BQ Hotend DIY

thingiverse

My BQ Hephestos Extruder's Hotend is clogged or damaged. The extruder itself works just fine. A brand new BQ hotend costs 40€, which is way too much for me. I decided to take matters into my own hands and ordered a heater block, heater cartridge, thermistor, and nozzle from AliExpress. The BQ Hotend is mounted in a 6mm hole and secured with a bolt. I bought a 6mm pipe with 1mm thickness at the local hardware store (https://www.bauhaus.info/metallprofile-kunststoffprofile/kantoflex-rundrohr-/p/10526883). I attached an M6 outer thread on one side and an M5 inner thread on the other. The hole for M5 is 4.2mm, so a 4mm ptfe tube fits perfectly. I used a DIN913 M5 threaded pin and cut it in half. The part with the hex secures the ptfe tube in place. The hex is 2.5mm, so the 1.75mm filament passes through easily. Now I can use standard hotend parts on my BQ extruder (which has never had any issues in two years). I know it's not a printed part, but I think it could help someone with this kind of extruder. Update: June 25, 2017 Today I printed the first part with my DIY hotend. It looks great and everything works perfectly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3_24Bz5s_Q I also changed the BQ connectors to JST XH2.54 and MOLEX KK396 connectors. I attached a KK396 header to the original heater cartridge cable, so I can use the original hotend again.