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Tape for hotend / extruder

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by alonsoa, Oct 29, 2013.

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  1. alonsoa

    alonsoa New Member

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    Hey guys, what is the tape that is used on the hotend to hold the wires tight to the unit? It's a metalic like tape that is heat resistant but don't know the name. I need to buy some to replace the tape that has come undone on my extruder.

    Thanks!
     
    #1 alonsoa, Oct 29, 2013
  2. David Mortlock

    David Mortlock Active Member

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    Kapton tape, but one owner has replaced his with some kind of liquid gasket material which gives better thermal contact.

    Forget who it was but it is in one of the threads here. I am sure someone will be on soon to give details.
     
    #2 David Mortlock, Oct 29, 2013
  3. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    It was tesseract, you can find the post in the e3d thread (I think e3d is spelled wrong in the thread tittle)
     
    #3 Seshan, Oct 29, 2013
  4. alonsoa

    alonsoa New Member

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    Thanks a lot for the feedback. I'll check out the thread for more info.
     
    #4 alonsoa, Oct 29, 2013
  5. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    It is called Permatex Ultra Copper Sensor safe High Temp RTV Silicone Gasket Maker.
    It is normally used to make gaskets on car engines and is safe for electronics and can withstand the heat so go to your local autoparts store and it will be there about $6-$7 buck for a tube large enough to do about 50 hotends.

    It is orange in color 2013-10-29 19.36.58.jpg

    actually in use in this pic
    hotend copper.jpg
     
    #5 tesseract, Oct 29, 2013
  6. alonsoa

    alonsoa New Member

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    Fantastic. Thanks for the great feedback guys.
     
    #6 alonsoa, Nov 5, 2013
  7. Kevin Sheridan

    Kevin Sheridan New Member

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    Would it be safe to use the printer temporarily with out the tape. My tape fell off the hotend but the wires are still fastened to the hot end with some kapton tape that hasn't fallen off
     
    #7 Kevin Sheridan, Aug 1, 2014
  8. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Functionally it can be used BUT the hotend wiring WILL get moved around and although it may be Ok for an emergency print job I would not recommend it for a long time as if the thermistor comes out the hotend will have no cooling and heat up significantly and all the time the printer thinks it is too cold and thus send more and more heat to it could cause a fire

    If you choose to do it I would REALLY KEEP AN EYE ON IT
     
    #8 tesseract, Aug 1, 2014
  9. Kevin Sheridan

    Kevin Sheridan New Member

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    Okay i just put the silicone on. Have you had any problems with the silicone?
     
    #9 Kevin Sheridan, Aug 1, 2014
  10. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    no it just takes about 24 hours to fully cure what I did wasput silicone on the wrapped it with regular scotch tape for about an hour the dry time but I would let it go longer if needed then take the tape off and let it cure for about 24 then print
     
    #10 tesseract, Aug 1, 2014
  11. Kevin Sheridan

    Kevin Sheridan New Member

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    hmmm, so I'm trying out the hot end with the silicone (exact same silicone as you said) and there is very faint smoke coming off the hotend. It seems to have stopped now but did you experience something like that? maybe some moisture from the humid air?
     
    #11 Kevin Sheridan, Aug 2, 2014
  12. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    If you don't smell the smoke it's probably humidity
     
    #12 Mike Kelly, Aug 2, 2014
  13. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    yeah most likely your filament soaked up some moisture and when it extrudes it vaporizes the moisture into steam. When I had this happen I usually saw it as small little puffs of steam every now and then corresponding to the amount of moisture it has absorbed.
     
    #13 tesseract, Aug 2, 2014
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