Got a new E3D v6 hotend? I’ll show you how to assemble it and what to watch out for.
E3D’s v6 hotend introduced a boatload of changes from the earlier v5 models, which improve its performance, reliability and looks. I’m Tom and today i’m going to show you how to put it together.
Before we start, if you want to know to know more about what i think about the updated design and what changes were introduced, check out my review right here!
So, as with the previous versions, the E3D hotend still comes as kit for you to assemble. When you open up your package, you’ll find the heater block, the heat break, a nozzle, the heat sink, a heater cartridge, a thermistor with ferrules, sleeving, wire and heat shrink, the fan shroud, a fan, a bag with screws and a hex wrench, and, if you bought a bowden version, you’ll also get the bowden connector and the bowden tubing. You’ll also need a Philips number one screwdriver, a 16 and 7mm wrench, a pair of pliers and something that makes hot air, either a lighter or a heat gun. So let’s get to it!
We’ll start out with assembling the metal parts. So, take the heat break and screw it into the heatsink until it’s just finger tight. Keep in mind that the heat break is a somewhat fragile piece and should be treated carefully. Then screw the nozzle into the heater block from the side that is closest to the holes for the thermistor and heater cartridge. When it’s all the way in, unscrew it by a quarter turn. Then screw the heater block with the nozzle onto the heat break. Again, just finger tight. Make sure the nozzle stays at the quarter-turn-out position, because you actually want the nozzle to seal against the heat break and not against the heater block. Next up, we tighten everything down. Use the 16mm wrench to support the heater block and tighten down the nozzle, but don’t over-tighten it, you want to be able to unscrew the nozzle should you need to. Then let go of the heater block and grab on to the heatsink and tighten the nozzle a bit further. This will actually tighten the heat break inside the heatsink.
Next up, we’ll install the thermistor. Now, instead of having to deal with Kapton tape as with the v5 and previous designs, the v6 now uses a glass fibre sleeving and a clamping screw to hold the thermistor in place. So to insulate the thermistor’s legs, we’ll cut a piece of sleeving that’s about a centimeter shorter than the thermistor’s legs and slide it onto the thermistor’s legs along with a piece of heat shrink and a ferrule. Strip about a centimeter of the connecting wires’ insulation and bend both the bare ends of the thermistor’s legs and the wire into small hooks and hook them together. Slide the ferrule over each connection and crimp it down – you can also use your pliers beforehand to compress the hooks and make the ferrule slide over them more easily. If your sleeving is long enough to reach into the ferrules, make sure that it sits as close to the thermistor’s head as possible before crimping it down. Slide the heat shrink tubing over the crimped ferrule and use your heat gun or lighter to shrink it.
So, next up, we can install the thermistor into the heater block. Slide the thermistor all the way into the matching hole in the heater block, then push down onto the sleeving to make sure that it sits all the way at the thermistor’s head and bend the legs over so that they are flush with the heater block. You can also bend the legs beforehand to ensure that the sleeving stays right at the thermistor’s head. Spread those legs until they clear the threaded hole below them for the clamping screw. Then grab the included hex wrench, the short M3 screw and the washer and screw down the thermistor’s legs. You should tighten this screw fairly well to reduce the risk of it coming loose. It’s probably also a good idea to check and re-tighten this screw after a couple of hours of printing. When screwing it down, don’t hold on to the heatsink, but only to the heater block or you’ll risk bending the heat break. Next up, we’ll install the heater cartridge, which simply slides into its hole in the heater block and then gets clamped down with the long M3 screw. Try and center the heater cartridge in the heater block.
So all we have left now is the fan. Screw that onto the fan shroud and push it over the heat sink. If you have enough space above the hotend, you can install the fan shroud upside down to get you a bit more room around the heater block. If it doesn’t fit upside down, use it the other way around, though that way you’ll have to pull it off the heat sink when you’re working on the heater block or the nozzle.
Now, if you’re using a bowden hotend, you’ll also need to install the bowden coupler, which simply clips into the top of the heat sink. When installing the bowden tubing, make sure to push it all the way down into the heat break. To release the tubing, hold down the bowden couper and pull the tubing out.
Now, before you start printing, you should hook up the fan to 12V, select the right thermistor in your firmware, run PID autotune and then heat up the whole hotend to about 280°C. Once it’s all heated up up, tighten the nozzle down one more time. This makes sure that nothing is going to come loose even when things are expanding and contracting as they heat up and cool down.
E3D’s hotends require very little to no maintenance, but should you need to remove the nozzle, you can simply heat up your hotend and unscrew and replace the nozzle by itself. It’s probably a good idea to unscrew the heat break a bit first to reduce the chances of damaging it. Always hold on to the heater block when tightening or unscrewing the nozzle.
And that’s it, we’re done! Happy printing!
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