We have been working on a very similar thing over the last few moths - the hope is to be able to offer these as an optional upgrade to the E3D-v6 - basically for all the reasons that you mentioned.
Our’s differs in as much as the heater is thermally and mechanically bonded using a high-temperature, high-conductivity ceramic to the aluminium “heater block” which makes it a little more specific to our application but gives it some really excellent thermal properties for the job that it’s doing.
What kind of temperature sensor is that, and how is it bonded? I think lower-mass, faster-heating/cooling hot ends are the future, but they need to have a faster response to temperature changes than current designs.
Very good thermal bonding of the sensor is a must, but the real trick, I think, will be getting the right balance of measuring the heating element’s temperature vs. measuring the temperature of the barrel (which, with low enough thermal mass, will be cooled a non-negligible amount by having cold filament shoved into it).
The ideal solution actually might require two sensors: one coupled closely to the heater and the other coupled closely to the barrel, with an algorithm to run the heater hotter when there’s more difference between the two values to try to keep the inner barrel’s temperature consistent.
Oh, also, I’ll repeat what I’ve said on other threads: If you’re getting custom heaters made, don’t do separate 12V and 24V versions. Make a 24V version with a center tap so that the two halves can be wired in parallel instead of series for 12V applications.
@Whosa whatsis By looking at the picture, I think they bond the ceramic directly to the metal during manufacturing. I would guess it’s threaded inside but hard to unscrew due to the process. Am I right @Joshua_Rowley ? It doesn’t seem like it is removable. We were also thinking of doing something similar to that and also put the thermistor next to the barrel when making the ceramic heater so that it encompasses the thermistor as well and it can’t move/pop out therefore.
It doesn’t seem like it is removable. We were also thinking of doing something similar to that and also put the thermistor next to the barrel when making the ceramic heater so that it encompasses the thermistor as well and it can’t move/pop out therefore.