Upgrading your tools is a time honored tradition for anyone that wants to elevate the projects they’re working on. 3D printers are no different and you can find dozens of different modifications to make your printer better, some simple, some complex. Lucky for you, the Pros at MatterHackers have boiled it down to two lists of upgrades: basic and advanced upgrades. The lists are differentiated by how intense the modification process is or what the modification will get you in terms of capabilities. Let’s take a look, in no particular order, of the top ten advanced upgrades for 2021.

BlazeCut T-Series

Whether you have a massive print farm and need some insurance or you have a 3D printer of questionable quality, a fire suppression system is a worthwhile investment in case of emergency. The BlazeCut T-Series is an easy-to-install passive fire suppression system that doesn’t require any external element in order to activate. By relying on pressure building inside the tube to set it off, you don’t have to worry about dead batteries preventing it from doing its job. We’ve tested this ourselves using an older, no-name printer with its limited safety features disabled and the BlazeCut T-Series successfully put out the flames before the entire enclosure started to burn up. Even if you have full confidence in your 3D printers, having one of these installed can take a huge weight off your shoulders with the peace of mind it brings.

A small gauge on the side of the BlazeCut T Series Fire Suppression System used to monitor the interior pressure of the tubing.
A small gauge on the side of the BlazeCut T Series Fire Suppression System used to monitor the interior pressure of the tubing.

Liquid Cooling

When you enclose a 3D printer, you keep the air within the chamber warm and controlled, preventing temperature-sensitive 3D prints from warping or splitting; cold, drafty air can’t sweep through the build volume of the 3D printer. In most cases this solves any temperature related issue your 3D printer may be facing, however with some more advanced materials that need even more heat in order to be 3D printed effectively, you need more than a fan to keep the hotend’s heatsink cool. Liquid cooling your 3D printer’s hotend can help prevent jams from heat creeping up through the heat break and into the heat sink by drawing any heat away that’s made its way to the heatsink and keeping it localized in the heater block and nozzle. When attached to the extruder, liquid cooling  helps prevent the extruder motor from overheating and skipping steps as it intermittently shuts off to prevent permanent damage. e3D and Dyze have liquid cooling options for both their hotends and extruders, so you can keep liquid cooling systems in the same ecosystem and with parts that you are familiar with.

A diagram by e3D used to show the workings of their Titan Aqua connected to the Liquid Cooling Unit
A diagram by e3D used to show the workings of their Titan Aqua connected to the Liquid Cooling Unit

New Board

Within every 3D printer is a controller board that drives every part of the 3D printing process, from motion to heat up and every command in between. At release, a 3D printer will likely have a controller board perfectly fit for its use, but as 3D printing as a whole progresses, newer boards are launched with new features and at a cheaper price than the original controller board. Fortunately, it is possible to swap out your older controller board for an up-to-date board that might be quieter, faster, or has more room for expansion with additional modules. Upgrading your board is one of the most advanced procedures you can do with your 3D printer, as it requires research and a very hands-on approach to translate all the innate settings in your 3D printer’s firmware onto this new board. If you’re considering a change of scenery, the Einsy RAMBo is a fantastic board that, while still 8-bit, incorporates quiet TMC2130 stepper drivers for 1/256th microstepping, the Duet family of controllers have a fully featured base unit and modular boards for increased useability, and Panucatt has boards of various form factors to upgrade your 3D printer to 32-bit and allow you to remove the stepper drivers so you can keep your 3D printer running at peak industry performance at all times.

A closeup of the Panucatt Azteeg X5 GT.
A closeup of the Panucatt Azteeg X5 GT.

Stepper Drivers

If the controller board used by your 3D printer has stepper drivers that are removable, it’s likely that they use the Pololu footprint; essentially the standard removable stepper driver format. This means that you are able to maintain, improve, and upgrade your 3D printer with the latest innovations without having to replace the entire controller board. Every stepper driver is a little different from the next, with some running extra quiet but have to be slow with heavy toolheads, or are a little noisy but can sling massive tool heads and gantries with ease. Panucatt developed a larger format called Bigfoot that allows for more features and amperage to run through the stepper driver chip, making it an ideal choice for heavier 3D printers or printers that need to pick up the pace and ramp up print speeds.

With its larger footprint, the Bigfoot BSD2660 stepper driver can handle bigger challenges than standard stepper drivers.
With its larger footprint, the Bigfoot BSD2660 stepper driver can handle bigger challenges than standard stepper drivers.

Magigoo

Build plate adhesion is one of the most important aspects of 3D printing; without it your entire 3D print will tip over and be nothing more than scrap. Fortunately, Magigoo has many formulations of their bed adhesive solution for various 3D printing materials, from baseline PLA to the advanced Polypropylene. Every Magigoo type is easy and simple to apply: unscrew the cap, press the applicator down and start spreading the adhesive across the entire glass build plate. Removal is just as easy: a little warm soapy water, a towel, and some elbow grease and you’ll be back to a fresh glass bed. Magigoo has even published a full list of the materials they’ve tested, the type of Magigoo used, and their temperature settings all in an effort to take the guesswork out of it and get you right to printing.

