Upgrade the Ender 3 V2 Extruder in 5 Minutes - Aluminum Extruder Upgrade

[@StarBellySneetch]

Most people on youtube (regardless of content) irritate me. This dude is my type of person. Great content and right to the point with no apologies.

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Thanks man! I appreciate it, and I hope the videos help!

[@nilleftw]

I watched the entire video without sound and I understood everything perfectly anyway. That's one sign that you've made a very good tutorial.

[@davidennis9623]

“If you look under the arm… you might find a little crack in there”. Pulls arm off, finds it’s cracked nearly in two. “Huh. Well, there’s the problem” Thanks for the great guide, made the diagnosis of the problem I was having and the upgrade process really simple.

[@PatrickWard4]

That's what happened to mine the other day. Explains why my prints were awful leading up to that. Replacing that mechanism has lead to prints being so much better. Even without calibration.

[@clevelandsavage]

Yep, I'm here because mine cracked last night.

[@Bapll]

same lol

[@stevebuckley8620]

Mine silently cracked / tore itself apart. I was really happy as it explained why my prints have been failing for so long.

[@lousboards]

Exactly the same happened to me

[@ksprashutv]

Thanks a lot for this video. I did a couple of things differently when I installed the extruder. 1. While removing the screw in 2:30 , I retained the metal funnel thingy that resides inside the sprint and transferred that to the new extruder where this piece was lacking. 2. I retained the gear from 2:45 as it looked like the gear on the new one was similar to the existing one. Both had 2 grub screws too. From another upgrade video by bv3d, he inserted the screw in 6:25 the other way around. i.e from inside out. This way, the head of the screw supported the spring and would give it less wiggle room. I think this was a good idea too.

[@sweetbee52]

Awww man I needed this a year ago when I put one on my ender 3. Basically did it flying blind. I was shocked it actually worked. Your vid was dead on would have made my install much easier. Keep up the great work. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Haha well I'm glad yours worked!!! Thanks for watching!

[@Cheezed_]

Just purchased my ender 3 v2 and waiting for it to get delivered thanks for all these videos.

[@TheEdgeofTech]

No prob! I hope they help!

[@GenesisMoss]

Dude I've done this to my machines and know it well but you're just such a likable guy I cant help but watch!

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Haha Thank you for watching!

[@jesseburson]

As a new printer, you are a godsend bro.

[@paperplanet1128]

Your tutorials are quick, simple and brilliant. I love this!

[@SylviaGonsalves-q9b]

I just have to say I loved your tutorial because you were quick, but thorough, and showed every step. Thank you....

[@y2kdeuce2]

4:42, don't forget the thread locker! When that little grub screw comes loose, the filament flow stops.

[@_oe_o_e_]

It’s always nice to see this channel when I’m looking stuff up for my Ender3v2. Good vibes

[@mischastanstny]

When i first saw this Video and heard things like "the orinigal handle often gets a crack" i thought you are making an advertisement. But you were absolutely right - the handle was cracked on my printer and it works much better since i followed your steps 😁 thank you!

[@annix493]

Watching you put the stepper motor back on without taking that opportunity to clean out the filament chunks made me irrationally upset lol. Loved the video, will be doing this upgrade for my V2 soon.

[@Dumdadum76]

Lol, I had the same cringe, you just don’t do that….

[@johnc5210]

The only disadvantage with this extruder is it still uses the M6 coupling, I found the Creality metal extruder with the M10 coupling has allowed me to print flexible filament as the Bowden tube feeds right into the extruder.

[@Loz348]

Have you any link for the m10 i print alot of tpu and i got one of these v2's on order

[@johnc5210]

@@Loz348 they are available directly from the Creality website and most likely Amazon as well.

[@StephanJPPL]

Thanks for an excellent guide. A small comment: There was no washer included in my kit between the pressure arm and the extruder body. The insert is dimensioned so that it is possible to tighten while the arm can move freely. Same with original. The new extruder works like a charm. Thanks 👍

[@dannycahill28]

I didn’t get a washer eaither

[@allknowingpineapple4112]

Same

[@MichaelRoninTV]

yep, same here. I guess it's normal because it still was able to move perfectly fine without it :)

[@Burnt_clutch89]

Thank you so much! I was looking all over thinking I lost the washer 😂

[@matthewrice5721]

This video inspired me to go ahead and swap out my extruder. When I took the old one apart, sure enough, the plastic arm was cracked. :) Anyway, thanks to your help, the new one is installed, calibrated, and printing away!

