Introduction
The Titan Aero Gold is a very similar build to a standard Titan Aero (which shouldn't come as much of a surprise). However, the components are slightly different.
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 Titan Aero Gold is capable of printing up to 285°C, do not exceed these temperatures unless you have replaced the thermistor cartridge with a PT100, or Thermocouple.
- The firmware modification is not optional it is a mandatory step,
- Make sure you have ordered and received the correct voltage heater cartridge 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.
Parts
- V6 Heater Block
- V6 Nozzles
- V6 Heat Break
- Thermistor Cartridge
- M3 Grub Screw
- M3x10 Socket Dome Screw
- Extension Wires
- Titan Extruder Body
- Titan Idler Lever
- Titan Filament Guide
- Steel Pinion Gear
- Delrin Gear with Filament Drive Shaft
- PTFE Tubing
- M3x8 Screw
- M3x30 Screws × 3
- M3x25 Screw
- M4 Thumbscrew
- M4x10 Button Head Screw
- Idler Spring
- Shake-proof Washer
- Titan Aero heat sink
- 9mm Roller Bearing
- 40mm Fan
- Silicone sock
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Before starting work on your heater block, make sure that you'll going to screw your nozzle into the correct side.
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You should be looking at the side of the heater block with three holes in it
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Screw in the nozzle all the way into the heater block. Don't worry about tightness yet.
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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.
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Screw in the heat break until it touches the nozzle.
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Tighten the nozzle against the heat break. No need to over tighten, we'll be hot-tightening later.
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If there is significant space between the nozzle top and the heater block you should re-adjust your nozzle and heat break to eliminate that space.
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Gather the parts you'll need to install the thermistor:
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Thermistor Cartridge
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The Smaller, 1.5mm Hex Wrench
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M3 Grub Screw
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Heater Block Assembly
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Before you install your heater cartridge, you should double check that you both purchased and received the correct voltage cartridge. This process is less annoying than putting out a house fire.
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Your heater cartridge will be either 30w or 40w, with blue and red wires receptively.
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If you have a 12v heater cartridge, your resistance reading will be (about) 3.5 or 4.8 Ω for 40w and 30w respectively.
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If you have a 24v heater cartridge, your resistance reading will be (about) 14.4 or 19.2 Ω for 40w and 30w respectively.
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Slide in the heater cartridge. Typically you'd want the wires to come out the same side as your thermistor wires.
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Before beginning your build, make sure that you have an appropriate mount for your extruder. If you have a commonly upgraded printer (Ultimaker 2, Taz 5/6, Prusa i3, etc) you'll likely be able to find 3D models of well designed Titan mounts on your favourite 3D model sharing site.
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When installing the Titan, you must have something to separate the motor from the extruder body by 2 mm. Typically, a piece of your mounting bracket will attach here and provide this space (for reference take a look at our Prusa Mounting Bracket). Having a separation of more than 2mm will mean you need longer screws to hold the assembly together.
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Please note that there may be extra bolts in the titan fixing kit bag that will be unused.
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The motor you'll be using + mounting bracket
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Extruder Body + Large Gear
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M3x8mm Screw
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M3 Grub Screw
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Pinion Gear
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The Smallest, 1.5mm Hex Wrench, and Mid-sized, 2.5mm Hex Wrench
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Thread the M3 grub screw into the pinion gear slightly so you don't lose it
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Slip the pinion gear onto the motor shaft with the grub screw facing down, towards the motor.
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Slide it about 3/4 of the way down the shaft and tighten the screw.
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Slot in the Hobb gear (attached to the other gear)
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You need to have the top of the pinion gear flush with the top of the Hobb gear.
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If it isn't—and it likely won't be on the first try—loosen the grub screw and adjust the positioning of the pinion gear on the motor's shaft. You may need to unscrew the extruder body to get at the grub screw.
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When you think you've got it, try pressing down on the Hobb gear lightly to see how it will fare when the whole extruder is screwed in and make sure it's still flush.
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Screw the M4 nut all the way onto the M4 Screw or Thumbscrew.
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Push the spring over the threaded part of the screw. The nut will eventually let you adjust the tension on your extruder by travelling down the screw and compressing the spring.
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Position the other end of the spring on the little bump on the idler lever.
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Drop the thumb screw / nut / spring assembly into the extruder body.
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The screw will slot into the nut-channel in the extruder body, and the idler arm will slip onto the motor shaft.
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Make sure that the nut slots into the channel fully and that the idler arm is pressed all the way onto the motor shaft.
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Cut a 23mm length of PTFE and insert it fully into the top of the heatbreak.
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To reduce the possibility of jams, ensure that both ends of the PTFE are cut squarely and the ends are not deformed, we recommend using a sharp knife rather than scissors for this.
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Slide the 1.75mm filament guide over the protruding PTFE. The flat side of the guide should be flat with the back of the lid.
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Ensure that the guide sits flush against the Aero sink. It is preferable to get the tubing too short, rather than too long
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M3x30 screws
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M3x25 Screw (the shortest M3 screw)
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Shake-proof Washer
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Assembled Body
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Assembled Lid
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The mid-sized 2.5mm Hex Wrench
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Slip the shake-proof washer onto the screw with the blue patch lock on it.
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Screw in this screw until it is finger tight and no more.
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If you find that the screw is not biting it may be due to the teeth on the slip proof washer protruding slightly which increases the thickness, try to flatten out the teeth before trying again.
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Try to rotate the large acetal gear to see if it moves smoothly.
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If it is hard to rotate, check the position of the steel pinion gear, it may be too far forward. Adjust it so that it is flush with the front face of the acetal gear and try again.
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If this does not solve the issue, then the screw with the shake-proof washer on it may have been overtightened. If loosening this screw allows the acetal gear to run smoothly then the screw has been overtightened and permanent damage may have been caused to the bearings; seek replacement bearings if this is the case.
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To prevent damage to the fragile thermistor wires it is important to provide strain relief to provide protection against printer movements tugging at the wire.
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Failure to do this step will significantly reduce the lifespan of the thermistor cartridge .
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Hot-tightening is the last mechanical step before your Aero is ready to go! Hot-tightening is essential to sealing the nozzle and heatbreak together to ensure that molten plastic cannot leak out of the hotend in use.
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Using your printer's control software (or LCD screen), set the hotend temperature to 285°C. Allow the hotend to reach 285°C and wait one minute to allow all components to equalise in temperature.
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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.
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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.
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Place the Silicone sock on the heater block.
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Whenever you install a new hotend, it's important to run a PID tune. This will allow your printer to adjust some internal parameters so that it can learn how your hotend heats up. This way, your printer can anticipate how much power it needs to give your hotend to get it up to temperature, but not over.
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Use a computer to connect to your printer. If you have a typical RepRap printer, you can use PrintRun, Repetier Host, Simplify3D, or MatterControl.
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Other, closed-source, printers may be better suited to their manufacturer's recommended printer control software.
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