An array of Magigoo's adhesive offerings.
An array of Magigoo's adhesive offerings.

High-Temperature Capable Hotend

There may be a point in your 3D printing career where you need a large 3D print to finish in a desperately short amount of time. 3D printers can only move so fast before they dramatically degrade the quality of the 3D print. Simple solution is to use a hotend that can push more filament through it faster than a standard hotend, allowing you to thicken up the layers and decimate the print times necessary. The Slice Engineering Mosquito Magnum, e3D Volcano with a copper heater block, or Dyze Hotend  can churn through an entire spool of filament faster than you could imagine. These hotends feature longer meltzones than their standard counterparts to give filament adequate time to fully melt, even when you need to extrude filament for 0.8mm layers. Higher flowrates aren’t the only specialty of these hotends - higher maximum temperatures are possible thanks to the metal alloys that make up the components of each of these, with some capable of reaching temperatures as high as 500°C! If you’re looking to 3D print at speeds faster than normal or temperature past the industry standards, then a high-temperature hotend might be in your future.

Slice Engineering Mosquito Magnum, E3D Volcano, and Dyze Hotend are all capable of sustaining high temperatures.
Slice Engineering Mosquito Magnum, E3D Volcano, and Dyze Hotend are all capable of sustaining high temperatures.

New Extruder

In our Top Ten Upgrades for 2021 article, we discussed drop-in extruder upgrades tailor made and designed for specific 3D printers. Installation only requires following their instructions and some slight firmware changes, if any, but not every printer will have an extruder designed to fit on them exactly. Instead, you may need to design your own mount or download one previously designed, splice some wires, and make some more changes to the firmware in order to install it properly. All that is still worth the effort of installing a new extruder, as something like a Bondtech BMG can bring so much utility to your 3D printer. High-quality extruders like those from Bondtech or e3D will have dual-drive gears to pinch the filament from both sides for increased torque, an internal gear ratio for even more torque than the stepper motor could put out on its own, and a tension adjuster to put optimal pressure on the filament being used to prevent slippage. Every extruder is a little different from the next, so you may find you need to modify your firmware, but only enough to reverse motor direction or change E-steps.

Left; Bondtech BMG, Right: e3D Titan. Both feature gear-reductions and quick-release levers for the filament tension.
Left; Bondtech BMG, Right: e3D Titan. Both feature gear-reductions and quick-release levers for the filament tension.

High-Temperature Capable Thermistor

With your new hotend, you will likely need to upgrade your temperature sensor as well, if you choose to print at higher temperatures. A standard thermistor (both glass bead and cartridge) will function just fine up to 300°C, but push it any further and you run the risk of inaccurate temperature readings. The Slice Engineering Thermistor and e3D PT100 sensor are better suited for higher temperatures while still having enough room at the low end to still be reliable for “low temperature” filaments like PLA.

While small, the PT100 and Slicer Thermistor are able to handle the temperatures attainable by the high-temperature hotends.
While small, the PT100 and Slicer Thermistor are able to handle the temperatures attainable by the high-temperature hotends.

BOFA Fume Extractor

For some materials, fumes are an unavoidable part of the process. Some 3D printers have built in fume-extraction fans with filters, but if the 3D printer doesn’t have its own enclosed build chamber and instead relies on a DIY unit, then fume extraction is up to the user to configure. BOFA makes fume-extraction units in various sizes which makes it easy to find the perfect size for your use-case. Every unit comes with connection hoses to make integration easy, Simply install one end to the inlet port and the other end to your enclosure, turn it on, and the BOFA will do the rest.

BOFA Extractor units come in many sizes, from desktop to small appliance, each better suited for small or large ventilation requirements.
BOFA Extractor units come in many sizes, from desktop to small appliance, each better suited for small or large ventilation requirements.

Palette 2S

Not every 3D printer is capable of 3D printer multiple colors or materials without serious modification, unless of course you use the Palette 2S or Palette 2 PRO S. Palette is a multi-filament extrusion system you can connect to nearly any 3D printer that uses 1.75mm diameter filament. Depending on the firmware used by the 3D printer there may be some incompatibility, so be sure to check Mosaic’s list of compatible printers or give us a call and we can get you taken care of. If it is compatible with your 3D printer, the Palette 2 S will “talk” to your 3D printer to make sure it knows the right point to cut one strand of filament and splice on another, so you can have 3D prints in four crisp colors by purging out the blended filament in between, or you can integrate soluble supports into the spliced line of filament, enabling your single-extrusion 3D printer to utilize dissolvable supports for complicated geometries. There is some calibration and setup involved, but thankfully Mosaic has many guides and walkthroughs to help guide you to success.

An interior look of the Palette 2S PRO that can be accessed at any time thanks to its magnetic cover.
An interior look of the Palette 2S PRO that can be accessed at any time thanks to its magnetic cover.

Not every upgrade will make sense for everyone - some may find the Palette 2S significantly more essential than printing at higher temperatures - so it’s important to consider what goals do you have for your 3D printers and which upgrade guides you further down that path. There are many directions you can go and hopefully this list gets you headed in the right one. Any upgrades we didn’t mention here or the basic article that has made a big difference for you? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Happy printing!