Installing & Testing the Hero Me Gen 6 extruder/cooling system on my Ender 3 Pro, with a BondTech BMG extruder, an E3D V6 hotend and a BL-Touch.
Bill Of Materials
| 3D PRINTED PARTS | |
| Download Hero Me Gen 6 on Printables bltouch_mount_standard.stl bltouch_wing_medium_threaded.stl CR-Ender Gantry Clip 2.stl cr-ender_e3d_gantry_adapter_1b.stl HMG6 DD Base E3DV6-Revo Six-BMO – Bondtech BMG.stl HMG6 E3D V6 collar.stl hmg6_jet_fan_guard.stl hmg6-lightweight-5015-left.stl hmg6-lightweight-5015-right.stl | |
| EXTRUDER | |
| BondTech BMG extruder (Standard Version) |  |
| HOTEND | |
| E3D V6 hotend (24V Direct Drive) |  |
| AUTO BED LEVELING SENSOR | |
| Antclabs BLTouch |  |
| HARDWARE | |
| M3 Hex Socket Head Cap Screws Bolts Nuts Washers Assortment Kit M3x8mm (7) M3x10mm (4) M3x12mm (2) M3x16mm (4) M3x20mm bolts (4) M3x40mm bolts (3) M3 nuts (4) |  |
| THREADED INSERTS FOR 3D PRINTING | |
| M3 4.6 OD x 4mm | |
| STEPPER MOTOR (optional) | |
| Usongshine Nema 17 Stepper Motor (17HS4023) |  |
| PART FAN | |
| 5015 Blower Fan (24V) |  |
| TO USE A 12V FAN WITH A 24V PRINTER | |
| LM2596 DC-DC Buck Converter |  |
| PART FAN CONNECTOR (optional) | |
| JST Plug Connector 2 Pins Male Female |  |
| ZIP TIES (x2) | |
| Zip Ties 2.5 mm/0.07 inch wide |  |
| STEPPER MOTOR EXTENSION CABLE (recommended) | |
Parts Selection & Printing
Download Hero Me Gen 6 on Printables
These are the parts I printed for the setup shown in the YouTube video:
- bltouch_mount_standard.stl
- bltouch_wing_medium_threaded.stl
- CR-Ender Gantry Clip 2.stl
- cr-ender_e3d_gantry_adapter_1b.stl
- HMG6 DD Base E3DV6-Revo Six-BMO – Bondtech BMG.stl
- HMG6 E3D V6 collar.stl
- hmg6_jet_fan_guard.stl
- hmg6-lightweight-5015-left.stl
- hmg6-lightweight-5015-right.stl
With very few exceptions, the parts are already correctly oriented. The parts must be printed with supports enabled. Use supports from the build plate only.
The Hero Me Gen 6 is the most versatile mount for Creality printers: It supports 17 Creality printers, 8 hotends, 7 ABL sensors, and 7 Direct Drive extruders, over 10 million possible combinations of Hero Me setups!
This comes at a price: Finding the parts you need in the 377 parts of the Hero Me package is not easy feat, especially if you have never assembled a Hero Me before. The documentation helps but is a bit generic and confuse as it covers so many versions.
Documentation and technical support are available from the designer’s Patreon page
Assembly Do’s & Don’ts
I made a number of mistakes during assembly… Hope my mistakes save you some time!
In no particular order:
- Secure the fan after attaching the duct to the base otherwise some screws will not be accessible
- Orient the E3D V6 along the Y axis, otherwise it will interfere with the part cooling duct. Reorienting the hotend requires almost everything to be disassembled again
- Attach the hotend fan before attaching the extruder motor otherwise some screws will not be accessible
- Attach the ABL wing before the fan ducts, otherwise some screws will not be accessible
- Connect the ABL wires to the sensor before attaching the ABL mount to the base!
Final Adjustments
The duct height should be adjusted such that it is between 1.4 and 1.8mm above the build plate when the nozzle touches the build plate.
The ABL sensor height must be adjusted to be 2-3 mm below the nozzle when deployed:
Firmware Changes
In the firmware, update the ABL sensor offsets, the home offset and the bed size.
In Configuration.h:
#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { -55.0, -13, 0.0 }#define MANUAL_Y_HOME_POS -9#define X_BED_SIZE 230
#define Y_BED_SIZE 230Hero Me Gen 6 VS Gen 5
The most obvious difference between Gen 6 and Gen 5 is the use of threaded inserts instead of captured nuts. Some nuts were particularly difficult to reach in the Gen5!
The part cooling ducts have been improved too, with a larger exhaust port to reduce back pressure.
Part Cooling Ducts
The Hero Me is compatible with 4 types of fans for part cooling: 4010, 4020, 5015 and 5020 (12V).
| Voltage (V) | Power (W) | RPM | CFM | m3/h | Noise (dBA) | Air Pressure (mmH2O) | Weight (g) | |
| Winsinn 4010 | 24 | 1.68 | 5400 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 31.0 | 6.68 | 12 |
| Winsinn 4020 | 24 | 0.96 | 6500 | 3.5 | 6.0 | 33.4 | 8.34 | 21 |
| Winsinn 5015 | 24 | 2.4 | 5500 | 3.2 | 5.5 | 40.0 | 16.28 | 25 |
| Sunon 5020 | 12 | 1.49 | 5300 | 5.8 | 9.9 | 34.8 | 16.76 | 31 |
To connect a 12V fan to a 24V printer, you can lower the voltage using an LM2596 DC DC converter.
There are 2 types of ducts with Hero Me, either single fan & dual ducts, or dual fan & dual ducts.
Dual cooling isn’t really needed for the kind of print speeds you’ll be able to sustain on a standard 3d printer. The single fan only starts to show its limits when printing with high throughput hotends like the E3D Volcano. Note that the Hero Me designer does not recommend to exceed 70% power for dual fan setups. Using 100% power leads to adhesion issues, warping, and can even deflects the extruding filament! The purpose of using 2 fans is actually to reduce noise by running them at half speed…
Retraction Settings
Starting with linear advance, I print the K-factor calibration pattern from Marlin with K values between 0 and 0.1. The test indicates that the optimal linear advance factor is 0.04.
Once the linear advance is set, the system becomes almost insensitive to the retraction distance. Any positive value would give acceptable retractions, with no stringing! I use a retraction distance between 1 and 2 mm and a retraction speed of 50mm/s.
Vibration Testing
My Hero Me Gen 6 setup weights about 470 grams.
By attaching an accelerometer to the printhead, we can measure the response of the Hero Me to vibrations. The less the setup is sensitive to vibrations, the more it is possible to use high accelerations.
I start by shaking along the X axis. Hero Me fans tend to vibrate at very high frequencies (~110Hz). The problem is that the ducts are only attached at the bottom allowing them to flex and vibrate at the top.
Now let’s shake along the Y axis. The printhead starts to vibrate back and forth at about 38Hz. The 3d printed base doesn’t seem stiff enough to firmly support the weight of the motor at the top.
On the frequency response plots, we see 2 peaks corresponding to these 2 vibration modes.
Klipper with Hero Me Gen 6
This is provided for information only as input shapers should be calibrated for each printer. The recommended input shaper for Hero Me Gen 6 on my Ender 3 Pro is EI at 38Hz and the max. acceleration is 2700mm/s².
