Category: tricks-and-mods

Ender 3 V2 – Direct Extruder Upgrade + CR Touch + Micro Swiss Install




Directions

In today’s article we’ll be covering how to upgrade the Ender 3 V2 to have a direct extruder, Micro Swiss all metal hot end and the CRTouch.  I purchased this upgrade kit and all the other parts specifically for this video, so no money has changed hands.  I’m in no way responsible if any damages may occur, so do this at your own risk.

Even if the direct extruder upgrade kit is complete as is, there are some portions which could use improvements, and this is what we’ll be taking a closer look at today.  Before installing anything, we’ll first want to upgrade the direct extruder hot end assembly that we’ve ordered.  In this case, I’m using a version which is sold by Creality themselves, but will be upgrading both the extruder feeder along with the hot end.   If you’re doing this yourself, you’ll want to upgrade the extruder feeder first because it’ll be easier to reassemble afterwards.  The extruder feeder components that come with this kit are made from plastic, so we’ll be swapping those out for metal one’s.  Out of this kit, we’ll only be using these components, so you may be able to buy a cheaper version for this upgrade.  In order to do this, we’ll first remove the original components and begin assembling the new one’s.  I’ll be using the MK-8 feeder, but we’ll be replacing one of the screws with a M3 x 10 mm since we won’t be able to use the tension adjustment feature that’s included. We’ll be keeping the original extruder wheel since it’s the correct version and is already lined up.  Also, important to note, is that we’ll need to trim the bracket that holds the motor into place so that it doesn’t interfere with the screw that’ll be holding the spring.  It’s very important that the replacement screw head has a low profile, otherwise it’ll prevent the attachment screw from connecting to the motor.  When re-attaching the extruder feeder to the bracket, you’ll find that it’s a little finicky, however it should fit as long as you line everything up properly while tightening the screws.  Make sure that the motor shaft has enough space, otherwise its movement will be hindered.

Next we’ll take a look at upgrading the hot end itself by replacing it with a Micro Swiss all metal hot end kit.  This version in particular is designed to work with Creality printers because of where the two top screws are located.  After removing the hot end assembly cover, we’ll carefully remove the thermistor and heater cartridge, since we will be re-using these.  We can now remove and attach the new hot end, followed by the original thermistor and heater cartridge.  One important difference with the heater cartridge is that there are two screws to help distribute the pressure and heat more evenly.  Although this hot end doesn’t have a Bowden tube near the nozzle, a Capricorn tubing isn’t necessary but will be something that we’ll be replacing because of it’s tighter tolerances. Although it’s rare, on some occasions the Capricorn tubing can have some internal defects, so make sure to test the filament’s ability to move freely prior to cutting it to the proper length.  I used the original tubing to get a better idea of the proper length and simply trimmed small amounts off until it was correct.  While re-installing the hot end assembly cover, we can then attach the CR-Touch as well using the provided mount.  In my case I was able to use this adapter which lined up perfectly with the mounting plate.

Before beginning the installation of our direct extruder, we’ll first pre-heat the nozzle for the machine and remove any filament which in currently loaded within.  To remove the hot end assembly that’s on the printer, we’ll remove the bottom screw.  To do this, we first have to remove the hot end cover and use a wrench to hold the nut in place.  Once it’s been loosened enough, you should be able to wiggle off the extruder assembly and replace it with the new one.  For the direct extruder assembly, make sure to once again loosen the bottom screw and raise the Z axis, so you have enough space to work.  Check to make sure that the hot end assembly is secured but moves freely before moving onto the next step.  In certain cases, you may also have to adjust the eccentric nut if it’s not stable. I currently have PDF guide which goes through this process on my main website.  When re-attaching the timing belts, loosen the belt tightener slightly so that you have a little more slack on the belt and re-tighten afterwards.

Since it has an open design, the original bowden extruder is fairly easy to remove, however you’ll want to make sure to hold onto the motor so that it doesn’t fall onto your build plate.  After taking off the feeder knob off, there will be a couple of screws that you’ll need to remove in order to release the motor from the mount.  There’s one screw for the adjustment arm and the two for the baseplate.

