PC4-M10 Bowden Tube Lock

thingiverse

Remark: There is a [remix](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4820225) of this thing with reduced gap between thread and cap for printers with better accuracy. Printed on my new printer this lock was way to loose, so I made it a bit tighter. - - - - Update Sept, 10th, 2020 Added an extra long version for even more grip on the PTFE tube for prints with heavy retracts. Also base has been extended here a bit to press against the extruder base, reducing the pressure on the connector itself. If the "visible" part of your PC4-M10 connector (i.e. from end of thread to top of ring) is significantly less than 12.4mm (there are slightly different pieces on market), then cut of some fractions of a millimeter at the and (e.g. by lowering the upright front/back pieces in Cura by 0.x mm). Alternatively measure from end of thread/beginning of haxagon to lower end of ring. If that's less than 10.4 millimeter (left 2mm space for ring, but most rings are only 1.6mm) - - - - I realised that on my Creality CR-10S printer the PTFE Bowden tube started to move/slip with every retract. Exchanging the connecter didn't help very long. Then I tried the Bowden Tube Fix lock (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3040339), but actually I could sill see the Tube moving slightly. And the part was too big to be mounted on the print head side of the tube, where I definitely don't want to see any slippage. Therefore I designed my own tube lock with a bit more grip on the tube and tried to do this without any extra screws. The result is a little three part print. Two parts enclosing the PC4-M10 connector and a cap to squeeze them together. The thread is 2 degrees conic so that the cap can easily be screwed on increasing the pressure with every turn. I designed two variants, one for the extruder end and another one with some extra space fo the screws on the print head side. Printed in PLA and PETG - both work fine so far Make sure you do a "dry run" with a piece of old PTFE tube and a connector to make sure the thread will work fine (otherwise you might break it while mounting). The tread is quite tight on purpose and you should twist the cap on and off a few times before you actually mount it to the printer. You probably have to sand the flat inside of front and back part a bit so that they are even and fit closely together. You might also want clean the pipe with a little needle file. If the thread still doesn't work nicely, try a tiny drop of silicone spray in the cap, which worked really nice for me. If you really need more gap between inner and outher thread, drop me a message in the comments and I will provide a more "loose" version