[@jbrundt]

you guys solved my issue...was getting spongy prints and sure enough the extruder wasn't feeding consistently. And just like you said the arm was cracked on the bottom. Only difference is my stepper motor has the feed gear pressed on the shaft vs the grub screws you show. I just ordered a new motor with the flats on the motor shaft so I can use the gear with the kit.

[@andrewscharbarth2099]

This video was helpful. It took me way longer than it should have to realize that the m4 spring screw and the m3 rivet nut being missized was on purpose so you could use the m4 screw to adjust the spring tension and thus how hard the extruder grabs the filament. I substituted the 12mm long one that same with the kit with a 20mm one for a greater range of compression.

[@Enorbs96]

Had to like this vid from two accounts. Thanks for the great tutorials.

[@rogelioramos2548]

Oh this came right on time. I already broke a bit of that crappy extruder just by compressing it to take the filament out.

[@thewhitneyrichmond]

Thank you so much!! I was printing along great until I had a sudden underextrusion issue after only a couple months. My plastic arm cracked. New metal extruder did the trick

[@michaelsimmons2400]

So I hve the ender 3 that I am upgrading now and I have no screws above the gear. I think it’s pressed onto the axle and have no idea how to get around this

[@sarp7152]

Thanks man, I was struggling so much about this.

[@123masteryoda123]

I did this upgrade before I saw the video, but watched anyway to make sure I didn't screw anything up. Best upgrade ever! The old single drive plastic would drive me crazy. I would stand and watch the brim and first couple of layers to make sure something didn't screw up, and most of the time it did. With this upgrade, I can finally hit print and walk away!

[@gangmeow]

Thank you!! I installed the creality aluminum extruder from this video

[@sparkycraft275]

thanks so much, this tutorial was so helpfull. i'm trying to fix my 3d printer, and i found out that the roll of fillament i was ussing was to heavy to be pulled by he extruder, so i replaced it, then i adjusted the steps per mm and thats when the extruder broke.

[@captainawesome5309]

Thanks for all the help man!

[@snelinternet4654]

I bought a double geared one. Works like a charm!

[@LegoDan92]

Where did you get it from? Do you remember?

[@XsospoonX]

Link? :)

[@tminusoftexas3224]

Man I love the instructions you give thank you !!!

[@robertjennings5558]

AWESOME! I'll order one when I order my V2. Thanks

[@elien3491]

Still extremely helpful, thank you sir!

[@ElderPimenta]

Muito obrigado, vídeo muito bem explicado. Sanou todas as minhas dúvidas (Thanks from Brazil)

[@theduskyreaper]

Great video. Made it very easy to change the extruder. Thanks :)

[@hthavana]

My stepper motor gear is pressed on, no screws holding it on the armature. Can I still remove it without damaging the stepper motor? How? Will the screws on the new gear hold without the flat side on the armature?

[@craigdonald551]

I have the same problem, did you solve it?

[@hazaronur]

Thanks for the video, the extruder arm must be tight enough so it can give a nice tension to the spring inside. I had spring tension problems after watching your video and increasing the tightness (not crazy tight) solved my issue.

[@peterburke5174]

Thanks very much for this, made my life a lot easier.

[@henricoderre]

