Lulzbot Aerostruder vs itworks E3d Aerostruder

Hi Folks,

Looking to upgrade my Taz 6 toolhead and wanted to get opinions on the difference between the lulzbot version vs E3D version from ITWorks since there is a $50 difference between the two.

They appear to be the same but the IT works has the option to be upgraded from the manufacturer vs a diy approach, any opinions/experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
nurbnoob

I have an itworks one now. Lulzbot one arrives tomorrow. I can give more info in a week or so, but to date I have had terrible luck with flex materials on the itworks version. it just pinches and feeds out the side even at 15mm/s. Worth noting I got the 1.75mm a2 nozzle, a2 hobb, titanium heat break build. Ive had to tear it down and rebuild it 3 times now. Gear was jamming within a week of receiving it first. Then a heat creep issue clogged it. 3rd time was user error, print didnt stick to the plate, found a globbed mess 3hrs later.

Thanks for the feedback, shame that a $300+ toolhead would give you that level of problems. Would certainly appreciate your experience once you receive the lulzbot version.

Out of the box, the lulzbot is mounted reverse. The adjustment screw for tension is overly difficult to adjust, and from the factory set very tightly. On the flip side you can sortve see where the filament is going if youre having trouble loading it. It doesnt seem to feed 1.75mm as well as the original extruder does, after a couple attempts just to see (since I had files sliced already) i gave up and sliced again. The fan mount is a bit better placed so you can still see the nozzle and get to it to clean it easier. I was disappointed that for the price it did not come with a silicone sock already on it. Wire routing is nicer, all on the back of the mount. But the bit of a loop oming out right where the filament feeds is kindve odd. I would have brought it out the side and looped it up and around.

Time will tell how this goes from here.

I can’t speak for the delta between the two extruders, but I can tell you that filament removal/switching is a real bear compared to the old Hexagon unit. Primarily due to the tight constraints of the feeder tube above the hobbed screw.

when removing, it is best to extrude down a couple cm, then immediately reverse engines and extract while the filament is still soft all the way to the bolt AND GRAB IT OUT ASAP. There is nothing worse than the filament grabbing in that top feed tube.

There is no such thing as a cold pull with this unit. Period.

In fact, I’ve been searching around to see how people clean out the nozzle of buildup over time. I’ve found nothing :frowning:

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I’m having the same issue on my itworks version with flex materials. It’s the exact same issue that you were describing with the material feeding out of the side. Did you ever fix that issue? Not sure what I can do right now.

Unfortunately not. I just have not had time to mess around. Ive just marked that machine in the same batch as the Trex2+, ones that you expect to handle anything but no flexible. I mostly have it dedicated to abrasive stuff now.

The only way it could be fixed is reprinting the bracket with the clearance tighter between the drive gear and the feed tube. Simply a design flaw unfortunately. Im not a bug fan of either the lulzbot or itworks aerostruders. They grind almost as much filament as they push. The lulzbot one cant handle 80% fan at 215 for pla without thermal runaway from overcooling the nozzle. The itworks is lighter, and overall seems to be better than the lulzbot design by a small margin. The option to customize it from them is a big plus as well. Not good enough id say I recommend it though. Even the stock bowden extruder on my CR10S5 that I stuck a volcano on seems to keep up better.

Thanks again for the followup issues, looks like I’ll hold onto my stock hotend until Lulzbot and/or E3d work out these issue. It’s a shame, I was looking forward to using flexible filament, guess I’ll wait a little longer.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

Keep in mind the itworks3d version is different from the actual lulzbot one. The lulzbot one I have not tried flexible on yet. Been hesitant due to the itworks3d issues, and have not had the spare time between orders. But itworks3d will likely be the one who needs to look at the issue.

Hope i don’t step on anyone’s toes here…We received tantrims Titan Aero toolhead back from not being able to extrude flexy filaments, and the cure was to turn the tension basically all the way down. If you have too much tension on a 1.75mm flexy filament, it will push the filament around, and out the side of the extruder. if any of you have issues printing flexy material through Lulzbot or IT-works titan Aero stuff, give that a try first. I had 0 turns on the tension knob and had a great initial print on the toolhead received back.

So it was his I just bought as a refurb from you? :smiley:

After having used all 3, the Itworks std, pro, and lulzbot aerostruder extruder for awhile now, I can say conclusively that the itworks pro is probably the best of the bundle.

