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Hello guys, i am new to 3d printing (but i do cad) and i am planning to buy a CTC dual extruder printer from ebay.

I have watched tens of videos about 3d printers and about upgrading the CTC printer but i dont get what i really have to buy.

The thing that i want to know about is

-what i have to buy to upgrade to a bowden set up (ptfe tubes,motor,etc)

-do i have to buy a new extruder and a new feed device (if so, what they are)_

Thanks,

SKYBuilder

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Why don’t you just buy a QIDI tech dual printer. The printer comes with all the upgrades and newest firmware so there are only printable add on upgrades not hard upgrades. I have run both printers and got the QIDI which after you get the printer settings right it is as good as a Uprint or Makerbot. CTC is cheap and you always have to work on them or upgrade it out of the box and the prints are just good not great.

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The CTC works “out of the box”, but you should have a look at our HBP System

http://m.ebay.de/itm/IDE-Flashforge-CTC-Wanhao-Glas-Bauplattform-upgrade-V1-HBP-Made-in-Germany-/252404702314?hash=item3ac47e1c6a%3Ag%3ASjIAAOSwintXSH2T&\_trkparms=pageci%253Aea827926-d0eb-11e6-99c4-005056974d32%257Cparentrq%253A5f4773191590a2b143dfb627ffcde1fb%257Ciid%253A1

and the Z axis upgrade:

http://m.ebay.de/itm/CTC-Flashforge-Creator-Dual-Upgrade-Z-Axis-Z-Achse-Made-in-Germany-/252323800992?hash=item3abfaba7a0%3Ag%3AssIAAOSwIzNXOlX-&\_trkparms=pageci%253Aea827926-d0eb-11e6-99c4-005056974d32%257Cparentrq%253A5f4773191590a2b143dfb627ffcde1fb%257Ciid%253A4

both of course are not “cheap” but they definitely increase the reliability and print quality.

We first made that for MakerBot only and had many professional customers who confirmed that the printer is on a new quality level with that. We made a version for the CTC printers also, cause a lot of CTC users asked us if the MakerBot parts fit there as well (what is not the case). The customers who upgraded their CTC printers were also all very happy :slight_smile:

if if you have any question, feel free to write us an email to info(at)ide-3d.de

Happy new year!

4

Add LEDs to it, then buy plexiglass and enclose it for printing in ABS. I would not invest in extruder upgrades until you learn how your current extruder works. You might even find it to be fine as is. If your CTC is a dual, there will be a learning curve that you must get through as it is. Watch others on YouTube to learn (The 3D printing Nerd, Makers Muse and others). they will impart a wealth of knowledge and have fun, this hobby is the most fun I’ve had in years.

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Any part that holds a z or x rod made of wood there is a replacement on thingverse to print. Also printed bed stiffeners. Don’t reflash the firmware. And when you are tired of the crappy prints after you print everything to replace on it replace the dual extruders they are junk with a e3d hotend then it will print like a MakerBot. Sorry to be so blunt but I own one and had to do all of them things to make it usable. Oh also put klapton on the heated bed prints will stick awesome. The dual extruders to not cooperate with each other constantly crashes when printing.

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Hello SKYBuilder,

I made the upgrade for the FFCP myself and as far as i can see it is nearly(or) the same for the CTC.

-Buy PTFE tubing and Bowden-Tube connectors

-You can reuse the original Extruders

- You need to create some Adapters in CAD and printing them out, Simple ones to attache the connectors to the carrier and the extruder.

If you are upgrading the Hotends to E3D-V6, which i higly recommend, you need a new Hotend carrier which is also printable. Be aware that the CTC has no full Metal Hotends.

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Like This

img_6611.jpg
img_6611.jpg3024×4032 1.96 MB

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Hi SKYBuilder

I’m sorry but i cannot help you about the upgrades of the CTC because i don’t know this 3D printer.

Anyway I design and produce myself my 3D printers so I can told you that to modify a 3D printer it’s not so easy. If your idea is to improve your knowledge about the 3D printer machines may be a good way but you have to understand that you will spend same time to do this and also that the first results may be not so good.

You told that you are new in the 3D printing so if your target is to print quickly, for my experience, may be easier for you to check for a printer that you could use without any upgrade. In this way you could concentrate yourself to the models and to print them well.

Then for the same reason, it’s my personal opinion, that it’s not so important to have the dual estruder. You could design models ( and you told you are able to use CAD) with different parts printed with different colours and then assemblied. In this way it’s more easy to realize the models at the end and the models are anyway good. You can see same images of the model of R2D2 in my hub (martinotech) or in my website (www.martinotech.it) that i designed in this way.

By

Martino

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Does the e3d hotend plug and play? And fit in the current set up?

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Thanks for your advise, i searched up on ebay but the price is quite largely different here in Australia.

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Wow those look great, i’ll consider them after my CTC comes. Happy New Year!

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Thanks man, btw, i want to change the set up to bowden set up, can you help me how to do it? Cheers, Sky

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Ciao Martino, thanks for your advise, Sky

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Thank you Chris, i saw your picture and is that an extra fan? I watched several videos about installing another fan but can you tell me which one you bought? Cheers, Sky

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Thank you Henry, by the way, should i buy a 12v LED or 24v LED? Also, for the plexiglas, should i buy a thickness of 1.5mm of 2mm? Cheers, Sky

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The 24 volt so you can plug it in directly into the 24 volt power supply in your CTC. I was told the 3mm is best.