I was considering purchasing the new Dual Extruder Print Head V.2 and I was wondering what everyone’s experience with it is? I don’t mind tinkering with it but I was curious as to how long the install and adjusting takes to get the thing working well?
Is the quality of the prints improved over V1? I really don’t want to have to do any moding to it after spending $495 for it.
You guys like it out of the box?
Thanks,
Chris
I am building one from a set of surplus itw plates, and I haven’t got mine printing yet, but I will say it is much more solid than the v1 was. I am working on an alternate barrel fan duct setup that should let me eliminate the squirrel cage fans.
Very cool. Are people finding the new v2 is worth the money? I was looking at a BCN Sigma dual head printer. It was pretty sick. I was trying to figure out if Taz dual printing is finally perfected.
I’ve had mine for several months, and while I have gotten some good prints out of it, I am not a huge fan.
My main complaint is the weight, specifically that it is cantilevered out in one direction from the x-axis rods. The rods are already undersized to begin with, the additional weight of the dual head causes problems. It would have been nice if the weight was at least centered on the x-axis rods. (There is a fix - Piercet’s openrail mod, which I will eventually get to. Also I understand that the Taz6 has bigger rods).
The problem is so bad that if, while you are aligning the head, you lift up on the front of the head and then let it back down, it will assume a new height. It makes it difficult to consistently level the head front-to-back.
The other huge problem that I have run into is that while it will print PLA pretty well for a while, eventually it will start to fail due to heat creep. I don’t know why it got worse over time, but it did, and with both extruders. I don’t believe the solution to this problem lies in more air across the existing heat sink; if you look at the thermal interface between the heatsink and the filament tube, you will see that the heat sink does very little to remove heat from the filament, and heat traveling up the filament is the basis for the heat creep problem (which is why it occurs most prominently with PLA). I added a second blower to the heat sink and it made no appreciable improvement to the heat creep problem. I am currently testing another solution that looks very promising, I will share my results.
I think that if you are seriously considering a Dual Head V2 you should also budget for the open rail mod on the x-axis. If you are planning on printing with materials other than PLA, you should be OK.
Have any photos of your good and bad prints?
Are you asking me?
I don’t have a problem with the quality of the prints. I have a problem with it stopping dead in the middle of a perfectly good print, due to heat creep in the PLA. But I think I have that solved.
Let me edit that…
I have been able to generate some really good quality prints using the dual head. Mostly with PLA, my material of choice. I have had some success with ABS and with HIPS, and with ABS using HIPS as support. But by FAR I prefer PLA with PVA support. Messing with limonene to dissolve HIPS is a huge pain, it’s messy, and it takes a lot longer than using plain old water to dissolve PVA support.
And PLA is free from the warpage problems that you might encounter with either ABS or HIPS.
However, getting the PLA/PVA thing dialed in was no walk in the park either. PVA is slightly tricky to print with. And just about when I did get the process all perfected is when the heat creep jamming started.
The bottom line for me is that the dual head V2 does work, and can produce quality prints, but due to the weight and the poor support from the X axis rods, it is a tricky process. For instance, the amount of force you subject the head to just be changing the filament (even carefully) can throw the head back out of alignment.
I would still buy it, knowing what I know now, but you can expect to do some tinkering to get it to work well.
I’m having good luck with the Dual Extruder V2 with ABS. Its not for the faint of heart as mentioned above. While sort of plug and play, you’ve got to tweak it.
Leveling the front extruder is a pain, but if you’re observant the screw depth in/out of the threaded insert is a tell-tale guide to getting it close. Always, always level the back extruder before leveling the front.
I’m also finding that the heavier, cantilevered tool puts a lot of stress on the X-carriage. Mine has developed a little plat in the x-carriage and mount which is causing the front extruder to lose its accuracy… so vertical walls are staggered from the toolhead movement. I’ve remedied, but printing shims to lock the tool mount to the x-carriage. The ultimate remedy is probably a second screw lower in the toolhead to secure to the x-carriage… or a thicker mount or x-carriage.
Definitely recommend the 12mm rods, openbeam extrusions or at the very least hardened 10mm rods w bearings.
Oh… and I’ve somehow broken the back heatsink blower off its printed attachment point. Specifically the attachment point has split and broken off. Leaving no where to mount the fan. Its hot glued on right now until I can re-print that plate.
Well… while I’m at it. I’d loctite the lower screws that attach into the new aluminum plate. One of mine fell out (contributing the sloppiness of the front extruder) and all of them were loose. Probably what I get for early adopting the extruder…