Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[sygyzy]

Hey guys, I wanted to give everyone an update on my printer. I swapped my PLA filament to the left extruder, I replaced the glass bed with a "smoother" borosilicate one (that is overall better quality since my previous bed was just cut by a framing shop) and I put in a new shim and corner clips to accomodate. Some or all of those changes gave me back much more reliable prints. Everything is sticking now, no more peeling (so far) and great even extrusion.

My setup is pretty dialed in and short of replacing the whole bed and Z-Rods and extruder block with one of the fancy upgrades, I was thinking of just replacing the nozzles. Would aftermarket ones (like MicroSwiss) buy me any improvements over stock? Does the QIDI Tech Dual use an industry standard size and threading for the nozzle? Could I print flexible filaments with a nozzle swap? Thanks.

[DaveB]

Glass and glue stick works remarkably well for me. Lots of folks have bought the Microswiss and installed them in the stock QiDi. However the Microswiss all metal hotend assy is a slightly different diameter, and the use of thermal compound to fill the gaps is a requirement. Note that this swap may radically change your printing temps or retraction characteristics. There are also numerous blog entries complaining of filament jamming subsequent to the installation, and I wonder if these may be due to inadequate conduction / cooling due to the aforementioned diameter differences(?). Those complaints seem most often to be reported as resolved by enhanced extruder cooling fan modifications.

Further, IMHO it will likely have no immediate positive effect on your printer's ability to use flexible filament. The Microswiss all metal is most often utilized when print temps above 235C are needed. At higher temps the PTFE liner in the MK10 hotend will degrade more quickly, and may even outgas some incredibly toxic stuff depending upon the temperature, the PTFE's formulation, and whose studies are believed. As many flexible filaments do not require higher print temps, more typically the issues with printing flex materials are caused by extruder filament management. Read up on the Flexion for example.

[wkellyo]

Just a quick note to this old post about changing to the Microswiss all metal hotend. I'm a machinist and noticed like many, the new nozzles fit rather sloppy. So I emailed MS about it and they replied they machine them smaller due to the variances from one machine to another's cooling bar tolerances. So, using an inside mic to measure the bore of my cooling bar and an outside mic to measure the MS nozzles I ended up with .007" difference. Took a Pepsi can and cut it apart, sanded off all the paint and sealer on both sides, ended up with a .003" shim stock. Cut it to just fit the bore of the cooling bar, smeared a very thin layer of the silver compound they sent on both sides of the shim, some in the bore and on the nozzle. Naturally most of it smeared off. It went together with near zero clearance. Works like a charm and printed much better than the stock nozzles. I didn't have to mess with fans, didn't have to mess with the temps at all and overall I feel it was a worthy upgrade. So for anyone having issues with the MS hotends this resolves the bad fit from nozzle to cooling bar, give it a try.

Glass and glue stick works remarkably well for me. Lots of folks have bought the Microswiss and installed them in the stock QiDi. However the Microswiss all metal hotend assy is a slightly different diameter, and the use of thermal compound to fill the gaps is a requirement. Note that this swap may radically change your printing temps or retraction characteristics. There are also numerous blog entries complaining of filament jamming subsequent to the installation, and I wonder if these may be due to inadequate conduction / cooling due to the aforementioned diameter differences(?). Those complaints seem most often to be reported as resolved by enhanced extruder cooling fan modifications.

Further, IMHO it will likely have no immediate positive effect on your printer's ability to use flexible filament. The Microswiss all metal is most often utilized when print temps above 235C are needed. At higher temps the PTFE liner in the MK10 hotend will degrade more quickly, and may even outgas some incredibly toxic stuff depending upon the temperature, the PTFE's formulation, and whose studies are believed. As many flexible filaments do not require higher print temps, more typically the issues with printing flex materials are caused by extruder filament management. Read up on the Flexion for example.