Bowden 3d Printer Extruder Vs. Direct Drive

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In this video, we take a look at the key differences between a bowden 3d printer extruder and a direct drive extruder. We will cover the pros and cons of each and discuss which extruder type may be best for your specific applications.

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NEREUS - Lotus

[KLP]

I just like to add that when I bought a pre-built direct drive extruder for one of my Ender 3 printers I used it for a while and the print quality was just not very good so I took it apart and I found that the two screws that hold the hot end to the back plate were loose. Both of them were loose.
I have found that poor print quality sometimes is caused if the hot end is not at right angles to the bed.
Because of that, one of the first things I do while I'm putting a new printer together, is to make sure everything is perfectly square including the hot end in relation to the bed. Everything on the printer must be absolutely square and at perfect right angles all around, and of course, all of the wheels tight enough against the extrusions that there is no wobble.
Because the nozzle is so tiny, it's not a huge deal when they're a little bit out of square, but it does affect print quality and even more if you use ironing.

[Thomllama]

Good vid! I just find direct drive much more reliable with less issues and better longevity over Bowden in general.

[LordHonkInc]

I just recently switched to DD on my (heavily modified, at least for my standards) Ender 3 after hearing a very compelling argument: It's a bedslinger, so the X axis, even with the weight of the motor, is still less than that on the Y axis. I have an ADXL345 accelerometer for resonance compensation so I thought hey, I can check that⁽¹⁾. Sure enough, I _could_ go up to a max of ~16k acceleration on the X axis, but only 4700 on the Y axis. Since both axis are linked in most slicers, the Y axis will _always_ ⁽²⁾ be the limiting factor for a bedslinger. So, at least for that type of printer, the weight of the hotend carriage is, functionally, a non-issue (ignoring wear and tear for a second). The advantages of a) being able to print TPEs and b) less clogging on an all-metal hotend due to less retraction are just much more beneficial, at least for my use case. Not saying it's "the perfect upgrade that everybody should use™", but don't get dissuaded just because somebody tells you it'll make the carriage too heavy.

⁽¹⁾: I just did another test run with my DD setup: Klipper suggests max_accel <= 14500mm/s² for the x axis and max_accel <= 4500mm/s² for y (with mzv shaping). So yeah, at least in regards to maximum acceleration, a heavy carriage is not my limiting factor.
⁽²⁾: Of course, there's an obvious edge case where you literally weigh down the carriage as much as possible just to prove this point wrong, but seriously, unless you actively lighten the Y load AND raise the X load, your bed will always be heavier than your carriage assembly. I don't even use a glass bed and it's _still_ the limiting factor in my setup, for example.

[IAMSatisfied]

Thanks for posting. I'm a 54 y.o. noob at 3D printing (got my Ender 3 V2 three weeks ago) but have jumped in with both feet. I'm interested in print quality and reliability above speed, and therefore have made the decision to go with a direct drive (will order the Orbiter this weekend). With the issues I've had with the stock extruder, the time I save by not having to fiddle with it can be put toward actually printing, which increases my productivity. Add to this the greater versatility of DD systems, and for me it's a no-brainer.

[Martin]

Team: have an all around printer that works perfectly for 90% of your needs, then other printer(s) you change to be specialty printers for the remaining 10%.

[WhereNerdyisCool]

I have 15 machines on my print farm and over the years, I have upgraded as many as I can to direct drive. It's just so reliable for all my material types and I don't have those dreaded Bowden Tube popping out from the hot end or extruder issues some stock printers are notorious for.

[rachaelb]

This was the best description I’ve seen. Thanks.

[pat]

The quality i'm getting printing PETG with a direct drive compared to a Bowden setup makes it worth all the way for me. i go through allooot of PETG and the Print finish/quality is just perfect with it i pretty much have Zero stringing and all i need to do is remove some support and the parts are done nothing to clean up. when i was running bowden i always had some stringing and needed to cleanup the parts a bit.

[CDOTS]

Ender 3 pro. Added linear rails to (y) axis and (x) plus 2 z motors and the direct drive . The linear rail on (x) helps with the added weight. Love it.

[ABZerx_x]

I just upgraded to direct drive on my ender 3 a few days ago, so far I love it. It's so much more reliable, I haven't had a single clog so far. The only downside is that they are more prone to ringing, but it's worth it

[christianstorms]

New to the topic, first printer ordered yesterday. In my budget I had to choose between direct drive or dual z-steppers. Chose the later. It's nice to hear that upgrades at a later point are feasable without need for a whole new printer.

