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The hotend is the part of an FFF 3D printer which melts down the filament to be extruded and is intended to maintain a consistent, accurate temperature for successful prints.

Anatomy

A hotend is made up of several separate components.

Heatsink

For additional details see: Heatsink

The Heatsink is situated at the top of the hotend (The Cold Side) and helps prevent heat from working its way up the assembly. A heatsink cooling fan is usually used to increase its effectiveness.

This end of the hotend must remain cool. If heat works its way up to this area, filament will become soft and molten high up in the hotend. This is known as heat creep, and can decrease the effectiveness of retractions and cause jams or clogs.

Heatbreak

For additional details see: Heatbreak

The Heatbreak is a thin tube of metal, usually steel or titanium, which connects the Heatsink and Heater Block. It creates a sharp transition between them, transferring as little heat as possible from the Heater Block to the Heat Sink

PTFE Liners

For additional details on temperatures with a PTFE lined heatbreak see PTFE Temperatures

While some hotends have a bare metal heatbreak (known as All Metal Hotends), others have a tube of PTFE lining the heatbreak. PTFE lined hotends have a few advantages: The low friction nature of PTFE can allows for smoother extrusion, and they are cheaper to manufacture well than all-metal hotends. However a PTFE lined hotend severely limits your maximum achievable temperatures.

Heater Block

For additional details see: Heater Block

The Heater Block is metal part that connects the Heatbreak and Nozzle. It also serves as a mounting point for the Heater Cartridge and Thermistor. This is where the filament is melted down.

Heater Cartridge

For additional details see: Heater Cartridge

The Heater Cartridge, or Heating Element is the part that creates the heat needed to melt down the plastic filament.

Temperature Sensor

For additional details see: Temperature Sensors

The Temperature Sensor is used to measure the current temperature of the Heater Cartridge. This is usually a Thermistor, but other sensors may be used, such as Thermocouples.

Nozzle

For additional details see: Nozzles

The nozzle has a small (often sub millimetre) bore, and allows molten plastic to exit the hotend.

Comparison Of Popular Hotends

There are several popular hotends on the market.

E3D - V6

Slice Engineering - Mosquito

Trianglelabs - V6

Name	Dragon
OEM Site	www.aliexpress.com
Price	60 GBP / 75 USD

Microswiss - (Drop in replacements)