Dual Extruder upgrade on 3D Printers: The Flaws and Fixes
There are many advantages to upgrading to a dual gear extruder on your 3D Printer.
Should You Upgrade to a dual Extruder?
Perhaps the most significant advantage is the increased grip that the dual gears have on the filament. This results in much more consistent extrusion, which can be a huge benefit when printing complex or delicate objects. The increased grip also means that the filament is less likely to slip or jam, which can save a lot of time and frustration. Overall, a dual gear extruder is a significant upgrade that can provide many benefits.
Another great reason is the fact your printer has a default OEM plastic extruder. This would be one of the biggest troubleshooting concerns we have seen on printers and is a constant failure point in entry level Creality 3D Printers and their clones.
The above reasons are why upgrading to a dual gear extruder is on the top of the list for most 3D Printing enthusiasts.
The Issues With Dual Gear extruders
What is often overlooked and not talked about a lot is the mechanical issue on dual gear setups. While some brands have created awe inspiring dual gear extruders, most generic dual gear extruders you find in the market are flawed in a few ways causing damage to the extruder itself. This results in poor extruder performance or failure sometimes even just after it has run a kilo or two of filament.
Dual Gear Extruder Design
As previously mentioned most generic dual gear extruders suffer from a design flaw of which results in the outer gear grinding itself into the extruder arm.
The cause is said to be from two flaws in the overall extruder kit’s gear mechanism.
- The gears needle bearings run on a M3 threaded bolt
- The gear seats on the arm itself with no interface
The outcome is an inconsistent movement in the needle bearings as they are riding on a uneven thread and there is also no bushing between the gear itself and the extruder arm.
Inconsistencies in the movement allow the gear to shift and start grinding itself into the arms aluminium surface.
Best Dual Extruders
Replacing the M3 bolt with a smooth shaft along with the addition of a brass bushings on both gears, this allows for a smoother more consistent movement in the extruding process, precisely why the upgrade was done in the first place.