Making sure to turn off the machine, we’ll then begin to work on updating the wiring.  We’ll first use the extension connector for the extruder motor, which attaches to the original cable.  With that connected, we can then prepare the remaining wires for their own connections.  In this case the kit has tinned wires which we’ll remove and replace with ferrules ones for additional safety.  There are 4 screws holding the cover in place, so you’ll want to remove all of these to get to the motherboard.  One of the screws is located on the two other side of the machine, so make sure to remove all of these before opening the cover.  We’ll first slide the wires through the sleeve, since this will be difficult to do after the wiring is completed.  Removing one connection at a time, you can match the wires to their proper connection points.  I generally like to have a wiring diagram handy so that I can double-check everything one last time before closing the machine.  These are all the connections that you’ll need to update with this particular modification.  If you have the PDF Survival kit that on my website, I have this diagram which shows you where to connect the BLTouch or CR-Touch on the motherboard page.  The CR-Touch will connect to this port here and if you’re able to feed the wire through you’ll want to do this prior to connecting it to the motherboard.  In my case, I opted to use some additional cable management afterwards.  When connecting the CR-Touch connection, make sure to check where the pins are oriented, since it can require quite a bit of pressure to connect it properly.  I ended up using a pair of pliers to help push it down into place.


After some quick cable management, the printer was ready for operation and I began my first test prints.  Now I will be making a full review of all the parts of this modification and other’s on the Ender 3 V2, so make sure to keep an eye out to find out which ones were worth the money and which ones were a waste.  The next article, we’ll be updating the build plate and the surrounding components, and you’ll be able to see that one HERE.

Private Notes

What you’ll need

  • Creality CR Touch Upgrade Kit
  • Creality Direct Extruder Upgrade kit
  • MK-8 Feeder (full metal extruder)
  • Micro Swiss Full Metal Extruder

Ender 3 V2 – Upgrade the Firmware



Updating the Firmware

In this article we’ll be updating the firmware on the Ender 3 V2 by Creality and although these instructions are for the Jyer’s version, this will work with the one from Creality’s main website as well.  I’m in no way responsible if any damages may occur, so do this at your own risk.

So there’s a couple of reason why you might want to update your machines’ firmware, but the main one is to fix any issues in operation, which can often include safety upgrades.  Some community versions include added functionality, as well as a more up-to-date versions of marlin.  The process will be identical for either versions of the firmware, as long as you understand some basics.

First off, there are two portions of the machine which typically need to be updated separately.   The first is the motherboard, which is normally quite simple to update, and the second is the screen, which frequently requires some form of disassembly.  I should point out that sometimes this process isn’t as straightforwards on certain machines, therefore you’ll always want to do some research before undertaking this task.

There are two different types of motherboards for this machine, and we’ll need to know which version ours is prior to uploading the firmware.  To find this out, we’ll open up the base of the machine and read the labelling that’s on the motherboard.  In my case, it was the 4.2.2. So that’s the version I will be downloading.

EDIT:  The Ender 3 V2 started shipping 256k boards with some of their machines, and this affects the safety measures in the firmware. The PDF guide has been updated, but you must find out which CPU you have prior to doing this update. Here’s a link to the article which was brought to my attention.

In my testing, I did to update the machine with a larger 32gb card, however if you do run into issues you may which to switch to an 8 GB card instead. Once you’ve formatted the card to FAT32, you’ll download the files from either the Creality website or the GitHub page.  In my case I’ve chosen to use the Community version since it includes several additional features which include but aren’t limited to the following.  Manual levelling menu, Z offset menu, Pre-heat menu, Change filament, Support for the M600 command, Manual Mesh Levelling and an advanced menu which may be updated in the future.

