Dual Extruder Machine

[Bowtec]

Hi All,

I am new to the 3D printing fraternity, so please ease me in gently, (also I apologize if this is in the wrong section, please advise where it should be if so)

I have just purchased a 3D printer and seem to be getting off to a good start which is promising,
So far though I am working with the free roll of filament that was sent with the printer, so I haven't been all that adventurous yet,

My question is this:-

So far as i say I have only been working with one roll of filament, and I have happened to load it in the right hand extruder, and leveled the plate to this reference point.
The left hand extruder however, appears to be about 2-3 mm higher than the right hand. this was how it came out of the box.
Is this correct, it seems to be that if you wanted t use 2 materials in one build, the right hand extruder would potentially interfere with the print?

Do I need to reset? is this faulty? any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks All

[3dex ltd]

Hi Bowtec,

Yes you're right. The other extruder should be level with the one you're currently using. However, sometimes one is placed higher than the other so that when you are printing with only one extruder you can be sure that the other extruder won't get in the way. So you may find this an advantage to you if you plan on only using 1 extruder for now.

I think the best thing to do would be to have a close look and see if there are any shims or washers that are deliberately causing one extruder to be higher than the other. If not then perhaps you'll need to use a shim or washer to make them the same height. Obviously this will depend on what printer you have.

I hope this helps.

[Bowtec]

Hi 3Dex,
Thankyou, I thought it must be slightly untoward, I contacted the seller and I just got a message back saying 'this is normal' which didnt really answer anything.
I was worried that it might even be faulty,
I will check and see what can be done.

Thanks again

[noiseboy72]

If this is a CTC3D or similar clone, then levelling the nozzles is fairly easy.

Remove the fans from the front and you will find an recessed allen headed screw in line with each extruder. Simply slacken this off and ease up and down the extruders until they are both just touching the bed. Tighten everything up and then re-level the bed.


For some older designs, you may need to shim the extruder mount to achieve the same objective.

[Bowtec]

Hi Noiseboy,

Thats great news!

Thanks

[FilamentGuy]

If this is a CTC3D or similar clone, then levelling the nozzles is fairly easy.

Remove the fans from the front and you will find an recessed allen headed screw in line with each extruder. Simply slacken this off and ease up and down the extruders until they are both just touching the bed. Tighten everything up and then re-level the bed.


For some older designs, you may need to shim the extruder mount to achieve the same objective.

I agree, that's exactly what I used to do with my Felix 2.0.

One thing you could try for the best possible alignment is putting a plastic card (like an old hotel key card) on top of the bed. That way you can push the nozzles ever so slightly into it (which you may not want to do with the bed itself, depending on the surface). Here's a blog post with pictures I wrote about this a couple of years ago.