Good tip. . . put your build plate in the freezer to remove stubborn parts. It works great, and by removing the build plate from the printer when you remove your parts you're not exerting any pressure on the bed, which can throw off the levelling! Also a good tip, If you're going to be printing any tight fitting precision parts, then I strongly recommend that you first square off the frame of your printer. OK, so I purchased my second E3V2 3D printer a couple of weeks ago. My first printer was a major source of frustrations at times, and especially up until 2 weeks ago. But, it gave me a heads up as to what to expect after printing on an E3V2 3D printer 24/7 for 7 months. I'd had extruder problems, under-extrusion problems, bed-levelling problems. You name it, I probably had the problem. The lever on the stock extruder of my older first printer also cracked, and I replaced it with an aluminum one. In my opinion, these types of extruders, both plastic and metal, are flawed in design. They are inadequate for feeding filament to the hot end, and especially at lower temperatures. So even PLA can become a problem to print. In any case, they do not seem to be 100% compatible with Creality's stock hot end. As with anything else I do, I attempted to find that sweet spot where everything works smoothly and perfectly. To solve the under-extrusion problem, I'd tried slowing down print speed and making the hot end hotter, but neither of these things helped me to eliminate the clicking sounds coming from these types of extruders. In theory, slowing down the print speed should have given the filament enough time to melt. If so, the extruder would not have had to force the filament through to the hot end. But this was not the case, and the solution was far from obvious. It should also have kept the extruder gear from grinding down on the filament, because when the filament is melted properly the extruder does not consistently bite down on the same segment of filament. After I got fed up of experimenting with these things, and realizing that these weren't working, I switched to Creality's direct drive. This shortened the travel length between extruder and hot end, and reduced drag on the filament caused by friction in the long Bowden tube. I had to reduce retraction down to 1.5mm and my prints are printing perfectly. Enough about the printer feed system. Next, these printers also lack X-axis gantry support on the right side of the printer. Auto bed-levelling devices only help with bed surface irregularities. These do not level the bed, so all that hype on the internet is actually misleading. It's not a bed-levelling device at all! It's an irregular bed surface compensation sensor which uses a mesh pattern to raise or lower the Z-axis depending on the depth of the bed from the sensor's tip, and indirectly, the hot end nozzle. The lack of X-axis gantry support causes the gantry to sag on the right side. I'd removed and disassembled the gantry in an attempt to raise it slightly, but that didn't do very much. You might not think this matters, but on their own that single brass nut and lead screw are not enough to support the extra weight on the right side of the gantry. I'd had major bed-levelling issues and I believe that this was because of the sagging gantry. So, I added a second lead screw to the right side of both of my printers at a cost just under $200 CAD. The screws must be synced together, otherwise it can lead to other problems. This is easy to do. I left the setscrew (grub screw to some of you) that fastens the lead screw to the coupler loose on both sides of the printer. I turned the couplers to move the gantry up as high as I needed it to, so that I could use gravity and physics to align the teeth on the screws. Then, I used the Move>Z axis, and dropped the gantry as low as needed to sync the screws together. When this was done, all I needed to do was fasten the lead screw to the coupler with the setscrew. I raised and lowered the gantry several times to make sure there weren't any problems. I didn't get it on the first try. I had to try a couple of times before everything worked smoothly, and without locking up the stepper motors. This not only added gantry right side support, but once adjusted, it also keeps the gantry perpendicular with the frame side extrusion. It also makes it easier to level the bed. In theory, if the gantry is perpendicular to the frame side extrusions I can level the bed so that it is parallel with the gantry. A good way to test this is to print a square part. The part should be perfectly square or as close to it as is possible, and not a skewed version of it. And last, but not least, I replaced the recommended stronger yellowish-colored bed springs for more rigid silicone mounts. Neither the stock springs or suggested yellowish-colored springs make any bit of difference at maintaining the bed level once it's been adjusted. Vibrations can easily unscrew those knobs and throw off the levelling. The silicone mounts made a huge difference. For example, I've had my new printer setup as described above. It's been printing 24/7 for 2 weeks without having to be relevelled. My older printer has been setup this way for only a few days, but it too has not needed to be relevelled. I remember having to relevel the bed on my older printer every couple of days with the stock springs. The yellowish-colored springs kept the bed level a day or so longer. But neither of these kept my bed level and printing 24/7 for 2 weeks time! Oh, and I've started my 3rd week of printing. All I've had to tweak is the Z-offset by about 0.1mm, but my bed has remained consistently level for all this time. Now that my older printer is set up this way, all the problems I'd had with it are completely gone. My second, newer printer hasn't had any problems yet, and I think I've solved the issues I'd had with these few simple recommendations.

[@justembedit]

that was good,liked it thanks buddy

[@jelphelps]

Thank you! Simple, with nice tips and tricks to make sure everything runs smoothly. Great guide! 👌

[@PassionsGeek]

Thank you for that video, really easy to follow!

[@Grzechoslaw]

Dude thanks for the video! You helped me with my extruder issue :)

[@marlonjareck7367]

Man you helped me a lot, super Videos!

[@cookieboielcookieo2469]

Thanks heaps mate very helpful 🙏🙏

[@Cheeze60]

Good Video! I purchased a replacement months ago and just decided to change out. I had a look at the old arm and yes it was cracked!

[@Richie_]

I just ordered one.

