MK8 or MK9?

[sasabs]

What is the difference between the MK8 and MK9? How can I tell what I have? Is it worth upgrading?

[jfkansas]

Not really any "upgrade", just different. I believe most Flashforges for the past year since the Creator X came out are on Mk10.

It is complex and some Mk versions are a couple year old Makerbot revs that Flashforge initially cloned then moved to their own PTFE lined Mk10.

[curious aardvark]

so if you have the ptfe tubes it's a mk 10 ?

[jfkansas]

Well, not sure on that one. Flashforge Mk10 I believe refers to the 4mm OD x 2mm ID PTFE. The Flashforge Mk9 was the thinner PTFE 3mm OD x 2mm ID. But there isn't a lot of documentation of versions and all the differences.

[curious aardvark]

Ah that would explain why the tubes for the klic-n-print are thicker than the ones for the creator.

And if that's the case then I'd say the mk8-9 are the better extruders. They certainly handle flexible filaments better.

[mikejsmith1985]

Sorry for bumping an old thread but didn't feel my question warrants a new thread.

After 2 ROBO3Ds went out in 1 month and a sub $1k budget I opted for Microcenter's PowerSpec Ultra. I'm not sure which FF it most closely relates to its the older chassis but has the touchscreen from the Dreamer and requires I use the dreamer settings in simplify3d. It doesn't have the fancy plastic cap covering the wiring harness just split loom and ziptied to a nylon spacer secured by a silver Allen bolt. When I disassembled the fans and what not to insert the PTFE tubes into the hot end they don't actually fit. It appears to have the newer short fat nozzle and I'm actively printing with ninja flex with very satisfactory results. I've not modified anything. The extruded wheel is silver and has a lip on each side.

Have iprovided enough info info that someone could tell me which setup I'm running? I would like to get some .8mm nozzles if possible to speed up some of my larger builds but I'm struggling to find anything. Knowing what exactly I'm looking for should mitigate this :-)

thanks for for any assistance you can provide!

[jfkansas]

First off the fancy plastic cap on the Dreamer is crap and screws up the use of thermocouples.

It is a "MK10" setup. I had some worn out nozzles from Micro Swiss and I drilled them to .6, it worked really good. Probably could go up to .8mm but you will quickly start running into the nozzle design not being able to keep up with the amount of plastic needed at higher speeds.

What do you mean the PTFE tubes wouldn't fit? They should already have PTFE in them.

[mikejsmith1985]

Well my hot ends appear to have a tapered metal end just large enough for the filament to fit in ill take a pic when my prints finish and share them.

Went to take the pic and I see how these seem to work differently than I expected. The ptfe gets inserted from the nozzle side not the extruder side so you don't have to completely disassemble. My only other experience is the hexagon and the e3d v6 on the ROBO so I was kind of narrow minded in my approach to this. In the pic the flash reveals the PTFE tube inside the hotend.

[Sebastian Finke]

What is the difference between the MK8 and MK9? How can I tell what I have? Is it worth upgrading?

The newer nozzles also have an M6 thread, the older ones have an M7x1 thread. I forget exactly when the change took place. I have a last gen FFCX... still has the M7x1 thread...

[Toysrfun]

There seems to be a few variety?s of mk10 nozzles. Some have 4mm for ptfe, some have 1.75mm and others 3mm for running filament through it with best heat transfer. All mk10?s have 7mm thread. Other than the threads being shorter and the nozzle being more flat they?re mostly identical to the mk8. Measuring mk8?s I have 1.94mm for filament in and mk10?s I have 1.85 which seems to be smoother and feeds better. The taper on the nozzle is really irrelevant other than it may cause some additional cooling at the tip where the flatter tapers seem to be more consistent heat throughout. Using a 100% copper block you will Get very nice prints. Run Capricorn right up to the nozzle and use titanium for throats and you won?t have to deal with clogging either. Asked Olsson if they intended to make an mk10 threaded tip and they were fairly rude and demeaning about it. Personally I think mk10?s are better and would be a great tip if made from fine silver and used a ruby tip. Don?t see anyone paying $200 for a nozzle anytime soon. :-)

The newer nozzles also have an M6 thread, the older ones have an M7x1 thread. I forget exactly when the change took place. I have a last gen FFCX... still has the M7x1 thread...