Introduction
The Lite6 Assembly is easy, and we provide most of the tools you'll need. Please note, though, that you should be very careful of the following safety cautions:
- Be aware of your electronics. Don't work on your printer while it is plugged in or turned on.
- Be aware when you heat up your new hotend not to burn yourself on the heater block nozzle or heater cartridge.
- The standard V6 is capable of printing up to 240°C, do not exceed these temperatures, as this will risk melting the PTFE tube. The same applies for Capricorn tubing you should not exceed 240°C for the Lite 6. If you are interested in printing at higher temperatures then you should look into the v6.
- The firmware modification is not optional it is a mandatory step,
- Make sure you have ordered and received the correct voltage heater and fan to match the power supply of your printer. All of our current heater cartridges should have the voltage and wattage laser engraved on the cartridge.
- Connecting 12v parts to a 24v power supply can result in overheating, component damage, or fire. If you are unsure double check the rating on your power supply.
- Your HotEnd and your printer are your responsibility. We cannot be held responsible for damages caused by the use, misuse or abuse of our products.
-
-
Gather the parts you'll need to install the thermistor:
-
The Smaller, 1.5mm Hex Wrench
-
Thermistor Cartridge
-
Heater Block
-
M3 Grub Screw
-
-
-
You should be looking at the side of the heater block with three holes in it
-
-
-
-
Screw in grub screw until it just touches the thermistor.
-
Tighten M3 grub screw by an 1/8 of a turn.
-
-
-
Before you install your heater cartridge, you should double check that you both purchased and received the correct voltage cartridge. Cartridges are laser etched with their voltage, but all it is worth double-checking anyway. This process is less annoying than putting out a house fire.
-
If you have a 12v30w heater cartridge, your multimeter should read 4.8Ω
-
If you have a 24v30w heater cartridge, your multimeter should read 19.2Ω
-
Your cartridges resistance may deviate slightly from these numbers, which is fine. We're mostly interested in verifying which cartridge type you have.
-
-
-
Gather the parts you'll need to install your heater cartridge:
-
Heater Block
-
Heater Cartridge
-
The Larger, 2mm Hex Wrench
-
One of the longer, M3x10 Screws.
-
-
-
Slide in the heater cartridge. Typically you'd want the wires to come out the same side as your thermistor wires.
-
-
-
Tighten the M3 x 10 socket dome screw (with the M3 washer on it) with 2 mm hey key until the clamp deforms slightly (as shown in the second picture).
-
-
-
Before moving on, gently tug on your thermistor and heater cartridge wires. We don't want them slipping out during a print!
-
-
-
-
Triple check once again that you're about to screw your nozzle into the side of the heater block with three holes on it.
-
-
-
Screw in the nozzle all the way into the heater block. Don't worry about tightness yet.
-
Then, unscrew the nozzle by a 1/4 of a turn. This will leave a little space to tighten after screwing in the heat break.
-
-
-
-
-
If there is significant space between the nozzle top and the heater block you should re-adjust your nozzle and heatsink to eliminate that space.
-
-
-
Pushing in PTFE Tubing is not optional when building a Lite6, even if you're using a direct extrusion setup.
-
Gather the following parts:
-
Assembled Hotend
-
Collet
-
Collet Clip
-
PTFE Tubing (at least 7cm long, longer if you're printing with a bowden extruder setup)
-
-
-
Insert the small black collet into the top of the Heatsink, the side with the four small legs should push into the brass ring in the top of the heatsink with gentle finger pressure.
-
Slip the collet clip underneath the collet, holding it up.
-
-
-
To make sure that the end of the PTFE tubing that will sit inside your hotend is square and flat, cut a slice off with a very sharp knife (a craft knife with razor sharp blade is recommended for this).
-
Insert the PTFE tubing. The collet clip should pre-tension the tubing and lock it into the hotend; the tubing should be held securely downwards without any ability to wiggle or move.
-
-
-
Gather the Following
-
Hotend
-
30mm Fan
-
4 Plast-fast Philips-head Self-tapping Screws
-
Fan Duct
-
-
-
-
Screw the fan onto the fan duct. You may require a lot of torque and will therefore need a good fitting screwdriver.
