MacEwen Extruder

This is my most expensive (so far) upgrade for the Ender 3. It does seem to be worth it though. TPU prints easily and I suspect even Ninja Flex would work just fine too. I'd like to try some Ninja Flex some time but at $40-50 per HALF kilogram that's not likely anytime soon.

The install went pretty well with only some help from the instructions that come with it. These instructions are a bit lacking of detail. I have seen a couple of install videos though and they filled in the gaps. Between the two sources I got it done. One of my own variations helped too - don't tighten down anything until you have to! Everything you could need, plus a few extra parts, was included.

Once I had it installed I discovered that I needed something better for filament guidance into the extruder. I had seen one that I thought would work the best (a pulley on a skate bearing) and printed it off. It is working perfectly with the guide at the top of the printer and I can foresee no issues with filament feeding.

I've thought about a filament-out sensor and I think that mounting it under the upper guide will work the best. This would give me the most warning of a problem and give me plenty of filament sticking out of the extruder to handle any issue.

The one thing this installation does is make the Bowden tube about 3 cm too long. It's not really an issue but it would probably be better if it was that 3 cm shorter. I have planned, and have the parts for, replacing the Bowden tube with Capricorn XS tubing. I have a replacement tubing connector for the hot end and the one that comes with the MacEwen extruder is also of good quality. My only reason for procrastinating is that I will loose the ability to see where the end of filament is when I'm feeding it in. Some day I'll do it.

I found that it is harder to push (and pull) filament through this extruder. I'm not complaining though. I printed a knob and that works just fine. The knob doubles as an indicator for when filament is moving.

I really like this extruder and recommend it to anybody who wants to print flexible filaments or just wants an upgrade for the stock extruder.

Update: I've worn out the knob. I've reprinted it in PETG (on the Mini Delta) and it seems this will hold up much better.