Difference between revisions of "E3D Nozzles"

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This page is about E3D-V6, Volcano and Cyclops ecosystem nozzles.
 
This page is about E3D-V6, Volcano and Cyclops ecosystem nozzles.
 
E3D V6 Nozzles are compatible with the V6, V5 and V4 blocks (hence can be used on the Chimera and Kraken), Volcano nozzles are only compatible with the Volcano block and Cyclops nozzles are only available on the Cyclops block.
 
E3D V6 Nozzles are compatible with the V6, V5 and V4 blocks (hence can be used on the Chimera and Kraken), Volcano nozzles are only compatible with the Volcano block and Cyclops nozzles are only available on the Cyclops block.

Latest revision as of 13:29, 17 November 2017

This page is about E3D-V6, Volcano and Cyclops ecosystem nozzles. E3D V6 Nozzles are compatible with the V6, V5 and V4 blocks (hence can be used on the Chimera and Kraken), Volcano nozzles are only compatible with the Volcano block and Cyclops nozzles are only available on the Cyclops block.

Changing Nozzles

When swapping out E3D Nozzles from other E3D components, we recommend resorting to the hot tightening technique. Follow this procedure - being careful not to burn yourself.

  • Unscrew the heat-break from the HeatSink half a turn to be sure you are not tightening against the heat-break in later stages.
  • Heat up your HotEnd to 285°C. Do not overshoot as you risk damaging your thermistor.
  • Remove the existing nozzle from the heater block.
  • Insert the new nozzle.
  • Gripping the heater block tighten the nozzle. Do not apply any torque through the heat-break, they are fragile.
  • Turn off the heat and allow the HotSide to cool.
  • Re-tighten the heat-break into the HeatSink.

The reason for this is that the aluminium heater blocks used by E3D have a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than the brass and steel used in the nozzles and heatbreaks. This results in a small gap being created between the nozzle and the break inside the block when the hotend is at temperature, but this only happens if the nozzle has been tightened while cold.

Materials

Brass

General purpose, low cost, great for printing materials that don't have anything abrasive in them. Brass has a great balance of properties; thermally conductive, machines precisely and easily even with very small nozzles (see V6 0.15mm High Precision Nozzles), doesn't corrode or pit so retains a smooth surface finish for cleanly laying down extruded filament.

Vulnerable to abrasive erosion by more exotic filaments like carbon-fibre filled materials, metal powder filled materials and glow in the dark. Can be damaged by nasty head crashes with things like bulldog clips and glass. Using a wire brush on a brass nozzle will cause wear over time.

Hardened Steel

Designed to resist the abrasion of materials filled with abrasive particles which act like liquid sandpaper on your nozzle. Carbon-fibre is a particularly abrasive and well known example for which these nozzles are ideal. Materials filled with metal powders can also be abrasive, as can glow in the dark pigments. Hardened steel nozzles are nearly impervious to wear and should last as long as your printer. Hardened steel nozzles are also very resilient to being damaged by things like crashing into glass, bulldog clips or getting mangled when you're too lazy to find the correct size 7mm spanner and use pliers instead, we know you do it. You can use a wire brush to clean a hardened nozzle without damaging it.

Hardened steel is somewhat less thermally conductive than brass, however in our testing this does not seem to have a noticeable impact on actual performance and print speed. Probably because the limiting factor is the conductivity of the filament, not the nozzle. If you are experiencing under-extrusion when switching over from brass or copper, we recommend that you increase your print temperature slightly until the results are deemed acceptable. Hardened nozzles are brittle, it is extremely hard to break one but if you do manage, they tend to crack rather than deform. Hardened steel nozzles are so hard that they can score and damage even glass print surfaces if dragged across the surface with force.

Stainless Steel

These are for specific applications by popular request of certain customers, usually where there is a food or medical need and the other two alloys are not acceptable for regulatory reasons. We don't certify or make promises that these nozzles are suitable for these applications, as this is down to each users individual machine and process. Stainless is somewhat more abrasion and abuse resistant than brass, but not better than hardened. Stainless steel can be useful for some very odd chemically corrosive materials.

Plated Copper

These are the latest addition to the E3D ecosystem and provide an increased thermal conductivity. The nickel coating here has low surface energy which reduces plastic adhesion, and has potential to increase flow rate. Copper alloy also performs better at higher temperatures than other nozzles. Great for sticky materials like TPUs and PET-Gs as well as extreme temperature polymers like Ultem.

Sizes

HotEnd Material Nozzle size
0.15 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20
V6 Brass
Copper
Hardened Steel
Stainless Steel
Volcano Brass
Hardened Steel
Cyclops Brass


Applications

Fine Details

If you are looking for the ultimate nozzle in terms of precision, the V6 0.15mm High Precision Nozzles is sure to deliver. It is not as easy to use as our our other standard nozzles so we do not recommend them to first time users. If you are looking to try your hand at highly detailed prints but still want an easy to use nozzle, then 0.25mm and to some extent 0.3mm nozzles will allow you to get a feel of the particular requirements of high detail printing.

General Use

Our V6 hotends usually come with a 0.4 nozzle as standard, and the range from 0.3 to 0.6 has become the industry standard over the years. This is a good general purpose nozzle, which will give you a good compromise between resolution and print speed. We find that the V6 works best with a 0.4mm nozzle and 0.25mm layer heights, while the Volcano achieves very good results with a 0.6mm nozzle and 0.4mm layer heights.

High Strength and High Printing Speed

The wider the nozzle, the wider the track, and the wider the track, the stronger the print. Parts printed with large nozzles (0.8mm and above) tend to have incredible strength compared to regular prints. Having a wide nozzle also allows you to print much thicker layers, reducing the total print time drastically (more info on our Volcano Blog Post). If speed is your n°1 priority, we recommend using the Volcano with 1.75mm filament, as the filament has a lower thermal mass (due to a lower cross sectional area) and therefore heats up quicker when in the melt zone. The question here is: will your extruder keep up? Volcano comes with a 0.8mm nozzle as standard, but goes all the way up to 1.2mm for very large and noticeable layers. At this size, the layers have a certain aesthetic appeal to them, we think.

Engineering Drawings

1.75mm Nozzles

3mm Nozzles

Recommended Settings

Printers compatible with the E3D ecosystem