Prometheus Hot End - Indigogo Project

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all of the ongoing support. The campaign is now over 140% funded!

A few updates for you all. I have slowly been receiving more of the parts for the Prometheus Kits. The small cooling fans and metric hardware just arrived and there are other parts on the way!

I have also been sorting out the stretch goals. I really want to offer both the 0.6mm and 0.25mm nozzle sizes, but in order to do so I need to have enough demand. For now I think it is better to offer the 0.6mm nozzle size as the first stretch goal. I understand that many of you were more interested in the 0.25mm nozzle size. However, the 0.25mm nozzle will require more testing due to the higher extrusion force so I think it is a better idea to start with a more user friendly nozzle size. A 0.6mm nozzle size will also allow you guys to print with Taulman T-Glase!

I am setting the stretch goal for the 0.6mm nozzle at $8000. We are half way through the campaign with $4300 funded so I think this is doable. I understand that this stretch goal is still a bit high, but this is the funding that I would require to be able to offer the 0.6mm nozzle in this campaign. Even if we don't meet this stretch goal I will still be offering BOTH the 0.6mm nozzle and the 0.25mm nozzle sizes soon after the campaign, so don't worry! Meeting this stretch goal will simply allow me to offer these extra nozzle sizes sooner

Let's keep this campaign going so we can meet the stretch goal. Remember to spread the word as far as you can!

Happy printing!

Eric

 

Hey Guys,

Thanks so much to everyone for the continued support. The campaign is now 180% funded!

Just a few updates. It looks like the Early bird perks are running out with just two Prometheus 1.75mm Early Bird perks remaining!

Many people were asking about bowden integration and I have been working on a solution for this. At this point, I need a bit of info from all of you about your bowden needs! I am asking that you please take a few moments to post your preference of "bowden" or "standard" hot end in the comments. For the bowden hot end you will need a specific pneumatic coupler that fits into the heat sink. I am using the same modified John Guest couplers that E3D uses so if you already have a few then you are good to go. Later on I will add these couplers as add-on perks that will ship with your hot end. I will need to know if you need just one coupler for the heat sink, or if you want to order a pair of them. I also need to know if you need PTFE bowden tubing with your order. I will add these as optional add-on perks later but I just want an idea of what everyone needs now.

TL/DR: You need to post a comment on the campaign page: indicate whether you ordered "1.75mm" version or "3mm" version and post "bowden" or "standard". If "bowden": post "one coupler", "two couplers", or any required number of couplers, etc... If you need bowden tubing: post "750mm bowden tubing", "1000mm bowden tubing", or any required length, etc...

Thanks everyone! Let's keep this campaign moving!

Happy printing
Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all of your feedback and support. The campaign is now over 200% Funded!

I just wanted to let you guys know that I have finished sorting out the details for bowden integration. Since I do not have the quantity demand to make two different versions I decided to make all of the Prometheus Hot Ends bowden compatible. I made some minor changes to the heat sink design that allows Prometheus to be used in both standard and bowden configurations. I also managed to adjust a few other dimensions to eliminate mounting issues with some printers.

- Robo3d Users: Don't worry about printing a modified x-carriage if you own a Robo 3D printer! I adjusted the mounting dimensions so that Prometheus will be a drop in replacement for your old hot end.

- Bowden Users: If you want to use Prometheus in a bowden configuration then simply add your required bowden couplers/tube length to your contribution. I added extra perks for these add-ons so please visit the campaign page and select the perks that you require. Please do this as soon as you can as the campaign ends in 11 days!

- Shipping Date: Due to these design changes the shipping date will be a little later than initially expected. The revised Prometheus Hot Ends are now in production and should be complete by mid-June. I can realistically expect to start shipping by late June so you guys will start receiving your perks by early July. I apologize for this delay but I hope you guys can understand. I am trying to satisfy everyone's needs with these last minute mods!

*Remember to select your required bowden coupler/tubing add-on perks before the end of the campaign!