First we’ll download the .bin file that’s going to be used to update the motherboard and that’ll be one of these files here.  The files all follow a simple naming convention to make it easier to tell which option is the most suitable version for your machine.  The first part of the name refers to the machine, which in this case is the Ender 3 V2.  The second portion is the levelling method followed by the probing layout and Motherboard Version.  If you’re looking to use the stock version, then you’ll want to choose the default version. In my case, I wanted to install the default version since I would be updating to a BLTouch at a latter date.  Now that we have the motherboard firmware downloaded, we can now download the folder update for the screen.  For this, you’ll scroll down and download the source code for the machine.  Once you’ve downloaded this folder you’ll unzip it and go to Marlin + Display Firmware + Firmware Sets where you’ll pick the version that you want to use.  In my case, I picked the DWIN_SET (Gotcha) version for this update. If you’re updating with the Creality versions, then all the necessary files will be within the Zip folder that you download.  

You’ll copy the .bin file to your SD card once it’s been formatted to FAT32.  Turning off your 3D printer, you’ll insert the SD card into the card reader, then power back on the machine.  It will take a while longer to boot up, but once it’s finished loading the screen, the update should be complete.  With the main motherboard updated, it’s now time to update the screen as well.  In this case, updating the screen is optional, but I highly recommend doing it since it solves the contact issues which were present in the original version.  Make sure to reformat the card again before copying your DWIN_SET (Gotcha)  file to your SD card, you need to rename the folder, so you’re left with just DWIN_SET as the name.  After turning off the printer, we’ll lift the screen out of it’s stand and turn it over to unplug the cable.  Once that’s completed, we can then unscrew the cover and use a prying tool to remove the panel.  You’ll notice an SD card reader, which is where we’re going to insert the SD card into.  Simply turn on the machine to start the updating process.  In this case, the screen will change to an orange colour once it’s finished updating.  Simply close everything back up and put everything together, and you should be ready to go.  One of the nice features in this update is the ability to change the interface colours to which every one’s you want.  As you can see, I’ve begun playing around with these and many other settings to get the best results for this machine.

Personal notes

Supplies

  • Micro SD Card (8GB or more)
  • Access to Computer

Important notes

  • Check Board Number (open the machine)
  • Check CPU (512k swapped with 256k), 256k should only be updated with Creality firmware
  • Micro SD formatted to FAT32
  • Update motherboard + Screen

CR10 Smart – Extruder Upgrade



Instructions

In today’s article, we’ll be covering how to replace the Feeder Extruder with the MK-8 on the CR10 Smart.  I purchased this upgrade kit with my own money for this upgrade, and as always do this mod at your own risk.

Now this feeder has a couple of good features which will make both this machine easier to maintain and more durable in the long run.  The stock feeder, has for many users of both the CR-6 SE and CR-10 Smart, caused quite a few issues due to its lack of durability and design.  Although the stock extruder has a convenient release mechanism for the filament, all the parts are currently made from a plastic which is prone to wearing over time, not to mention that the closed design makes it difficult for maintenance overall.  The MK-8 on the other hand, is an open design which is much simpler to assemble.  The model that you see here is also made from all metal parts, making it a longer lasting product.

So before we begin, I’d recommend laying out all the parts so that it’s easier to see everything as well as ensuring that we have all the required components.  For this kit in particular, there are 4 different screws, some of which are very similar in design.  If you have any filament that’s currently loaded, you’ll need to remove this prior to installing the components.

With the machine turned off, we’ll remove the old feeder from the machine by loosening the screws on the top cover.  We can then take the second set of screws out while holding the motor in place to prevent from damaging the build plate.

The first part we’ll put together is the adjustment arm, since this is easier to address while the part isn’t currently installed. For this we’ll need the washer, U-bearing and the M4 Screw that we’ll assemble into this portion of the arm.  You want to make sure that the screw is tight enough to hold the U-bearing in place, but not tight enough to prevent any movement.  We’ll then add one of the next set of screws (There should be 3 of them, but we’ll only be using one for now), which will help hold the spring into place later on.  For the baseplate, we can pre-install the Bowden tube connector.  In this case we don’t need to adjust the extrusion gear since it should already be set to the correct height, however you can check this by inserting some filament when this is fully assembled.

