Well, it’s certainly been a while since this thread was updated, but I have something new to add.
After seeing the Micro Swiss combo direct drive extruder + all metal hotend in Irv Shapiro's video about print speeds of Ender 3 vs Ender 5 printers, I checked the price of the unit. It was surprisingly lower priced that I imagined, so I ordered 1. It arrived yesterday.
One of the things that most surprised me about the Micro Swiss unit is how similar it is to the home made direct drive mod I made last year. The biggest difference I see is that the Micro Swiss extruder is dual geared. Of course, the Micro Swiss hotend being all metal is a plus. To convert my design to dual gear would be a major project, and I would still have to buy an all metal hotend, so I went the Micro Swiss route. I also bought a MIcro Swiss hardened steel 0.4mm nozzle, since I’m printing more PETG Carbon Fibre these days.
The photo on the left is the new Micro Swiss. On the right is my original mod.
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I did need to make a few adjustments: [LIST=1]
The bed was already trammed (leveled) but I did need to adjust the Z Offset a bit. I did that by printing my usual 20mmX20mm 1-layer squares;
I used the printer's menu system to:[LIST=1]
run a PID;
change the extruder E-steps to 130 (as per Micro Swiss' recommendation);
[/LIST]
In Cura I:[LIST=1]
changed the retraction to 1.5mm @30mm/sec;
upped the temperature by 5C:
[/LIST]
[/LIST] Then I decided to go for it and print the stringing towers model. I was amazed at how it turned out.
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I mean, look at that. Hard to believe it was my 1st print since installing the Micro Swiss.
Next I plan to print a knob to mount on the end of the stepper motor shaft.
Those are most of the pros. There are a few cons: [LIST=1]
the spring tensioner on the extruder is a 'pull' type, rather than a 'push' or 'squeeze' type. This can be a little awkward to operate when you're trying to feed filament into the extruder. With a squeeze type tensioner you can use your thumb and forefinger to relieve the tension while still holding the whole thing in place. The pull type tensioner tends to pull the whole hotend to the side. Hopefully, the knob I'm planning to attach to the stepper shaft will help;
Micro Swiss provides a very complete kit, one that includes an extension cable to increase the reach of the stepper motor's original cable. Micro Swiss says it's a "custom extension cable". They, however, do not mention exactly what [I]custom[/I] means. Well, I found out. I didn't use the supplied extension cable because I had already lengthened the original cable in order to make my home made direct drive conversion.
When I went to do a test square to check the Z Offset no filament came out. Looking closely at the extruder I realized it was going [I]backwards[/I]. What?? I ended up having to reverse the wiring of the connector that plugs into the stepper motor (swap blue with black and red with green) to make it work. I attribute this to the fact Micro Swiss decided to put the extruder to the left of the filament. Why not to the right? It seems crazy. They had to provide an extension cable that reverses the wiring so things run correctly. I'm not really upset that they put the extruder to the left. I'm more upset that they didn't come clean and tell me the extension cable isn't just for length; it's also to correct the wiring.
As you can see from the newer photo, my Ender 5 now has a BL Touch sensor. When I went to reinstall the fan shroud and BL Touch I ran into an issue with the left-hand belt ferrule and the rear bolt that holds the BL Touch: the ferrule ran into the rear bolt head before the belt was centered in the 2020 V Slot. I ended up dismounting the BL Touch, using a 3/8" drill bit to create a countersink in the BL Touch's rear bolt hole, then remounting the BL Touch with an M3 countersunk bolt. That worked to center the belt.
[/LIST] Overall, it looks to be a great upgrade.