We only have 11 days left so let's keep this campaign moving!

Happy printing

Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

Thanks so much to all who have supported this campaign!

Tomorrow is the last day of the campaign and I have now raised $7000. I am very thankful for the incredible support I have received from the community and I am really excited to bring Prometheus into existence!

I am confident that Prometheus will make many printers very happy and I can't wait to start shipping! The production is well under way and I will be sure to keep you all informed of the progress right up until delivery.

If you are interested in using Prometheus in a bowden configuration remember to select your required couplers and tubing add-on perks before the end of the campaign! There is only 1 day left so please add your couplers and tubing as soon as you can!

Once again, thanks so much to everyone for all of the support. This project was made possible by your contributions so you are all responsible for making Prometheus a reality!
Prometheus will be available for pre-order on my website after the campaign but you can contribute to this campaign now (If you haven't done so already) to take advantage of the free shipping!

I keep you all updated!

Happy printing

Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

There are only a few hours left in the campaign!

If you are interested in using Prometheus in a bowden configuration please select your required couplers and tubing add-on perks before the end of the campaign!

Thanks,

Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick update. My online store is now up and running! You can check it out at www.dta-labs.com. If there is anyone who did not get a chance to contribute during the campaign, you can now pre-order the Prometheus Hot End through my website.

The Indiegogo Campaign production run is well underway and I have already received all of the bowden couplers and PTFE tubing. I am now working on getting all of the orders organized. If there is anyone who contributed during the campaign but forgot to add their bowden coupler and tubing requirements, please let me know! I would like to sort this out asap.

Once again, thanks so much to everyone who supported this project!

Happy Printing

Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

I am really sorry about the lack of updates these past few weeks! I have been really busy but things have been coming along.

Most of the machined parts are finished, but the 1-Piece Stainless Steel Nozzles are still in production. These parts are taking longer than expected because they require some really tricky machining. At this point, the Nozzles are approaching completion and I am preparing the orders.

I am really excited to start shipping these hot ends to all you guys. Since the Nozzles are taking longer than expected, it looks like shipping will be pushed back a few weeks. I will try to be realistic and say that I will likely start shipping by the end of July. I would really like to send out these hot ends as soon as possible, but I want to make sure all of the parts are properly machined and inspected before they are sent out. I hope you all can understand this.

Since we are getting closer to shipping, I want to remind anyone who has yet to specify their bowden coupler/tubing needs. If there is anyone who contributed during the campaign but forgot to add their bowden coupler and tubing requirements, please let me know! I would like to sort this out before I start shipping.

Just a reminder, my online store is now up and running! You can check it out at www.dta-labs.com. If there is anyone who did not get a chance to contribute during the campaign, you can now pre-order the Prometheus Hot End through my website.

Once again, thanks so much to everyone who supported this project! I am going to try to update more frequently so that we are all on the same page. I really appreciate your help in making my idea a reality and I can't wait to release Prometheus!

Happy Printing

Thanks.

Eric

 

Hey Guys,

I am really sorry about the delayed update. A lot has been happening and I just haven't had the time to post. I hope you all can understand!

It's been a long road but everything is finally coming together! Last week I received a few samples of the production hot ends and they look and work great. The quality of the machining and overall finish is exactly what I was hoping for.

Prometheus in all its glory



The complete production batch of parts will arrive on Monday. I have all of the other components sorted so I am just waiting on the rest of the machined parts.

Bags of kit components:



Tomorrow I am going to try to put together a set of step-by-step instructions for assembly.

In addition to this startup business, I work as an Industrial CNC Router Operator so unfortunately I can't spend all of my time on shipping, but I am going to be working on shipping out these hot ends as fast as I can!

I will likely start shipping on Tuesday next week. I will be shipping the orders in the order I received them and I realistically should have ALL orders (including the orders made after the campaign) shipped within the next 2 weeks.

I can't wait to release Prometheus into the wild! I hope you guys are half as excited as I am about this I am confident that Prometheus will make many happy printers.