Using the Flat top screw, you’ll attach the motor to the baseplate and use these remaining 2 screws to fully secure it into place. The arm has a small metal piece which is designed to allow the adjustment arm to rotate freely, and we’ll put this in now before we add the tensioning spring.  This small component (looks like a screw but isn’t) is what allows us to adjust the tension on the spring, and goes together.  It’s easier to insert the spring first followed by the attachment screw and this should be pretty easy so long as you push these two portions together as you do so.  Make sure to tighten the attachment screw all the way to ensure a tight fit.  With this complete, we simply need to attach the Bowden tube and secure with the claw clamp.  


Compared to some machines, this model does have the ability to adjust the tension on the filament, but in most cases you simply need to tighten this slightly since too much can cause the filament to puncture the Bowden tube.  In general, it should be just tight enough to push the filament through, but be able to skip if there’s an extrusion issue.  So long as you’ve installed a Capricorn Tubing, you shouldn’t have any issues with heat creep in the extruder.

Personal Notes

  • MK-8 All metal Extruder
  • Lay parts out Prior to assembling
  • Keep the Extrusion Gear in place
  • Tension should be just enough to push filament through

CR10 Smart (Regular) Mods

Safety Mod + Pro Version – CR10 Smart Safety Fix



Transcript

Hello everybody and welcome to another video tutorial. Today we’ll be addressing an issue which is quite common among budget friendly printers and isn’t discussed all that much. The CR10 Smart like many other 3d printers in the market today, have tinned wired connections at their terminals, so today we’ll be replacing those with ferrules. As always, what you see here represents my own opinions, and undertake this at your own risk. I’m in no way responsible if any damages that may occur.

Now, there’s a couple of reason why you might want to change the main power connections to ferrules, however the main one is for safety. Not having ferrules means that maintenance will generally be more difficult since you’ll have to deal with the wires unravelling when being placed inside the terminals. Tinned one’s on the other hand can make the strands more susceptible to vibration, loosing and corrosion, all of which are to be avoided when it comes to the main power connections. So for this reason we’ll be taking a closer look at how to replace the those connections on the CR10 Smart by Creality.

The CR10 Smart is designed with a Creality Wifi Box within, and for this reason there are a couple of additional terminals that need to be updated. Unlike the CR10 V3, the electrical components are within the base of the machine, therefore we’ll need to open this up in order to get access to the electronics. With the base open, we can already see some terminals on the main motherboard. As you can see from this diagram, we’ll need to replace the ones in these two locations. Like most budget machines on the market today, this FDM printer has tinned wires at the main power and hotbed output. The second set of terminals comes from the connection hub, which allows the connection between the motherboard and the internal Wi-Fi box components.

To make things easier to keep track of, we’ll only remove one wire at a time by unscrewing the screw at the top of the terminal. With wire cutters, you’ll remove the part that tinned before beginning to prep the wire for the ferrule. In order to have proper contact with the ferrule, well need to strip the tip of the wire by using one of the two methods. If you have wires strippers, you can use those to strip the wire connection, if you don’t, you can use your wire cutter to do the same thing by gently adding pressure until you’ve cut through the outer protective layer. You’ll then be able to remove the coating by holding the cutter’s partially open while pulling that part away. When choosing a ferrule, you want to choose one that just barely fits onto the wire to help ensure a proper connection when crimped. By making sure to twist the wires first, you’ll have an easier time inserting them into the ferrules. If you have a ferrule crimping tool, you can use that to crimp the connection, if not you can use a pair of pliers’ to do the same thing. Always test the connection before putting it back into the terminal.

In the end, you should only have to replace 6 wire connections at 3 different terminals. By only disconnecting one connection at a time, you’ll be able to keep track of what connections need to be changed next. This is the method I generally recommend so that you don’t end up mixing your connections. When you re-attach the connection, make sure to double-check that it’s properly secured before moving on to the next one. Once you’ve finished upgrading the terminal connections, you can then put back together the machine and do a quick test print to make sure everything is working correctly.

I hope this video has helped some of you out and if there’s a video you’d like to suggest, please leave a comment down below. I hope you guys enjoyed this video and I hope to see you guys soon.

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