Hello,
I think this question has already been asked, but is there a possible upgrade for the hotend on the SV08 Max, or is there a way to modify the hotend’s limitations to increase the machine’s extrusion temperature, assuming the original hotend can handle it?
Thanks for your help.
I guess the question needs to be asked, what are you hoping to do with the higher temperature?
Sovols own hardened steel nozzles ( Sovol Zero/SV08 Max Hardened Steel Nozzle Set | 0.2-1.0mm ) they are rated to 350’c, the thermistor and silicon sock to 400’c ( Sovol SV08 MAX Hotend Kit | 0.4mm Hardened Steel Nozzle + 400°C Sensor ), so what happens if you increased the software limit is down to the ceramic heater (be warned it will get MORE than the reported temperature, especially during heatup), heaterclip and the aluminum housing itself (melts at 585’c, so how soft is it getting? But also what temperature is most of the fan cooled body actually reaching if the nozzle was 350, might be a lot lower). Of course any warranty on that part will be cactus, although those parts are listed here on the website in a kit for $12usd ( Sovol Zero/SV08 MAX Extruder Replacement Kit ) and the housing on the complete hotends at $32, so you decide what your acceptable level of risk is.
If your needing more than a slight tweak, there are hotends that go up to 500’c, but no idea about the changes needed to mount one or calibrate it in a SV08max.
Hi,
Is the machine limited to 300°C? The goal is to be able to use technical filaments like PAHT-CF or PPS-CF, which require extrusion temperatures up to 360°C. If I understand correctly, the original components would be technically capable of withstanding an extrusion temperature increase of approximately 50°C? Replacing damaged parts wouldn’t be very expensive. How do you bypass the temperature limit, if that’s even possible?
Its trivially easy to raise the limit, its just in the config file (printer.cfg) in plain readable commented text as max_tempand changing the factory value to one offset by your desired increase.
But hold up before you do… a final reminder rated for 350’c operation does NOT mean a set target of 350 is necessarily safe to do, and we do not know the rating of the 3 parts before mentioned. You will have a temperature gradient and the probe is NOT the hottest place. Likewise you WILL overshoot the target as part of both normal PWM, and want a safety margin to the shutdown, which will be a safety margin from failure. Sovol thought 300 was safe, they’d have marketed it as 350 if they thought they could.. raising the limit is accepting some compromise. The issue here is we don’t know WHAT compromise. It might just be something simple, like half the life of the thermocouple, we might be lucky and its just a fear of a “what if” like misloaded filament actually igniting instead of just smoking/charring, or it might be something more complex we haven’t thought about (and thus also possibly impacting parts we haven’t considered).
Engineering filament wise, you clearly bought the machine before knowing if you could, so this isn’t your main reason to own it, do you want it to be out >$100 have downtime of weeks over this? Curiosity is a fine thing.. but consider how many other options you have to test before going outside the factory limits (so both you learn about the machine/process AND you shake down any warranty issues that aren’t your fault before ripping up that document). There is also a LOT more about the machine that you will want to sort out before putting each of those specialized filaments into it, from chamber temperatures, to bed surface materials (different plastics will stick to different things, and they might even permanently fuse to the PEI). Note for example I used the hardened steel nozzle, your machine may have shipped with brass, this will be VERY soft at these temperatures, and not suited for abrasives. Some of those options are also fairly toxic, so whats your room ventilation like (no the little filter on the chamber does NOT remove most of the volatiles). Meanwhile you could get a few parts you’d prototyped in PLA machined in steel
Elegoo’s PAHT-CF is only 260-290’c so you can try that with no temperature limit modification (but again, it has a bunch of OTHER requirements, including being so abrasive they include files for anti-wear plates for bambu AMS users), meanwhile the listed PPS-CF I can see is in the 330-360’c range… so might work at a slicer setting 10% over the old safety limit, and a new safety limit like 15% higher (which might not be safe)… but you might also be setup for nothing but frustration as if it falls in the higher end of the range to work well your hosed without major parts replacements.
