Bondtech shares models and instructions to install the LGX on a CR-6 SE

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How To Install A LGX On The CR-6 SE

17
May
LEARN

How To Install A LGX On The CR-6 SE

Posted on by Nuno Santiago

Project give-away
LGX on CR-6SE

With this post we will teach you how to upgrade the Creality CR-6 SE with a Bondtech LGX, from the stock bowden setup to a shortbowden extruder setup.

This setup uses the stock hotend. We are also preparing parts that will allow to use other hotends like Copperhead and Mosquito.

Bondtech is sharing the STEP and STL models of the required plastic parts. Check below for links to download them.

To install this upgrade you need to 3D print the plastic parts and buy the Bondtech products below.

We ask you to source PTFE tube, but Capricorn will be a better option.

For a more long lasting solution consider upgrade the hotend to an all-metal.

 

POST PUBLISHING UPDATE

This post tells you how to install a LGX extruder on the CR-6 SE, but check also what Michael Bourque did. Below find links to his related projects with very interesting solutions.

 

1. Source these items

LGX eXtruder
Required

4mm Push-fit Collar
Optional

DDX extension cable
JST-XH6 > JST-PH6 Required

90mm 2/4 PTFE Tube
Required

2. Print these models

Click each image to download the STL model.

Mount for LGX

Download STEP

Runout Sensor Mount

Download STEP

Wide Cable Holder

Download STEP

3. Look for this mounting hardware

2x
M3 plus M5 washer

Source the washers from any available supplier or home stash.

They will be used to block the downward movement of the hotend.

2x
Zip-tie

Source a pair of zip-ties from your tool-box or local supplier…

… to hold the cables with the Runout Sensor Mount.

2x
M3x12mm countersunk

Re-use both from the stock extruder as shown in the picture.

They will be used to grab the Mount to the X-carriage.

2x
M3x18mm

Source one from your stock extruder as shown in the picture.

They will be used to hold the LGX to the Mount from below.

4. Complete these steps

5. Be aware of the following

1. The LGX can be used on this setup with either the Direct or Bowden extruder interface plugs. On our setup we are using the Bowden interface plug. This is how we recommend you use it.

2. The PTFE (or Capricorn) tube in between the LGX and the hotend should be partially mobile to allow the levelling to take place. Do not use clips to secure it. Leave it floating on the LGX and hotend side.

3. The washers we use above the levelling plate are used to allow the hotend to rise when levelling and to prevent it from dropping when the extruder pushes filament out.

4. Do not connect the LGX stepper motor directly to the stock stepper motor cable. Use the recommended extension cable or make a compatible cable following our stepper motor’s technical data.

5. On the video we finish the setup by adjusting the Vref from 1.36 (stock value on our printer) to 0.8. It is recommended to use from 0.4 to 0.8. Lower the Vref if stepper motor is too hot to touch. Use a Multimeter to perform the procedure. Remember to read using VDC and to use a scale that may show you at least 2 decimal places.

6. Adjust the trigger threshold of the strain gauge. To raise its value twist the potentiometer clockwise, and counter clockwise to lower it. We got the best results setting it up to its minimum.
To know more about tuning the strain gauge levelling on Creality read this post from Sebastiaan Dammann.

7. Set the e-steps value to 400. You can either do it by: adding a M92 g-code command to the start g-code of your slicer; creating a g-code file with the M92 E400 and M500 commands and “print it” (recommended); or update the firmware including that change.

8. We achieved the best print results by using the Prusa Slicer to create the g-code files. The 3DBenchy we are making on the demo video was printed with E-PLA from Add:North, and with the following LGX profile: LGX_CR-6

See The Upgrade Kit In Action Printing A 3D Benchy

Warning – It is a very boring video : )

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54 thoughts on “How To Install A LGX On The CR-6 SE”

  1. oliviercazaubon@gmail.com says:

    I
    Do you tought about create an adapter like the DDX V3 of the LGX for CR-10S Pro v2, i want one but now i have saw the LGX i would prefer go to this model.
    Thanks for the response.
    Regards

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi Oliver,
      We understand why you prefer the LGX. It has brought many new great features and it is a great extruder.
      Until the end of the year, and because we have so many other projects running, we are not planning on creating a LGX based DDX.
      Until then, in our opinion, if you compare using a custom LGX setup against using the current BMG based DDX v3, we believe the DDX v3 is a better option.
      Thank you for your interest in our content.