[@sapream2564]

2:40 I have 5 Ender 3's and none of them have the set screws to remove the gear from the motor. Do I have a different model? I cannot find a video showing how to remove my gear from its motor.

[@xeobit2781]

i have this issue as well

[@XsospoonX]

Excellent video! Great instructions and easy to follow. Thanks!

[@rcpistolpete7207]

Great Video you made that look easy thank you

[@irrationalgeographic9953]

This is a must upgrade and I would order one at the same time you get your ender 3, its cheap and easy to do but makes a huge difference to performance and quality.

[@DraculaBDR]

5:26 mine didn't come with any washers, will this be a big problem?

[@jonashohenstatter881]

I couldnt find a bowden fitting in my set. Is there any way to order it?

[@reelbeach]

Use the old one.

[@architech_the_engineer]

What kind of wrench is that at 2:44? I can’t get this part out :(

[@PlainsPrepper]

How does this compare to a dual gear extruder and is a dual gear extruder worth the extra cost?

[@texasmama4248]

Great video, thanks 😊

[@bigmari20]

How do you find allen wrenches for brass extruder wheel teeth drive gear

[@joegehrer4332]

What if your stepper motor gear has no grub screws and will not come off?

[@SJSOmar]

What can I do my drive gear the brass piece is pressed on doesn’t have those small Allen key bolts

[@richardepps8500]

This is a first... A 3d printing channel hosted by a pro wrestler

[@naaptiin]

really nice tutorial i like it very much and i updated it too with your ınstruction

[@mapagmasidtv]

Ur videos rock man

[@Repz98]

1:10 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that was the issue all along!! I see a crack under the filament wire, between both wheels.

[@rum28]

Can this aluminum extruder be added along with the printermod direct drive kit?

[@voldy3565]

This works for direct drive, right?

[@pitbullash]

Thank you sooooo much for the guide 👏😁 Just installed it on My CR-6 SE 💪

[@aaronfehrenbach812]

Can this metal extruder also work with other printers? Like for example an Anet et4?

[@samarthgohil5252]

Great video! correct me if i am wrong, looks like the power supply fan is facing down. Although power supply is elevated from the bottom for better air circulation please advise how well is it able to keep the power supply cool while operating for extended hours?

[@cynic5581]

It took me forever to find the extrusion problem with my Ender 3 v2. It looked like it was missing layers in my prints. Finally I noticed that crack in the arm you mentioned because I accidentally pulled on the filament and it slid out with any effort or spinning the stepper. I got the Creality version. It doesn’t let you over tighten the arm and apparently works better with flexibles but I only use PLA so that doesn’t matter too much to me.

[@BorisH2000UK]

Before pulling the filament out, why did you push it in first to extrude a bit?

[@TheEdgeofTech]

I do this to purge the nozzle and hopefully take out any old filament that's been sitting there. Then pull it out. A lot of times on newer machines it will automatically do this with the load and unload fillament options.

[@TheCornflake1]

Thank you for this video

[@Ruben94100]

in my case the extruder was cracked near the bowden connector ...

[@syntaxcuemi3d53]

Another great vid Jim. Shared in the creality discord channel I help look after 👍

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Thanks for that! I appreciate it! What is the discord Channel link!?

[@syntaxcuemi3d53]

Here is a link to the "Creality 3D Printers" discord discord.gg/tTaJQ8e. I've placed this vid in the Video Guides / Modifications channel 👍

[@Tobby4063]

Just rounded out one of my grub screws.

[@TEDISKABONG]

Excellent video, thank you for making this and making it very straight forward. You were explanatory with the right amount of jargon. My extruder finally started wearing at the top of the feed hole and it was causing under extrusion or inconsistent extrusion. Went for the upgrade kit finally. Thank you!

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Glad it helped!!

[@JasonBrain]

What about the sping tensioner?

[@ReceptiveRaptor]

03:54 My kit didn't come with this red piece, so my long screw doesn't sit properly and the arm just pulls right out 🙃 ... I feel a bit stupid, as I didn't watch further before questioning how my parts assemble. I don't need that red thing, I've got a similar thing in mine that when screwed all the way holds the arm at the same level as the gear /feeding hole 🙃🙃🙃🙃

[@krackytech2344]

solid vid man

[@SpidermanMRVL]

My stepper motor doesn't allow me to remove the gear on the motor. It doesn't have a set screw?