[wachocs]

For me allways direct drive. You can use light extruder because the resistance on the filament is less, usually higher flow and easy to print more filaments. For a Prusa style printer it goes all the way, because the bed is heavy and the X axis doesn't matter if you add a bit more weight
For a CoreXY maybe bowden is a better choice because of the rapid movement you could have. But with sturdy frame and big motors you can have a Direct drive and still print at 100mm/s at 3000-5000mm/s2 acc

[steelwitness]

im fairly new to 3d printing. i bought an ender 3 v2 and a short time after testing it i bought a direct drive extruder to install while installed an all metal hotend and it made life much easier and the prints much better.

[postalshark]

I recently purchased a Biqi B1 and prefer it immensely over my old Deltaprintr. I did swap the extruder over to the EZR and cut the bowden tube as short as possible. It's running like a champ and I was able to print with TPU without recalibrating.

[mrclown]

I think X carriage weight is only something you should be concerned about on a CoreXY. On a Cartesian printer, the moving bed / Y carriage is going to be so much heavier than the X carriage that you will never be able to print truly fast while maintaining quality. People get obsessed over saving a few grams on their X carriage, while forgetting that the Y carriage / bed weighs at least a full kilogram more. Unless your firmware supports different print speeds for each axis (which is doesn't) you're only going to be able to print as fast as your slowest axis.

[joedopp]

I just discovered this channel. Good explanation of the differences between the systems. I've only been 3d printing for 1.5 months and all 3 of my printers are delta's with bowden setups. I've successfully printed with PLA+, PetG and ABS and have yet to try flexible filaments. I see most of your printers are cartesian style 3d printers. One thing missing from your video (as it only applies to deltas) is the "flying extruder" mod to shorten the bowden tube. Your video gave me a better understanding of what people are trying to achieve with that mod so thank you!

[pirobotbeta]

How about a hybrid system?
Bowden to deliver filament, but not perform any retraction or pressure advance actions.
Small servo at the hot-end shifts the Bowden fitting relative to the nozzle, adjusting pressure/retracting.
At the start of a line, the fitting is spaced at some set distance from the nozzle.
As the hot-end accelerates, the servo drives the fitting closer to the nozzle, building pressure rapidly.
Once the hot-end reaches print-speed, the spacing is held constant.
As the hot-end slows down, the servo backs the fitting away from the nozzle, dropping pressure to zero, preventing a corner blob.
The servo could start building pressure before the filament in the tube has a chance to start moving in the tube, thereby reducing 'starvation' at the beginning of a line!
The pressure-modulation profile would match the acceleration profile for the hot-end, of course!
For a non-printing move, the servo pulls back a tiny bit to make sure there is no residual nozzle pressure or dribbling.
The Extruder motor only has to deliver a set amount of filament in a set amount of time, and can do so without fancy acceleration tricks.
Linear Advance is a great idea, but it is rough on hardware!
Since the Extruder is simply feeding stock, and regulation is done 'in the nozzle', stress on the Bowden fittings/motor/tube is greatly reduced.
No retraction = less electrical power to the Extruder motor, less heat.
No more push and pull; just a steady push, or stopped.
BONUS!*BONUS!
The servo driver, if it were a 'voice coil', could modulate nozzle pressure at fairly high frequencies...might be useful to selectively apply patterns or make properly tapered lines in a print.

[alvinvaughn]

this is exactly the information I was looking for. thank you

[raymondfluharty]

i started with direct drive back in95 .back then it was the way to go as extruders for bowden setups were not available for purchase. since then i have used both and can say i prefer direct drive as it has less problems that can go wrong.

[henricoderre]

Creality also has an affordable modular direct drive extruder. I'm trying it out now. It is the first mod on my new E3V2 printer, and the printer has not been used yet. This is my second E3V2 printer. My older printer still has the Bowden setup. I am not impressed with the Bowden tube extruder system.

Creality's direct drive comes with all the necessary installation hardware parts. The package simply includes a photo identifying the ports on the v4.2.2 motherboard, and no instructions. However, installation is rather straightforward, and could be done in about an hour. After removing the extruder stepper motor, stock Bowden tube, and hot end from the X-axis gantry, I continued to disconnect the prior from the motherboard. Then, I installed the direct drive connections to the motherboard. The connections are identical to the stock equipment. Once finished, I only had to readjust the E-steps which were only slightly off. I need to tweak the printer a bit, i.e. bed-levelling, but everything is working fine.

I did not weigh the unit, but I found it light. The only thing I don't like about this direct drive is that the extruder assembly is made of plastic just like the stock extruder. I'd replaced the plastic one for an aluminum one on my older printer after the lever cracked. The lever is notorious for doing this. The plastic extruder on the direct drive is installed behind the stepper motor, and should be replaceable with an aluminum one.