-
Don't worry about getting the screws 100% tightened, you just need to secure the fan.
-
-
-
Clip the duct onto heatsink
-
The little over-hang can face up, down, depending on your setup. Make sure that it is not touching the heater block.
-
-
-
Plug the extension wires into your thermistor and fan. The other ends will go into your printer's electronics board.
-
Use the included cable tie to link the connections together for strain relief.
-
-
-
Configuring your firmware is different depending on the type your printer uses. Follow one of the links below for guides on how to update each of the most popular firmware. When you're done, continue in this guide.
-
-
-
Use a computer to connect to your printer. If you have a typical RepRap printer, you can use PrintRun, Repetier Host, or MatterControl.
-
Other, closed-source, printers may be better suited to their manufacturer's recommended printer control software.
-
-
-
Send the command M303 to autotune your PID. For more detailed instructions, check out Thomas Sanladerer's video guide for more information.
-
We recommend running two PID tunes for the V6, one now and one later at at normal printing temperatures, with filament in the hotend, sock attached, and with an active cooling fan on if you're planning on using one. This way your printer can finely tune its settings to match your real printing environment.
-
-
-
Hot-tightening is the last mechanical step before your V6 is ready to go! Hot-tightening is essential to sealing the nozzle and heatsink together to ensure that molten plastic cannot leak out of the hotend in use.
-
Using your printer's control software (or LCD screen), set the hotend temperature to 240°C. Allow the hotend to reach 240°C and wait one minute to allow all components to equalise in temperature.
-
Gently tighten the nozzle whilst holding the heater block still with a spanner and using a smaller 7mm spanner to tighten the nozzle. This will tighten the nozzle against the Heatsink and ensure that your hotend does not leak.
-
You want to aim for 3Nm of torque on the hot nozzle—this is about as much pressure as you can apply with one finger on a small spanner.
-
-
-
Gather the following:
-
Silicone Sock, one of either:
-
Pro sock
-
Or Normal Sock
-
Your HotEnd
-
-
-
First, let your hotend cool down.
-
Slip your silicone sock over the hotend. Try to get each of the little clips on the top of the heat block so the sock will stay on better.
-
-
-
If you're using the pro sock make sure that the tip of the nozzle protrudes from the sock.
-
If you're using a normal sock, it should look like the second picture when you're finished.
-
-
-
In your slicer of preference find the retraction settings. In Slic3r this is in printer settings.
-
Start with a retraction length of 1mm
-
If you experience blobs or stringing on the surface of the print increase the retraction length to 2mm.
-
-
-
You're now ready to go! Remember you'll have to update your slicer settings a little:
-
Check your nozzle diameter in your slicer. All Lite6 kits ship with a 0.40mm brass nozzle.
-
Having very long retraction settings will cause problems.
-
For direct extrusion systems you should use anywhere from 0.5mm–1.0mm of retraction.
-
For bowden systems you can use up to 8mm of retraction.
-
Print PLAs at 205–215°C, and ABS at ~240°C. For other materials check with their manufacturer
-
Cancel: I did not complete this guide.
4 other people completed this guide.
8 Comments
I’m having an issue where the hotend is about 50-60° hotter than it says it is reading on the Thermistor. I made sure to follow each step and went through the steps twice, but still came up with the same issue. At 205° my E3D is actually reading (with a laser gun) about 270°. And the filament is bubbling out and the PTFE tube is getting ruined inside. Already replaced once.
I made sure in Marlin to set “#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 5” …It seems to me like the thermistor reading is off.
I have a UM2 clone. I’ve found a couple forums saying you can only use a PT100 Thermistor on Ultimakers? Is this true?
Hi Josiah,
It depends on your electronics board. The stock Ultimaker electronics board expects a PT100, and will get weird readings off a normal thermistor cartridge. If your printer has one of those, you can get around it by adding an extra resistor or adjusting your firmware (I’ve added a resistor once and it was not fun to get working).
Good luck!
(FYI: we’re not affiliated with Ultimaker, so this is just my personal experience)
Gabe S. -
Step 16 says that 70cm of PTFE tube should be used or longer if bowden. Should this be 70mm?
Good catch! I’ve fixed that. Thanks.
Gabe S. -