BMG extuder and E3D V6 Volcano thoughts, months in

[Ron]

Just a quick note, for what it may be worth-

I thought it might be worth a mention that I have been running a BMG-style extruder (DotBit clone actually, thanks again @csorrows for the excellent referral) and an E3D V6 / Volcano-type hot end for several months now.
All I can say about it is- wow, this to me is a winning setup for sure.

I had to travel from the original setup through multiple incarnations and variations of original/E3D/Titan/Volcano combination including Bowden variants before finally arriving here.
It has been extremely reliable so far and is hands down the most stable setup I have ever had on my printer.
I run a pancake motor too and it has never skipped or exhibited any problems.
That was not possible without having issues even on the Titan setup I had.
I speculate it is because of the double-sided drive and very light grip pressure that this extruder runs at.
The Volcano heater block helps a lot too, I'm sure.

I am so pleased with it that I recently purchased a DotBit/BMG for another printer I built and will be installing it over the holidays (but that printer runs natively in Bowden mode).
And soon I will buy a spare for the FT-5 just to have one on hand.
Everything @csorrows said about it is true.

My humble suggestion therefore to anyone who is struggling with extruder problems or who wants an upgrade over the original version is to just buy one of these, install it and be happy again.

P.S.- I have a co-worker who recently ordered an FT-5 R2 based upon my experiences with my R1 and this forum.
I am strongly encouraging him to install one of these from day one and of course to join this excellent community.

[csorrows]

[csorrows]

Thanks for the confirmation that I found the winning combination. I'm so very glad it's working for you as well as it has for me. I have pinned your post to the top of the category so that others can find it easier.

[carefudundae]

This is a very timely post, I just finished (yesterday) putting a botbit bmg and clone v6 on my FT5 R2 (saw your previous posts and decided to follow)... I was having random underextrusion issues on my stock extruder and got sick of trying to lengthen the spring to keep tension. I only have a couple of prints done since completely redoing the carriage with the new extruder and hotend (also added a second x-rail for additional stability), and I really like it.

The grip is just ridiculously good. I tried pulling on the filament some while it was printing and if the filament was strong enough, it might just lift the printer off the table...

[Ron]

Thanks for the confirmation that I found the winning combination.

You most certainly did.
Thanks again...!
I have never had anything pinned to the top (even out of almost 3,000 posts on an automotive forum) so thank you for that as well.

The grip is just ridiculously good.

Yep, isn't it amazing?
The filament might break before the teeth would slip.
I run the thumb screw only about one turn in from where it hits the spring.

[carefudundae]

did you adjust your driver at all for the new extruder? it seems like my extruder motor (still using the same stock one, not a pancake) is getting too hot. it's hot enough that I don't want to touch it for more than a split second...

[Ron]

Yes, I adjusted it down in current because the pancake motor I am using is only rated at around 1.2 amperes per phase as I recall.
I am running a Smoothie board so it is a simple matter of changing a line of text.
I am running it at 0.8 amperes and it runs warm, but not so warm that it can't be touched.

If your motor is running that hot the current is definitely too high.
The great thing about these extruders is that the gear reduction will allow you to run the motor (whatever one you wish to use) at a much lower current than the original direct-drive extruder did.

I hope this helps.

[carefudundae]

i'm still using the stock board, but just decreased the pot down until it stopped working, then brought it back up a quarter turn or so... it was a little over half a turn below where i started. seems to be better for now, but need to run some more filament through before I can say for sure. thanks @Ron

[Ron]

Actually that's not a bad way to approach it, particularly if you are running the original motor which is rated at 1.5 amperes per phase according to the FT website.
So even if you run it at half or two thirds of what it originally was you should still have plenty of torque to work with because of the gear reduction.
I felt that I needed to run my pancake motor a little closer to its normal rating only because it had so much less torque than FT's motors to begin with.
It saved quite a lot of moving mass.

[Ron]

A slight update-
We installed another BMG extruder to a different printer, as mentioned earlier.
It works just like on my FT-5.
Grips like mad, runs smoothly, super easy to install, feeds perfectly.
So again, thanks for the recommendation @csorrows

If you are having extruder problems, this is probably "the" cure.

[kimnach]

Just used my FT-5 R2 for the first time in two+ years. I re-aligned and did a couple of test prints with PLA. No issues. Then I tried ABS. I had decent luck printing out a small test cube; however, when I tried printing a larger part, I got significant under extrusion.

Guess this (dotbit) is a purchase that I will be making in a few minutes!

[Tin_Falcon]

The bmg and clone have a good rep.

[Ron]

My DotBit extruder is still holding up extremely well.
I print things all the time and rarely need to give mine a second thought.
Periodically I tighten up the bolts and clean it off with a toothbrush and air jet.
In all the time I have had it, even after several reels of filament, I have only had to clean the teeth twice.
Other than that it just hasn't been a problem (unlike every other extruder I have tried).
Dual side drive, whether BMG or Dotbit, is the only way to go IMHO.
I do not have any experience with other dual side drive extruders but I suspect that they too would be far better than any single side drive versions.

[minimax]

https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/c8u80p/bmg_clone_comparison_triangle_lab_vs_botbit/

In Europe many people use the Triangel Lab BMG.

I print with my BondTech TPU with 60cm bowden without any problems.

regards,
Michel from Switzerland

[Ron]

A few months later and more into it-

It is still holding up very, very well.
I have had zero problems with the DotBit extruder.
Only a cleaning or two using some compressed air, but that is entirely normal.

I like it so much that I did finally order a spare to keep on hand just in case.

FWIW-
It has been asked on other threads what settings are needed for this extruder.
I am running in 1/32 microstep mode on my controller, and am running 832 steps/mm.
For standard 1/16 microstepping drives that is the equivalent of 416 steps/mm.
Others report running in that range as well, mostly around 420 steps/mm.

And I am still running the clamp only about one full turn in from the first contact point with the spring.
The grip is so good that there is no need to run it any tighter.

Also, the one I added to an Ender 4 (pictured above) is still working flawlessly.

Simply amazing.
Thanks again @csorrows