The Dual Extrusion Splitter for the Axis 3d printer has been updated.
The new design reduces the likelihood of jamming and provides a straighter path for the filament. We've also removed the need for the short PTFE tubes inside the splitter.
It uses the same hardware already included with the original splitter however you will also need three M3 x 10mm or longer bolts and three M3 nyloc nuts to secure the two halves of the splitter together.
The new splitter is available for download here:
In addition to the updated splitter the instruction for dual extrusion have been updated too. Specifically with the addition of step 9 of stage 4:
https://makertech-3d.dozuki.com/Guide/Stage+04:+First+Dual+Print/64?lang=en#s796
By adding the post processing step it removes the pauses that Cura inserts between switches.
Time-lapse of printing, both approx. 6 hours. (unfortunately we ran out of daylight before the cat print finished):
Thank you! Just got my fixed guide to replace the eccentric and new hotend (after my complete melting mess for not being careful with PFTE insertion) so was planning on working in the printer today anyway. Before the hotend mess, I was halfway through the absolute best looking XYZ cube to date by replacing the aluminum+plastic coupler back to an all aluminum one, removing the z-axis top plate, and adjusting the eccentric guides one more time with just a tad more play in them.... looked so close to great until my it stopped printing and when I noticed the entire heaterblock/nozzel/heatbreak was covered in PLA.
So close finally. Will be nice to see if we can get it working consist and get dual extrusion going too.
A top tip to prevent the hotend from leaking is to tighten the nozzle when the hotend is hot - this should give you a better seal.
Thanks. Will try that as well. Should I still use the tape? Or just use that on the heat break?
@Jay M It increase at least the chance to get it tight. But keep in mind that tape do not allow later adjustment. Turning back and forth scratches the tape and let it leak again. The tape is not easy to handle and for my opinion is the tape which Makertech added to the set a bit to thin. I use the yellow roll. Its made for water pipes up to two inch.
Next, the nozzle head should not have more than 1 mm distance to the heater block. If you come not closer, the heat sink at the other side is too deep. So, fix first the nozzle and then insert the heat sink. Make sure they are tight connected at the end.
Wow, a replacement part that needs to be printed. How the hell am I going to get this to work when I cant even print a cube? I cant get anything to stick to the bed anymore. I have cleaned it with alcohol and I have put tape down. The 50°C just isnt working. I got my replacement parts in the mail, but having to tear this apart and put it back together and with everything tight, aligned, it is just not working.
Hey. Did you tried it with slightly higher temp? Like 55°C? But the Makertech PLA sticks already with 50°C very well.
Also, keep in mind that you should not have any airflow for the first few layers. I switch my AC off for that time.
Then, make sure that your nozzle distance to the bed is not too big. I know, its hard to find it out if the nozzle have already some plastic on it. Just increase the value in the firmware in 0.1 mm steps. Its annoying, but if it is done, printing your own designed things makes really happy. (I used my pledge to get an PF-2S and have almost two Kg filament gone...since i received it and spend too many hours in solving problems)
I used to run 60°C until all of the power supplies went belly up. I have my nozzle just off the bed and slowed my initial print speed. I do not use any cooling for the first layer or two. I only have one fan so it is either off or on. I dont have the shroud printed as I cant get a good print.
I spent a lot of time working to get the axis level, but there is only so much I can do with this design. There are too many issues to overcome and then to work to get a print to start, that makes it all seem like I need to start a good fire.
@kevin bogart Ok. What i would need, to get more ideas, is pictures how the print looks. Do you have another thread here at the forum about your problems? I Would like to answer you there, because here is it a bit misplaced. ;-)
I had first some problems with too tight excentric bearings. And the Z-Axis connector at the Z-Axis rod was also too tight (that is different for the Axis 3D). Beginner mistakes ;-)
If that solution is working well... would it mean that there is no more problem to print even with 3 or 4 colors. As long they are same material (same temperature).
But, as far as i know is the extruder amount in marlin still limited. And also the slicer have to support it.
Nice... Thanks for that updaye... it makes dualprinting worthy again :). Just one tiny problem after replacing the "M" codes in gcode the printer wants to start the print before nozzle temp is reached, but i guess its not that hard to pre heat the nozzle or pause the print...yingyang print ia printed with dualextruder v1 only code is altered... No gloggs/ absolute no problems duri g print (ca 45min) :)
So I had a friend that can print, print me one of these new designs. I will have to say that it is worse than the original. My filament, the red and the blue that came with the machine keep breaking off inside. I didnt have this bad of a problem using the original design once I got it figured out.
Man this is just a bad design.
What do you mean with breaking off? I guess that is not from the new splitter. If you store PLA at an humid place, it can loose its strength. Whenever it goes thru the extruder, it gets a slight crack every few millimeter. I had that with cheap PLA. But so far not with the PLA from Makertech.
Or is the path for the filament inside too tight? If you move the filament by hand, is it smooth or stuck it? Maybe the print have no good quality or is not even enough.
The crap filament from Makertech, the red and the blue came in packages that were punctured before I even got them. The red and blue has always been brittle.
Yeah, the new splitter is junk. I thought I was doing well asking someone else to print me one with a better printer. I was wrong.
Im done with dual extrusion until my Prusa gets here.
Agree. I tossed the red and blue half rolls that were part of the kickstarter, both punctured and brittle as heck. I did buy additiona rolls of Makertech PLA+ and they are all vacuum sealed from what I can tell. Only opened and used the Yellow so far, and it has been fine. Have red, blue, white, orange at least. And a couple of ABS+ that I am not sure about.
I could not get v2 splitter to hand feed out of one side even. Printed in PETG on a Prusa i3 MK3S... twice, once at .2 layers and then again at .1. Second one worked a little better but still couldn’t feed past the entry for the E2 side. E1 would work. I gave up with those and went back to the one that shipped with it.
Wrong size embedded nut for one screw on the hot end side, so could never fully close, had a crack. Wrong size screw sent for middle or maybe I lost it and that was just the extra small screw they sent (though directions i don’t think even mention the middle). I had 2.5mm screw so used that to mostly get tight.
was able to feed by hand so got my hopes up! and crushed. Whenever I extracted E2 after extruding a test, the stringing and blob at the end prevented it from coming back in.
thinking about it, there just seems to be too many variables for dual extrusion to ever be very reliable for like this. Going back to single.