Micro Swiss has launched a new hot end for Creality K1 and K1 Max 3D printers. Dubbed FlowTech, the component marks the first in what will become a line of hot ends that address “common issues such as leaking nozzle seals and complex nozzle swaps”.
To do so, the FlowTech, which is rated to 300 °C, features a nozzle and thermal break combined into a single, sealed assembly – what Micro Swiss calls a “leak-proof” design. The FlowTech can also be swapped single-handedly, Micro Swiss says, with no need for hot tightening.
Cold swaps seem to be the direction toward which many new entries to the hot end space are moving – and hold the potential to improve overall efficiency and printer reliability – so it’s nice to see support for a wider range of printers on that front. This may hold especially true in the case of the K1, the original hot end of which was problematic, to say the least – requiring an update after problems with the integrated thermistor caused heating issues and failure in some units. The updated design seems to be holding up well but, hey, it’s nice to have options.
The FlowTech also features an all-metal design that can handle “most modern 3D printing filaments” and a ceramic cylindrical heater with a 28.6 mm melt zone, in an attempt to achieve a high volumetric flow rate.
Word’s still out on whether the K1 version of the FlowTech is a worthy replacement, but at the moment, it has piqued our interest. The Micro Swiss FlowTech hotend for Creality K1 and K1 Max is currently available on the Micro Swiss website for $64.99, where you can also check out full specs and download an installation guide.
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License: The text of "Cold Swap Your Creality K1 Nozzles With This Drop-In Hot End" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.