No v4 hotends on Makergear site

[MagicEngineer]

This was really odd. I get about half way through a 5 hour print, the the filament stops extruding. I stop the print, and go through the process of cleaning out the extruder and checking tension. It starts stripping the filiment so I take off the nozzle and soak it in acetone for a few hours. This seems to help at first, then I notice that it hangs randomly and strips the filiment. So I go through the entire process about three more times, try a different roll of filament, and finally decide to take the hot end off the machine. I loosen the screw and begin pulling the hot end out. It comes out about half way and then the metal part that is held by the clamp just breaks right off. I was not pulling on it very hard, so I am a bit disappointed that it would break that easily. In any case I now need a new hot end but I am not seeing the V4 hotend on there site. I only see the v3b. Am I missing something?

[Jules]

It's on the Printers page, in the drop down list:

http://www.makergear.com/products/m-series-3d-printers

[MagicEngineer]

It's on the Printers page, in the drop down list:

http://www.makergear.com/products/m-series-3d-printers

Stupid me. I was looking on the extruders and hotends page. What was I thinking? Thank you.

[jimc]

actually if your going from a v3b to a v4 then you need the upgrade kit. what is on that other link is just the hotend. that would be if you are already running a v4. you'll find it here.

http://www.makergear.com/products/m2-upgrades

[PcS]

When you loosen the screw the hotend should just about fall out on its own. The V4 has to be extremely thin in that area as a heat break. It is designed that way. Sorry yours broke. I broke my first one trying to change nozzles on the machine. Thought I had enough pressure on the backup wrench but did not . Now I always take it off machine first. I think they should include a little note explaining this it might save a few heartaches.
If the filament is stripping regularly I would look at extruder cooling fan to make sure it is running at 100 percent. Check tension and lastly make sure you are not trying to print to fast.

[MagicEngineer]

When you loosen the screw the hotend should just about fall out on its own. The V4 has to be extremely thin in that area as a heat break. It is designed that way. Sorry yours broke. I broke my first one trying to change nozzles on the machine. Thought I had enough pressure on the backup wrench but did not . Now I always take it off machine first. I think they should include a little note explaining this it might save a few heartaches.
If the filament is stripping regularly I would look at extruder cooling fan to make sure it is running at 100 percent. Check tension and lastly make sure you are not trying to print to fast.

I agree, a warning note at the minimum would have been very helpful here. I'm thinking now that, in my ignorance of the hot end design, I probably torqued and weakened it in the repeated process of removing the nozzle. Then in its crimped state, that is what was causing the bind. If I had access to a machine shop I would make a metal reinforcement piece that would mount on the hot end retention screw and wrap around the hot end like a wrench. Makergear should seriously consider beefing up this part of the design. I would hate to think that they left it that way intentionally in order to make more $75 sales on hot ends.

[sthone]

I would hate to think that they left it that way intentionally in order to make more $75 sales on hot ends.

REALLY NOW ????

Are you saying you just tried to unscrew the nozzle without another wrench on the actual hotend?

The hot end is design so you use a 14mm wench on the hotend and then a 12mm (I think) on the nozzle. (Which I still wouldn't do with it actually mounted if I could help it.)

Don't take this the wrong way..... but I agree with you this is "ignorance" and sounds like all operator error to me.

-Steve

[insta]

When you loosen the screw the hotend should just about fall out on its own. The V4 has to be extremely thin in that area as a heat break. It is designed that way. Sorry yours broke. I broke my first one trying to change nozzles on the machine. Thought I had enough pressure on the backup wrench but did not . Now I always take it off machine first. I think they should include a little note explaining this it might save a few heartaches.
If the filament is stripping regularly I would look at extruder cooling fan to make sure it is running at 100 percent. Check tension and lastly make sure you are not trying to print to fast.

I agree, a warning note at the minimum would have been very helpful here. I'm thinking now that, in my ignorance of the hot end design, I probably torqued and weakened it in the repeated process of removing the nozzle. Then in its crimped state, that is what was causing the bind. If I had access to a machine shop I would make a metal reinforcement piece that would mount on the hot end retention screw and wrap around the hot end like a wrench. Makergear should seriously consider beefing up this part of the design. I would hate to think that they left it that way intentionally in order to make more $75 sales on hot ends.

MakerGear makes plenty on the legitimate sales of their hardware and printers, they have zero reason to sabotage their name by releasing substandard parts designed to break early.

No wrenches on the hotend until it's completely removed from the holder, period. Retract the filament entirely before you start loosening the screws. And, wrenches only. If you need pliers or vise-grips you're probably doing it wrong.

[MagicEngineer]

MakerGear makes plenty on the legitimate sales of their hardware and printers, they have zero reason to sabotage their name by releasing substandard parts designed to break early.

No wrenches on the hotend until it's completely removed from the holder, period. Retract the filament entirely before you start loosening the screws. And, wrenches only. If you need pliers or vise-grips you're probably doing it wrong.

I trust that Makergear is a good and reputable company. That's why I bought the M2. I did not mean to imply that this was intentional, only that it would do them well to fix the problem before people start thinking it is. Makergear needs to realize that they are marketing to a new group of people. Before, by selling their product only as a kit, they ensured that their customers knew the product more intimately and were qualified to do routine maintenance. It also ensured that the only people who purchased their product were people who had a high level of confidence in their abilities to work on the machine. They are now selling it preassembled so less technical minded people will be purchasing their product. Think back thirty years ago when PCs became so user friendly that everyone was buying them and tech support that had previously only dealt with programmers and engineers suddenly had to deal with someones grandmother who thought the cd tray was a coffee cup holder. Makergear will have to deal with this same kind of transition as 3d printers become more commonplace. They will have to take efforts to make the product more idiot proof. As a software developer I can tell you that no matter how idiot proof you make it, you will always find a bigger idiot, but that does not relieve me of my responsibility to make my software as water tight as I possibly can. Makergear has a few issues they need to fix before a whole new world of customers begin tearing down their doors and a good place to start would be a reinforced mount for the hot end, or at the very least, better documentation on dealing with this fragility in the design.

[MagicEngineer]

I would hate to think that they left it that way intentionally in order to make more $75 sales on hot ends.

REALLY NOW ????

Are you saying you just tried to unscrew the nozzle without another wrench on the actual hotend?

The hot end is design so you use a 14mm wench on the hotend and then a 12mm (I think) on the nozzle. (Which I still wouldn't do with it actually mounted if I could help it.)

Don't take this the wrong way..... but I agree with you this is "ignorance" and sounds like all operator error to me.

-Steve

I will not deny my ignorance of this design. I did not design it and I did not assemble it. and while I read the documentation that came with it, I did not see anywhere that said "This part is delicate, remove it completely before removing the nozzle". Do not condemn a man for ignorance of something he has no background to know. In the words of Albert Einstein "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." On the other hand, if you are just pointing out that it was my fault in order to make yourself feel better about the fact that you do know this, and you need that feeling of superiority to maintain your self esteem, then I am glad I could be of service to you.