Improve Ender 3 print quality: OMG DM1 dual gear lightweight direct drive extruder upgrade

Welcome back to Aurora Tech Channel.

In my previous video, I upgraded my Ender-3 Pro to have a dual Z-Axis, a dual gear extruder, and a Capricorn bowden tube. It works pretty well compared to the stock Ender-3. The Bowden setup does have its limitations, like how it can’t print flexible filament like TPU. Furthermore, when I print something like this Eiffel tower, it can’t handle the crazy amount of retractions and the model does not look good.

I also tried the Creality direct-drive upgrade kit. It improved a little, but the weight of the stepper motor is a problem. Another problem is that it just came with the standard single gear extruder which is the same as the stock one. I’ve always been trying to find a high-quality direct drive setup for the Ender-3. It has to be lightweight but powerful enough to push and retract the filament and deliver a better print quality.

Today, I will test this OMG DM1 Extruder by My3D. This thing is not cheap, it costs $85. It’s compatible with MK8 and E3D V6 hotends. You can install it as a Bowden setup or direct drive. It came with a Japanese brand ASPINA mini stepper motor. The weight of the motor is around 94 grams and the extruder is around 65 grams, so the total weight we add to the hotend will be just around 160 grams. You also don’t need to 3D print another mount to fix it on the X-carriage, it screws directly to the hotend. The dual gear inside the extruder actually works like 2 extruders. It looks like a well-engineered extruder. I will assemble and install it on this Ender-3 Pro and see what kind of print quality we can get.

Affiliate Links:

MY3D OMG DM1 Extruder

Creality Refurbished Printers (SAVE UP TO 50%):

Used Ender-3 ($79):
Maybe in bad condition, but if you know how to fix some common issues of a 3D printer and have spare parts to replace by yourself, that could be an amazing deal:

Related Videos:

Prusa Mini+: Review and fixing layer banding issue:

Prusa $750 MK3S+ VS $155 Ender-3

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[David-ymvk]

Even though your channel is new, it has quickly become one of my favorite 3d printing channels. I love you videos!

[lameassedgamecast]

You are an intelligent and well-spoken young lady.

[doctrainsmodifications]

Greetings and thank you for this upgrade video.
After watching your efforts here I decided to upgrade my Ender 5 Pro with the OMG Direct Drive Extruder. In the beginning the extruder worked fine but after a while I started to experience " clicking " and under-extruding with my prints.
After a lot of work with the Hot End assembly I found out that the Ref voltage setting of 0.57vdc that came with the kit was too low and would not allow enough current to maintain the torque required to overcome the running filament pressure in the hot end. The stepper manufacture Aspina allowed for a 1 volt reference and 80 degree C temperature. So I adjusted the Ref voltage to 0.700vdc and recalibrated the e-steps and ran some prints. To my delight the clicking and under-extrusion issues were gone and the Gearbox of the extruder was at 38.55 deg C and the Stepper Motor was at 34.88 deg C. I added a 25x25x10 12vdc axial fan for a little additional cooling which resulted in a Gearbox temperature of 31.85 deg C and a Stepper Motor temperature of 30.16 deg C.
I thought that if anyone else might be having similar issues this information might be helpful.

Thanks again for sharing your upgrade it is great work.
Doc'

[MishterDale]

awesome video! i blindly bought this extruder and decided to see if there were any videos about it and from watching your video im glad i bought it. great job on the video.

[HowToSandAFloor]

This is brilliant and seems like the perfect thing for me. I have bought a dual gear extruder but I’m now learning that dual gear extruder a have their own problems.

[funkalicious]

That's gotta be the cleanest benchy I've seen. Looks like a great extruder.

[blackwater]

I just bought this extruder 2 weeks ago I still haven't installed it. It's good timing you released this vid, a bit of a preview of what I got myself into. You are suppose to lower the amperage on your board's extruder to 0.8 by adjusting the potentiometer from what I can recall because the smaller motor cannot handle the default settings, after awhile it will burn out.

[markhartin]

WOW, what a great video. Clear, concise and packed with content. Well done!

[broderp]

I don't see a big enough difference using this extruder over stock. This is a very well produced video and you should be proud of yourself. Thank you for sharing this information.

[carbide]

Great video young lady. These are the exact upgrades i like to do to my ender 3. Right now I'm using the direct drive from creality and my only complaint is it should have been duel gear as i do have slippage on rare occasions.

[JPToto]

I wasn't going to go direct drive but now I'm rethinking that strategy. Thanks, Aurora!

[modmike]

Amazing video! May I suggest you use the same dark color filament to print all your tests? The white doesn’t show up well and it’s hard to see the differences.

[TS_Mind_Swept]

On a side note, I would recommend using a Capricorn tube, and/or an all metal heat break (preferably both) to not only keep a plastic tube which decomposes at higher temperatures away from the heat, but also improve reliability

[mxtoy]

I had my eye on this extruder :) hadn't found other reviews on it but looked great. I ended up buying the biqu h2 for my tronxy d01 still haven't installed it as I've got to design an adaptor for my carriage..your fusion 360 tutorials are a great help :)

[jacksoni]

Great review! I would have loved to see you use the same filament roll for comparing prints between each printer.

[marshallwebber]

This has been a very useful review to me, as I am upgrading an Ender 3 V2 clone from Voxelab. Thank you for your assistance and enthusiasm!

[yeroca]

The cadence of the speaking in this video reminds me so much of Teaching Tech. Good review!

[redjr]

Excellent video and presentation. I will be tackling this topic soon on my Ender 3 Pro. You go girl, go.

[richardbennett]

You appear to be a highly intelligent young lady. You are clear and concise. I thank you.

[Gandi]

Just getting into 3D printing and your videos are the best ones I've found by far! Please keep it up!