Are you looking for a guide that can teach or guide you on how to change Ender 3 nozzle? If YES! Then continue reading this article because I have covered everything that you need to know.
If you have never changed the Ender 3’s nozzle before then in the beginning the process might seem a bit daunting. The process itself is very easy but you have to be cautious while changing the nozzle. During the process, the nozzle and the hotend will be very hot and mishandling can burn you, also applying force in the wrong direction or to the wrong part can end up damaging the 3d printer.
In a nutshell, you have to go through the following steps in order to change your Ender 3’s nozzle:
- Heat the nozzle
- Unload the filament and remove the fan shroud
- Unscrew the nozzle using a spanner
- Cool down the nozzle
- Put the new nozzle into it’s place
- Heat the hotend
- Tighten the nozzle using the spanner
Note: I emphasize that you must read the detailed version below to avoid any damage to the nozzle or printer itself and also to avoid accidents.
Contents
When to replace Ender 3 nozzle
If you are still wondering “Should I change my printer’s nozzle or not?” then consider the following points as they will help you decide:
- Decreased print quality: If you are noticing a decrease in the print quality and everything is fine in your printer and its settings then changing the nozzle will fix it. It happens because of the hot and melted filament passing through the nozzle which damages the internal structure of the nozzle over time.
- Clogged Nozzle: Of course, you can unclog it using the tool that you have received with the printer. Personally, after each print, I clean my Ender 3 nozzle which has helped me massively to avoid clogs. However, if the nozzle gets clogged somehow I don’t like going through the hassle of unclogging my Ender 3 nozzle anymore rather I like to replace them which saves me a lot of time and effort, also they are very cheap on Amazon.
- You haven’t changed the nozzle in a long time: If you are running an abrasive filament through the nozzle I recommend changing the nozzle more frequently something like every 3-6 months at max. However, if you running just PLA then depending on your printer’s runtime you can change the nozzle anywhere between 6 months to 1 year.
- You want to print faster: Replacing the default 0.4mm nozzle of Ender 3 with a larger nozzle like 0.5mm or 0.6mm will let you print faster.
- You want highly detailed prints: Just like to increase the print speed you can change the nozzle, you can replace the Ender 3’s default nozzle with a much smaller nozzle like 0.2mm or 0.3mm to get more detailed prints.
How to choose nozzle size
Finding the right nozzle size is crucial for a perfect 3d print and the process of finding it is quite easy, however, some 3d printer owners find it quite confusing. The rule that I follow is “If I need high details in my prints then I’ll choose a smaller size nozzle like 2.5mm regardless of the model size. Similarly, If high details are not a necessity of my print then I’ll choose a larger size nozzle for my print especially if the print is going to take longer time to finish.”
How to change Ender 3 nozzle
Before you move to the process of changing the nozzle I want you to keep the following things in your mind because a minute mistake can either injure you or in the worst case can lead to a fire breakout causing major loss.
- Do not touch the heat block with bare hands during the process because it will be extremely hot and will lead to skin burns.
- Do not press or pull or maybe just don’t mess with the wires coming out of the heat block because these wires are responsible for controlling and monitoring the temperature temperature of the nozzle and they are very fragile, so a minute mistake can lead to a fire hazard.
Tools Required to change Ender 3 nozzle
You will need the following tools to replace Ender 3’s nozzle, you should already have the following tools if not then you can buy the toolkit for Creality Ender 3 on Amazon.
- Allen keys
- Adjustable wrench
- 6mm spanner
- New nozzles
How to remove Ender 3 nozzle
To remove the nozzle from Ender 3’s hotend follow the below steps:
- Heat up the hotend to remove the nozzle: Turn on your printer, in your Ender 3’s LCD screen select control, then temperature, then nozzle, and now increase the temperature to 210 degrees Celsius.
- Remove the filament: Wait for the temperature to reach 210° C and pull out the filament if you haven’t already.
- Remove fan shroud: To detach the fan shroud simply unscrew the two screws that are holding it using the appropriately sized Allen key.
- Unscrew the nozzle: Tightly hold the heat block using an adjustable wrench and unscrew the nozzle using an appropriately sized spanner. Do not touch either the heat block or the nozzle!!!
How to attach Ender 3 nozzle
Now that you have removed the old nozzle it’s time to put a new nozzle in its place.
- Cool down the heat block: Before attaching the new nozzle to your Ender 3, I recommend cooling down the heat block because it will reduce the chances of doing damage to the nozzle threads, once the temperature has fallen to 0 continue with the next step.
- Screw the new nozzle: Put the nozzle into its place and start screwing it you can either do it using the spanner or using your hand if everything has cooled down and do not tighten it too much just make sure it fits perfectly.
- Heat up the hotend: From the Ender 3’s menu raise the temperature to 210° C again, once the temperature reaches 210° C follow the next steps.
- Tighten the new nozzle: Again use the adjustable wrench to hold the heat block and tighten the nozzle by only one turn using the correct-sized spanner, do not force too much otherwise you will ruin the nozzle’s thread.
- Attach the fan shroud: Now that you are done with the replacement, you can put back the fan shroud in its place and tighten the screws using the correctly sized allen key.
Test Print
It’s always a good idea to check if everything is working fine or not after some modification or fixing. In this case, you have changed the nozzle, and in the end, the nozzle decides whether your print is perfect or not.
Print the calibration cube and inspect it to check if everything is working fine or not, if you followed every step carefully everything should be fine.
Conclusion
I hope with this article I was able to help you with your Creality Ender 3 nozzle replacement. Once the nozzle is replaced and you have configured the settings your new prints will come out amazing. Problems like low-quality prints and over-extrusion will be gone now unless they are caused by some other factor. Overall the print quality will be much better now.
If you are still facing any problems you can ask me about them in the comment box below.