[@avejst]

I would prefer a dual gear extruder Thanks for sharing👍😀

[@girrrrrrr2]

There is a metal dual gear out there. Idk where but I have seen it. That or a bondtech will slap right on you just gotta change some settings.

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Good choice! I like both, but I have heard the dual gear extruders like this can cause issues. I will have to test one!

[@TheEdgeofTech]

That may just have to be a future video, because those are great extruders as well!

[@girrrrrrr2]

@@TheEdgeofTech I've never had issues with dual gear. Well I did have one. The bondtech is geared and long story short had the ability to push with so much force that it curled petg inside my e3d v6 when I was having heat creep issues. Otherwise they are my preferred way to go. So much more grip and power that I've had it pull tangles and print with just minor under extrusion when I completely forgot to close the door on the bondtech.

[@bjack8264]

@@girrrrrrr2 I bought a Winsinn dual gear extruder from Amazon just recently. I have had it installed on the V2 for a week now with no issues. I also added Capricorn Tubing whilst I was doing the upgrade.

[@craigdonald551]

The extruder arm on my printer just shattered. I bought the kit shown in this video . However, the 42/40 stepper motor I have seems to have a shorter shaft and a press fitted gear wheel. Do I need to buy another stepper motor with the longer shaft to be able to fit this type of extruder?

[@dangerous8333]

So do I have this correct. I'm shopping for my first 3D printer. Considering how many upgrades are needed on the ender 3, why buy it? Seems like in the end you've spent just as much as you would have for a nicer 3D printer from the start.

[@mitofun6967]

Sweet! Direct extrude and double z + bltouch ;) will be sweeter;) you rock too!!!

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Good call! That's like my Ender 3 is setup! :)

[@ekrem06]

thank you very much only my new spring is longer than original I can^t screw it too much but everything perfect! You've a new subs!! ✌️

[@javieruriel]

Do I need to adjust the esteps

[@jamal2fire154]

i didnt even get the washer that was supposed to go under the arm, will this effect it?

[@BeetnaOurHome]

I geat a broblem when I chnged the same extruded in place of the chiron extruder that is when the extruder rotate it take the filement uit so i need to invers the extruder to geat it work. Ik I invers the connector it wil be a broblem to calibrate it, i dont know if you have a solution to this problem?

[@CallsignHackshaw]

Mines missing the boding tip thing. The old one won’t screw in either 😐

[@ekrem06]

Hi Jim, I install aliminium arm with single gear but after long printings like +20 hours I see that arm get hot and flament get flex. I use esun pla+. Also I see people use dual gear for extruder. Do you recommend it? Now I buy a passive cooling under extruder engine hope it will fix my problem. if you used double gear, would you recommend it? If you suggest, I will return and replace the single arm. I usually get prints over +20 hours. I print game figures. Greetings from Istanbul Turkey

[@richardgoone3438]

Thank you so much Sir

[@chickenball8860]

Yesss, thank you

[@3dpricnc727]

I saw on some sites within the group a yellow spring, is it better or this?

[@aaronchamberlain4698]

Real question: Is it any easier to swap filament on this extruder? That is honestly my biggest gripe with the stock Ender 3 V2. It sometimes takes me 10 minutes to swap filaments and I have to use micro fine tweezers.

[@JuanRuiz-wu6xm]

Awesoome i will replace that part

[@MatthewEltonSmith]

Why is it important that one of the grub screws on the gear sit flush with the flat part of the stepper motor arm? Could it cause under extrusion or trouble later if one screw isn't sitting on that flat end?

[@aelysiwanko2540]

thank you so so much !!!

[@energystoragesolutions6603]

the shaft on my stepper motor on the ender 3 4.2.2 isnt long enough to catch ther set screw on the gear. im going to drill the gear and tap it in a lower spot

[@kacper_023]

Can you use the v1 extruder on the v2

[@3dFirefly]

I have this same Aluminum Extruder Upgrade and find the tension too tight, its deforming the filament that its causing friction in Bowen tube. Is there a way to make it tension adjustable?

[@TeamBringIt8]

My hole for the bowden fitting has no threads! Really weird.

[@TeamBringIt8]

@@DatsunUSAClub I returned it and got a refund

[@cmackey541]

Great video! I was easily able to follow these instructions to perform this upgrade. Good thing I did because the stock plastic component was already broken on my printer after light use. I did have one print fail because the grub screws on the aluminum extruder came loose and the feeding gear lifted out of place. Has that happened to you before?