For flexibles, I found I needed to bump temps up a good bit on the itworks3d pro partly because of the A2 nozzle being less thermally conductive than brass. On an older 1.75mm standard one I needed to put in a slightly longer ptfe tube by the nozzle, e3d datasheets now call for the addition of a nylon washer to bridge the same distance gap on old units. New one was fine with the flush ptfe as expected. Without the ptfe I experienced jamming on high temp materials (CF-PC running at 280c) and id expect so with flexibles as well unless you bump the temps up further. The itworks variants were lighter. The pro has a nice led on it and a gap in the front which makes it much easier to clean the nozzle. Keep the fan speeds low. Even with the latest firmware a 100% fan will shut down your machine on all 3 versions. The PID and heater just cant keep up. Outside of bridging, I max out at 40% on any material. The 2.85mm version can handle flexibles a bit faster, but there is better material availability with the 1.75mm.

Watch out if you try to use the full build plate. I had the coolers on these crash into the raised plastic of the wiper pads and foul things out a couple times. Been pushing those parts over to the CR10S5 or Formbot Trex2+ lately.

I have a I3d Titan aero pro in 1.75. What do I need to do to have to be compatible with LulzBot Cura 2.6. I created a new machine with an aerostruder head and changed filament diameter to 1.75. Now all of the filament profiles are gone. If I change it back to 3mm they reappear. If you could help that would be great

Basically need to edit every profile and change the filament diameter to 1.75mm Bit of a daunting task. Keep in mind the pro is an A2 hardened nozzle, so temps will need to be adjusted. Profiles will no longer be exact.

Thanks for the reply. Even if i do modify the filament profile to 1.75, i’m still not seeing it. i’ve exported it, reimported it, done everything i can think off. I’ve even tried to make a new filament from scratch, and nothing shows up. I’ve about throw my computer out the window in frusteration

Setting up a custom profile in Cura LE is surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. Here are some step by step instructions to help you through the process.

  1. Load Cura make sure that in the ‘Material’ drop down menu on right side of screen you have your preferred filament selected.

  2. Make sure you have the detail profile you want to print with selected from the ‘Profile’ drop down menu directly below ‘Material’ menu (Your new profile will be set to whatever detail profile you selected so if you want to print using our standard detail of .25mm you will have to make sure this is selected before moving forward).

  3. Switch from ‘Recommended’ to ‘Custom’ settings if you are not already in the correct area by using the toggle switch next to the words ‘Print Setup’.

  4. Make any and all adjustments to the settings that you need.

  5. Once changes have been made to the settings a star will appear in the drop down menu for ‘Profile’.

  6. Click the arrow on 'Profile" drop down menu and select option labeled ‘Create New Profile From Current Settings/Overrides’.

  7. This will bring up a new window in which you will be asked to name your new profile. We recommend labeling these so they are easy to keep track of but that is entirely up to you.

  8. Once your new profile has been saved you can select it by first choosing the Material that you used to create the profile then in the ‘Profile’ drop down menu select the new option that will be available from this menu. This new profile should include all the setting adjustments you just made.

Thank you. Finally step by step instructions. I’ll have to try them when I’m home from work. I understand the stock filament size is 3mm and all of the materials and profiles are built with that in mind

Any time I add a new Toolhead (E3D Titan aero pro. Plan on doing Carbon printing) in 1.75 all of the materials disappear. I’m assuming that is because the stock materials are all set up as 3mm. If I then add a new filament (in 1.75) I can’t see it, all I see is the filament that I had last selected. What am I missing? What do I need to do to modify a filament setting to 1.75 and to make it so I can see it

Thank you

Thank you for the updated review, I’ll certainly take a look at ITworks toolhead, seems to be the better option. I’m using Simplify3d, so changing the filament diameter, hopefully, will be easier.

Thanks,
nurbnoob

Have you tried flossing …works really well

We do actually have a procedure for completing cold pulls using the new V3 toolheads. It is a bit different than the old procedure but not by too much. I have included attachments for the gcode file that we now use for completing cold pulls and the instructions to go along with them that explain the new procedure.
cold_pull_prep-directions.odt (9.8 KB)
TAZ-nylon_cold_pull_prep.gcode (546 Bytes)
MINI-nylon_cold_pull_prep.gcode (546 Bytes)