Hmm… yes, I understand the issues you’re pointing out, and you’re absolutely right.
To be honest, I haven’t bought the machine yet, as I’m still hesitating between it and the Qidi Max 4, which is coming out at the end of the month and can reach higher temperatures. That said, I’m still leaning toward the SV08 Max because I’ll need to manufacture large parts that won’t fit in the slightly smaller build volume of the Qidi. I’ll also need strong parts that I won’t be able to split into multiple pieces.The SV08 Max really is the perfect machine, except for the hotend temperature being just a little too limited. Maybe we can hope for a Sovol upgrade on this point in the near future..
Indeed, my plan was to start making the technical parts I’ll need using the Elegoo PAHT-CF you mentioned, but I wouldn’t want to end up stuck if I later wanted to use other technical filaments. From what you’re telling me, I understand that no testing has been done on increasing the temperature of this hotend, and that the only way to know whether it works is to test it myself. Even if that means burning out the hotend and having to replace it. But as you say, I have many other things to test before getting to that point
If “manufacture” is more than 10 units stop looking at hobby printers and find a commercial machine. Most of the “engineering” filaments are MUCH more expensive than common filaments. The cost of consumables and waisted time will quickly make the commercial machine the better choice.
If “manufacture” is less than 10 then order from one of the MANY 3d print services and know your time and expense on the front end.
Attempting to mass produce a product that prints at the absolute temperature limit of a printer is a road to frustration, missed deadlines, and terrible profit margins.
This is not about producing parts in series, but about making one-off parts as a hobbyist.
I understand what you’re saying, because that’s how I’ve worked up to now. Until now, I’ve had the parts I designed manufactured by specialized companies. But above all, I enjoy learning all kinds of manufacturing techniques, and this is not a question of production cost. 3D printing is a process I’ve wanted to learn and master for a long time.
I’m willing to make compromises regarding the filaments used and the strength of the parts I want to make, but if I can start with a machine that allows me to evolve toward more technically complex manufacturing, that would be great !
About increasing the temperature, what I don’t understand is that some forum members say that the hotend on the SV08 Max is the same as on the Sovol Zero, which can reach up to 350 °C. Do you know more about this?
https://forum.sovol3d.com/t/upgraded-hotend-in-the-pipeline/8330/8
https://forum.sovol3d.com/t/using-sv08-hotend-on-the-zero/8420
The hotend on virtually any printer can reach >400 °C. The issue is when do other parts get damaged.
Hot ends with PTFE (teflon) parts typically are limited to 250 °C.
“All metal” hot ends are difficult to define a hard limit. The ability of the heatsink fan to cool the hotend is greatly effected by chamber temperature. The ability of the eddy housing and the plastic extruder mount plate to reject radiant heat is also a function of enclosure temperature. The end result is manufacturers place a conservative limit to avoid having to test all possible combinations of nozzle and chamber temperatures.
It all boils down to are YOU willing to risk damage to surrounding plastic parts on YOUR printer. At some point you will melt a cooling fan or an eddy.
Okay, I understand the issue. While searching online, I came across a guy called 3DPrintDemon who makes YouTube videos about some fairly interesting upgrade projects for the SV08 Max.
He actually shares a printable cover made from high-temperature filament, which allows an additional cooling fan to be added for the print head’s electronics board, specifically to address overheating problems during high-temperature hotend and chamber printing.
However, I compared the print heads of the SV08 Max and the Zero, and they appear to be strictly identical, except for an additional fan at the rear of the print head on the SV08 Max. Same full-metal hotend and components, 85 W ceramic heater, same thermistor, same electronics board, etc.
So yes, the only real way to know whether it’s possible is to test it myself and see if any component gets damaged, but given the similar print head design to the Zero and the full-metal hotend, it should most likely be possible.