If you have any questions, comments, or last minute changes to your shipping address, just let me know.

Finally, I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to all of those who supported my campaign. Thank you so much for believing in Prometheus, and also for believing in me! Creating the Prometheus Hot End has been my dream and now it is finally coming together thanks to all of your support I now have my own 3D Printing startup: DisTech Automation (http://www.dta-labs.com/) running and I have several ideas that I plan to bring to the 3D Printing community in the future. I hope I will be able to give back to the community by sharing the Prometheus Hot End and all of my future innovations!

Thanks, guys.

Happy Printing

Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

I am so sorry about the late update.

As of about 2 weeks ago I finished shipping all of the Indiegogo hot ends. There are only a couple of hot ends that have yet to be shipped. If you have not received an email about this then your hot end has already been shipped. If you have not yet received it then it is likely still on its way.

The second production batch is almost ready so I expect to be shipping pre-orders within 2 weeks. I am going to be shipping orders as they were received so don't hesitate to grab your Prometheus Hot End early!

If you have any questions about anything really feel free to get in touch via the contact form on my website:

http://www.dta-labs.com/pages/contact

Thanks so much for all of your support!

Happy Printing

Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend!

I received the second batch of machined parts about a week ago and they look great! I just finished packing and shipping all of the remaining orders this past weekend.

Now that all of the pre-orders are out the door I am shipping all new orders within 3 days. Don't hesitate to grab your Prometheus Hot End and be sure to get in touch through my website (http://www.dta-labs.com/) if you have any questions.

Thanks so much for all of your support!

Happy Printing

Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

Michael "ZennmasterM" Zenner just posted a review of the Prometheus Hot End!

You can check it out here if you are interested:



Happy Printing!

Eric

 

How does the bowden connect? What kind of nuts does it use, are they jam nuts?

 

Hi Mike,

The bowden coupler threads directly into the top of the heat sink.

I just use standard aluminium hex nuts as they are the most readily available.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Eric

 

what size threads for the PTC coupling? M5? M6?

How come you don't use jam nuts? Seems like they'd be better suited for this application and could further reduce melt/transition zones.

 

Hi Mike,

The coupler is 1/8 BSP Threaded for 1.75mm version and 1/8 BSPT Threaded for the 3mm version.

I use standard hex nuts because aluminium fasteners are very scarce and the standard nuts are more readily available. Aluminium jam nuts are also more easily damaged when you tighten them down. Standard nuts were the more practical option in my mind.

Eric

 

Why did you need aluminum anyways? The thermal conductivity gain is probably offset by the increase in surface area and thermal mass. You would do better with stainless steel jam nuts in my opinion. The huge melt zone and transition zones are big drawbacks in my view, especially for bowden applications.

It might be best to use stainless steel for the melt zone jam and then aluminum for the transition zone. Increasing thermal mass at the nozzle would help maintain a more stable temperature

 

Hi Mike,

Thanks for following up!

I have found in testing that the increased thermal conductivity of the aluminium nuts helped minimize the thermal gradient in the melt zone allowing for more accurate readings. That's why I chose to stick with aluminium over brass or SS.

Also, the melt zone and transition zone are very configurable. I always use a very short 2mm transition zone to eliminate jamming and I configure the length of the melt zone based on my application. You can easily configure a short (12mm) melt-zone if that is what you are looking for.

I hope that clarifies everything!

Eric

 

I want a quick disconnect extruder with quick nozzle swap.
Maybe rotating mechanism for switching nozzle ? That be awesome.
Sometimes gotta print tiny things with 0.2 and sometimes a quicky with an 0.6, but stuck with 0.4

 

Hey Everyone!

It has been a long time since I posted in these forums. It’s good to be back

With the success of the Prometheus hot end and hundreds of happy users around the world, we have received a lot of feedback about our product. In an effort to perfect the Prometheus Hot End we have developed Prometheus V2, an optimized, simpler, and more professional version of the original Prometheus V1. The goal with Prometheus V2 is to eliminate all of the quirks of V1 while further improving performance and user experience.

