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Hexagon Hot End?

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Red Submarine, Mar 20, 2014.

  1. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

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    I've installed my Hexagon with great success. I must say, it's a great design, especially being able to be used for direct or Bowden extrusion by way of the removable grommet at the cold end. The silicon sleeve has solved my temperature fluctuation issues completely, though I haven't been able to test with a ducted print cooling fan design yet. Wiring and installation was easy. You need to print just the fan bracket from the following thingi link to mount the print cooling fan before removing your existing hotend.

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:226998

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Denys Dmytriyenko

    Denys Dmytriyenko Active Member

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    That is a huge fan for the cold end radiator... :)
     
  3. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

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    That's the 40mm fan that came with it. The photo probably makes it look bigger than it is. I want to duct it and use the same mounting position so I guess I'll be designing that soon unless someone's already done one.
     
  4. Drizi

    Drizi New Member

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    My experiences with the hexagon haven't been all that great so far. After about 1kg of filament I got a blockage, a pretty bad one that nothing can unblock the nozzle. Reprapdiscount (and everywhere else) are out of stock of the 1.75mm 0.40mm nozzles so I ordered one from a local suppler.

    Problem is, the new nozzle threaded part height is just 1mm shorter than the original nozzle. This doesn't allow the top part with the cooling fins to meet with the top of the nozzle even when fully tightened and allows filament to ooze out. I have tightened both when heated to 270 as much as physically possible and tried again with the same issue.

    If only the aluminium heater block was not as thick or the cooling fin thread was a little longer I probably wouldn't have any issues. But it seems its been designed only to take the original nozzles and to that exact size and spec.

    Here's a photo of what my hotend now looks like:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I'd probably still buy another hexagon or at the least a nozzle to get this one working again but how long do I have to wait till they are back in stock ?

    Anyone got any tips to maybe try and fix this and prevent any gaps ?
     
  5. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Have you tried torching the nozzle or soaking it in solvent? I've had some pretty bad clogs on other nozzles but nothing that I can't unplug.
    You may be able to get that nozzle to work temporarily by running a higher temp filament through there like nylon or even ABS to plug the gaps and act as a sealant at a lower PLA temp. Of course you might equally end up creating a massive plug, but it's probably worth a shot.
    sent you a PM about some nozzles I have on hand as well.
     
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  6. Drizi

    Drizi New Member

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    I've tried a blowtorch, heat gun, boiling it and a acetone bath for 48hrs but whatever is clogging it is staying there :(

    Thanks for the PM about nozzles, but I'd prefer to keep working with a 0.40mm nozzle
     
  7. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

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    Have you tried pushing a fine pin/needle through the nozzle exit to try push the blockage back out.
     
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  8. Drizi

    Drizi New Member

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    I haven't been able to find anything that thin around the house. Also I did read some people saying not todo that becuase in almost all cases it will make the hole larger, I guess I got nothing to loose if I can just find something suitable to jam in there.
     
  9. AxisLab

    AxisLab Well-Known Member

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    Guitar string is what I hear works well. E chord I think but that changes with nozzle size I guess.
     
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  10. Drizi

    Drizi New Member

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    Turns out that a resistor leg is 0.35mm which I was able to use and was able to unblock the nozzle. Unfortunately after about 5 mins of printing it has clogged again.
     
  11. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

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    Awesome and bummer. I'm upgrading my hobbed bolt which I received today then will be doing a lot more printing with the hexagon. Hopefully I don't have the clog hinging issues you're having. Afaik 1d1 has had a lot of success with the hexagon.
     
  12. Drizi

    Drizi New Member

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    More than likely my clog issue is not the hexagons fault but rather mine for using cheap filament. I just wish I could have used other nozzles with it.

    When my hexagon was working, it was working great.
     
  13. Leon Grossman

    Leon Grossman Active Member

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    The Ultimaker 2 trick is to do this:

    Heat the hot end up. Normal ABS temp (if you're using ABS). Push a wire into the nozzle. Cool down to a much cooler temp like 190 or so. Pull the filament back out, pulling the wire through the nozzle backwards.

    The wire acts as a structural element to allow the filament and blockage come out as a single piece.
     
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  14. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    I think that 'some people' are worrying about silliness. How accurate do you think the holes on these $8 nozzle are drilled to in the first place? :) we're not paying aerospace prices, so we won't be getting aerospace tolerances. Absolute worst case scenario is you do open it up by a tiny amount and you have to recalibrate. Sure beats being down waiting for parts!
     
  15. warlocke

    warlocke Active Member

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    You might also want to check the length of the .4mm nozzle bore.
    E3D's were having similar issues when the bore length was > 1mm from tip to the beginning of restriction.
    Boring it down to 1mm or less seem to have fixed the issue for most.
     
  16. reprapdiscount

    reprapdiscount New Member

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    For some reason the pictures you posted are not visible, can you post again please.

    The hexagon nozzles are designed for the hexagon hotend, some reseller should have 0.4 on stock, in case not, we will have ready 0.4 nozzles after 2-3 days anyway.
     
  17. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Hi Elvira, they're visible to the rest of us. Maybe try logging onto a different browser?
    The picture shows material leaking out because the nozzle he used doesn't quite fit. Not really anything you can do there except get some nozzles back in stock :)
     
  18. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Here's a little thing I've been working on.

    Hexagon Dual.JPG
     
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  19. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

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    Mike, very nice. What about using the aluminum mounting plate that comes with the hexagon? I'm looking forward to seeing the render with attached cooling. I have so many upgrades to do, does it ever end lol?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  20. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    The aluminum mounting plate has some drawbacks. It's 25mm width (above is 20) and has no way to secure down the hot end to prevent it from rotating. I also have slots in the j-head holder for aligning a spring.
     
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