  2. clue3030 says:

    How about making the same mount to fit the ender 6 also. So many of us in the ender 6 Facebook group have an LGX but there is no mount out there for us to mount this to our ender 6. It would mean a great deal to the ender 6 community if one was created for the Eder 6 to have the LGX mounted to it. Thanks

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi Peter,
      We assigned many resources to create a good solution for the Ender-6.
      Our work was focused on changing the DDX to fit it. We finally have it working with the DDX v3.
      For the time being, and because we have so many other projects running, we are not planning on creating a parallel solution based on the LGX.

      We supply in this post the STEP files of all the parts used.
      To install a LGX on the Ender-6 the way we did here, we hope someone can come forward and make the necessary adjustments to our parts.
      Thank you for your interest in our content.

  3. aignix18 says:

    “We are also preparing parts that will allow to use other hotends like Copperhead and Mosquito.”
    As soon as that’s available, I’m in. It would be great to use the high-flow mosquito and LGX with the CR-6 SE.

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi,
      We will release this week (until 19th June 2021) an adapter to use Mosquito hotends on this solution. Copperhead is still under study.
      Thank you for your interest in our solutions : )

      • rokk says:

        Just confirming if I am about to purchase the LGX and mosquito, will you be supplying the hardware bracket or will they be printed by the user ? Just trying to figure out if I hold off and purchase everything as a complete kit or can I purchase the LGX and Mosquito Hotend now and print the bracket when released……awesome work

        • Nuno Santiago says:

          Hi Rokk,
          That is a good question. Our plan is to supply the model so users can print it. The bracket needs a thread for the stock push-fit that may be modelled or tapped after printed. Please tell us your preference: To print the part? Or to buy the part?

          • rokk says:

            I would prefer to purchase the complete kit , as the finish and quality of your parts are A1 and very industrial looking, so I would personally pay the extra knowing the parts are tested and in spec , removing another variable that might be out of your control, if end user prints parts.

          • Lee Wilkinson says:

            Hi Nuno,

            Just a little bit of feedback on the LGX on the CR6. I am using the printed files and I struggled to get good prints that would hold up well over time. I think if you provided parts that could be purchased this would be far better. I think giving people the option is also good. I think you need to have both options.

          • Nuno Santiago says:

            Lee,
            Thank you for sending us your feedback. We will consider it. We may give you feedback on that next Monday as well, after our weekly Product Development meeting. Talk soon.

          • loki33w says:

            I would also be very interested in a complete solution. I ordered the mosquito hot end and attempted to print the specified parts but I guess my tolerances just aren’t there. They didn’t work. So the mosquito is sitting in my parts Drawer until such time as an factory solution is produced. Hope that is soon as I am very pleased with the mosquito running on my CR-10 S4

          • Nuno Santiago says:

            Hi Loki,
            We were not planning on making the Mosquito adapter available to purchase.
            We can eventually make that part for you alone.
            What we are doing is developing a full and special upgrade kit for the CR-6 SE and Max that uses our LGX Lite.
            It will also allow to use the Mosquito hotend.

          • Nuno Santiago says:

            Hi,
            The Upgrade Kit based on the LGX Lite for the CR-6 SE, Max and maybe CR-10 Smart, will hopefully be available late February or beginning of March.

  4. Roger Eberhart says:

    For those using the community firmware with the BTT CR-6 motherboard, what setting should used for the extruder stepper motor (this can be adjusted via firmware with this setup)? In the firmware, the current is listed as mA, not volts. I assume 800mA would be the same as .8 volts?

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi Roger,
      As you know with the BTT SKR for CR-6 mainboard you don’t need the multimeter neither to turn potentiometers on the PCB to adjust the stepper drivers’ current. It uses TMC2209 stepper drivers, same as stock, but you may control their current on the firmware using mA.

      On the LGX we recommend to use a current between 400 and 800 mA.
      The 2 main rules on setting the current on the LGX are:

      1. Lower the current if the stepper motor is too hot too touch.
      2. Raise the current if the extruder skips steps.

      Final note:
      We saw already examples coming from customers using boards that have these UART-controlled stepper drivers and use the LGX with a 100 mA setting. So follow the rules and use our recommended values only as a starting point.

  5. Lee Wilkinson says:

    Hi Nuno,

    Is there any update on when the Mosquito adapter/mounting solution will be released. I have held off from buying as Mosquito until you release the mount, either for purchase as a printed part or to download and print. Please could you provide an update on expected release date. I understand sometimes things take longer than expected and that is fine, but just a rough update would be really appreciated.

    Many thanks for the great work!!

    Lee

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi Lee,
      We are a bit late on that. We have a prototype already but have missing the time to finish the testing and final adjustments. Have to come back to you on Monday. Today we cannot give you a specific date.

        • Nuno Santiago says:

          Hi Lee,
          We continue delayed.
          I was not aware when I last wrote you but my colleague in charge of that project started a 4 weeks vacation.
          Meanwhile I will also have my Summer vacation.
          We have to delay news until September.

