Looking to maybe upgrade my kid’s creality cr6-se, so we can move into the more exotic materials.
It appears that I have two options for an all metal hotend, but I can’t find any comparisons. Not besides a reddit post from 2020 stating that the Prima Creator is a knock off.
So have anybody tried one or both and care to speak about the experience?
I can’t speak to the prima hotnend, but the micro Swiss hot end is wonderful and I’ve never had any issues with it. Their hardened nozzles are my go to for any abrasive printing as well.
Solid products. I doubt the primas could get any more capable/reliable without substantial cost increases,
Ender style hotends aren’t rocket science. I wouldn’t pay more than $10 for an all metal one.
I’d just get a bi-metallic heatbreak of AliExpress for the stock hotend and call it a day unless you’re also looking to improve the flowrate.
Where would you get an all metal hotend for the cr6 for 10usd? The microswiss sells for more than 60usd from their own store.
AliExpress is my go-to for 3d printer parts. Especially now that 7 day shipping is quite common
I run a repair shop and the Microswiss are pretty good, but I really dislike how they set up their heat breaks. Unfortunately there’s a lot of microswiss knockoffs that are hard to distinguish from the real thing as well. So IF you go with them, make sure you’re buying direct from them and not through some place like Amazon. I’m not sure why you’d even consider “Prima Creator”, as the machine on their front page is a long-been-discontinued Monoprice. That doesn’t instill confidence.
Honestly, why not simply get a bimetallic heat break for the CR6-SE? It uses a strain-gauge sensor for the probe, and you’re not exactly going to have a good set of options when it comes to upgrading without breaking that functionality.
So IF you go with them, make sure you’re buying direct from them and not through some place like Amazon. I’m not sure why you’d even consider “Prima Creator”, as the machine on their front page is a long-been-discontinued Monoprice.
Importing into the EU is a PITA if you don’t have the seller collect the VAT and the pain is twice if you need to RMA your purchase. So I was looking for a local reseller (preferably a Danish store) and prima creator popped up as the only alternative to microswiss.
Being a complete noob, I have no idea what’s on prima’s front page, so I can’t judge them on that.
buuuuuut! what I have taken to heart from your post though, is why not just get the insert. I’m going to look into that instead. But can I still go into the 260-300°C range and use a hardened steel nozzle?
At the moment I’m experimenting with PETG, and it would seem that 255°C is optimal for this brand, on this printer, in this location. While the stock creality firmware will allow you to go to 260 I understand that going 250 and beyond will ruin the PTFE tube over time. And we’re starting to look at maybe trying out other materials, and then the stock hotend with brass nozzle seems like a serious limitation.
Yep, you should be able to reach 290C or so with a bimetallic/titanium heat break and a hardened nozzle. Also, turn off the fan when printing with PETG and print at a lower temperature. 255C is WAY higher than PETG needs, and you’re likely needing that extra temp because you haven’t turned the fan off.
The fan is indeed going. I’ll go print another temp tower with the fan off, thanks for the advice.
The suggested printing temp on the spool does say 230-255, so thought nothing more to it.
I’ve been running a microswiss on my i3 clone for around 5 years. It’s been super reliable and hasn’t had any issues with PLA, PETG, or ASA.
