Upgrading to higher torque extruder motor creality ender3

Question

So according to E3D customer service, the V6 is designed to have higher back pressure than the MK8. This leads to underextrusion with PLA and all kinds of problems unless you increase the temp by 30 - 50 °C so it will heat the filament faster and reduce the back pressure. They recommended getting a geared extruder such as the titan when I contacted them. Why none of this is mentioned on the V6 product page I have no idea, but I am not about to spend the cost of the V6 again on an E3D extruder unless it is truly the only option. I would imagine one could just replace the stock extruder motor with higher torque.

• Does anyone know the max amperage motor you can replace the stock extruder motor with?

• Is a 2 A NEMA 17 too much?

• Will a 2 A stepper give any more torque than the stock one (I know it is rated at a higher oz-in but does that actually translate to more torque)?

• Finally, where are the specs for the Ender 3 stepper drivers listed?

Answer 1

So the 'obvious' answer to this problem is to run a slower print speed, so it isn't so much as a case of information being missing, as there being a non-trivial trade off between speed, quality and cost.

Using the E3D products as examples, a double length NEMA17 can indeed deliver twice the kg×cm as a standard one, and a slimline a little less. E3D suggest that 'standard' A4988 drivers are capable of supplying 2A, but this is right at the limit of their performance (and you would certainly want to consider heatskinking/forced cooling).

E3D also list a standard stepper motor with a 5.18:1 reduction gearbox. This should give a good 4x increase in driven torque, and if you can find just the gearbox, that might be the cheapest option. You don't need such a high reduction, but this is limited by the physical size available.

In the absence of any better specs, a physically similar motor might be a good reference. You can check this by comparing various parts from different manufacturers. Regardless of the current capacity, more torque generally means a larger sized part.