A few of the improvements over V1 include a quieter cooling fan, a professional heater cartridge and high temperature sleeving on the thermistor, simplified assembly with no soldering or Kapton tape required, embedded bowden collet for both 1.75mm and 3mm versions, and many more.

We are now selling Prometheus V2 (Beta) hot ends on our webstore

The objective of the beta release is to obtain feedback about our improvements and suggestions about anything else that can be further improved before the official V2 release.

There is a limited time offer of 10% off all store purchases for early adopters so do not hesitate to grab your V2 hot end today!

We also now offer 0.3mm, 0.4mm, and 0.6mm nozzles with V2 (which are also backward compatible with Prometheus V1).

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I’ll just show you some pictures of Prometheus V2 instead of just blabbering on about it:





Below is a comprehensive outline of the design features of Prometheus V2:

V2 Design Features

- Durable, actively cooled, compact, all-metal construction for high-temperature extrusion up to 300C.

- Professional internal polishing along the full length of the nozzle creates a near mirror finish which reduces friction in the hot end. This eliminates jamming when printing PLA, even with long retractions in a Bowden system.

- The nozzle is machined from a single piece of stainless steel. The 1-piece design eliminates all internal “melt-zone” junctions making hot end leaks a thing of the past.

- Variable length “melt-zone” allows for the hot end to be customized according to your needs. From high precision to high speed printing, Prometheus V2 does it all.

- Heat Sink efficiently dissipates heat from the nozzle maintaining a sharp 2mm thermal transition at temperatures up to 300C. Optimized heat dissipation allows for a quieter cooling fan and minimizes vibrations.

- Internal geometry allows for the Bowden collet to be inserted directly into the heat sink enabling easy compact Bowden integration for both 1.75mm and 3mm versions. All heat sinks are Bowden compatible and switching between Bowden and Direct configuration takes just a few seconds.

- In both the Bowden and Direct configurations, a PTFE tube passes into the heat sink and facilitates a smooth filament path directly from your extruder into the 1-piece nozzle. This improves performance when printing flexible filaments like NinjaFlex. [Note: PTFE tubing is not subjected to high temperatures within the hot end.]

- Compact design conserves z-height and allows two hot ends to be placed as close as 16mm from each other, conserving print space in a dual extrusion set-up.

- Professional heater cartridge and high temp sleeving on the thermistor means that no messy Kapton tape is required! The thermistor is held in place with an M3 bolt and washer.

- Standard J-Head groovemount dimensions means that Prometheus V2 should fit most extruders and is a drop-in replacement for your old hot end.

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I’d be happy to hear any comments about Prometheus V2! Let me know what you think and just ask if you have any more questions

I am sure that Prometheus V2 will help you all get great results from your Robo 3D printers!

Happy Printing!
Eric

 

Hey Everyone,

It has been a while since I last posted here. I have recently put together a comprehensive user guide for the Prometheus V2! This guide outlines the trade-offs involved in configuring the Melt-Zone and Transition-Zone of the Prometheus and will help you get the most out of your hot end. Check it out:

User Guide



We are also now offering new Prometheus V2 nozzles in 0.3mm, 0.4mm, 0.6mm, and 1mm nozzle sizes! These extra nozzles are available here:

V2 Nozzles



The nozzle length scales with orifice size so the larger orifice nozzles can be assembled with longer Melt-Zones to allow for higher flow rates. It also makes nozzle identification much easier



24V electronics are now available as an option for those of you who run 24V printers (http://www.dta-labs.com/collections/hot-ends/products/prometheus-v2).

The old V1.1 nozzles are now heavily discounted for quick sale at just $15.50 each (http://www.dta-labs.com/products/1-piece-nozzle-v1-1).

Our 10% off sale ends on August 14 so be sure to grab your Prometheus V2 before it's over!

Happy Printing