          • Lee Wilkinson says:

            OK thank you for the update Nuno. I was also away for Summer leave…back now. I will check back early September with you then if thats ok? Enjoy your break guys!!!

          • Nuno Santiago says:

            Hi Lee,
            Glad you remembered 🙂
            The Mosquito Adapter file is available already at the bottom of the article.

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      No,
      We couldn’t get Cura to deliver good results with this setup.
      We now use Prusa Slicer to make much better parts.

      We supply a Prusa Slicer profile at point 5.8 of this article.

      Thank you for using Bondtech 🙂

  7. GKai says:

    Hello!
    I did a modification on the runout sensor mount, so it has a guiding wheel for filament coming from the top of an enclosure. I have posted photos and was asked to share the stl. I have not found license information on your site, so I wanted to ask whether this is permitted under your license.
    Best
    Kai

  8. Mick says:

    Does this work with a Micro-Swiss hotend since the Micro-Swiss has a compression fitting that fixes the tube to the hotend, so it won’t “float” like the stock Ender hotend?

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Mick,
      It should work with any hotend compatible with the CR-6 SE that you may mount at the same location and position as stock.
      You may need to adjust the length of the PTFE tube though.

      Regarding fixing the tube.
      As you know, during bed levelling the nozzle is pressed against the bed.
      This causes the flexible section of the mount late to oscillate.
      It is recommended to have some slack on the tube so it floats slightly when the nozzle is pressed.
      Otherwise it will cause unwanted stresses and disturb the bed levelling.
      The floating may occur inside the LGX’s push-fit connector.

  9. Mick says:

    Thanks Nuno, I didn’t want to have one end fixed on the Micro-Swiss until I checked with you. I wasn’t sure if there would be enough play in just the LGX for leveling.

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi,
      No, we don’t have profiles for Cura to use the LGX on the CR-6 SE.
      The slicer we use internally is the Prusa Slicer.
      We got better results with it.

      If you want to use Cura please take a standard profile and adjust it with some settings we recommend:
      retraction speed : 35 mm/s
      retraction distance (short bowden) : ~1.5 mm ~(0.4 + tube length(mm) x 0.015)

      Remember to lower the current on the extruder stepper motor drivers, if you feel the stepper motor too hot to touch.
      Thank you for using Bondtech LGX 🙂

  13. Peter-Zoltan Keresztes says:

    The LGX lite I got need M4 screws. The M3 is too small and can enter the hole without screwing but the printer mount is configured to use M3 screws. I could drill the holes for the M4 screws to fit but would that give enough strength?

  15. Daniel_Boisvert says:

    Hello,
    What is the length of the tube between the LGX and the hotend? Reference: Section 5. Be aware of the following (Paragraph No. 2). I’ll probably buy the LGX when it’s available for the CR6-SE. I installed Sebastiaan Dammann’s Community Firmware.
    Thank you

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi Daniel,
      The length required for the 2/4mm PTFE tube is 90mm, as mentioned in the “1. Source these items” section.
      Thank you for using Bondtech.

        • Martin11 says:

          Hello Daniel
          The PTFE tube between the GLX and the hotend in my case (I use a hotend from microswiss) is 64.44 mm. The right length is very important! For a long time I solved the problem of bad prints, jumping of the GLX drive. I had a short tube… Filament in the hole between the GLX and the tube twisted… After editing, the prints are amazing!

          • Nuno Santiago says:

            Hi Daniel,
            Thank you very much for sending us your feedback.
            Did you used the method we have on the Arrow Upgrade Kit setup guide to cut the tube at the right length?
            /product/lgx-lite-arrow-upgrade-kit-for-creality/#accordion-item-4._cutting_the_capricorn_tube_the_right_way
            Or are you using a Perch setup?

  16. judge says:

    Is there a version of the runout sensor mount that I could screw a pressure fitting in to? Whenever I change the filament, the PTFE tubing just pops out.

    • Nuno Santiago says:

      Hi Judge,
      The runout sensor mount tube fitting can be used with a Push-fit clip. That will help.
      Currently we do not have any model for a threaded push fit connector.
      It could be interesting to look for offering this.

      If your tube is not secured, maybe you can re-print the runout sensor mount with more flow so the tube collet sits more secure in the push-fit groove.

      Thank you for using Bondtech : )

  17. Daniel_Boisvert says:

    Hello Nuno,
    I purchased the LGX Pro Extruder (SN#2210281071S). What will be the length of the PTFE tubing between the LGX and the base Hotend of the CR6-SE? Thank you.

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