl for my bed covering, it would tend to push deeper over time and stick too hard, tearing the vinyl. The v4 doesn't do this.

v3b = very good
v4 = EXCELLENT

HTH.

cheers,
c