Nova thermal testing and machining feedback.
Added 2020-05-31 04:39:23 +0000 UTCI can say one thing comfortably. The Nova, even though the designer claims it’s the “most thermally advanced hotend,” is not the most thermally advanced hotend in the market.
After numerous cycles the average critical heatbreak temp was 40C. The Mosquito and Copperhead do much better in this regard by over 5C. This makes sense due to the hotends tighter heatsink fins which need more static pressure like the V6 but the included fan is small and underpowered. Not sure if better cooling will help but my goal was to compare the stock Nova against its main competitors stock.
I also decided to look into the claim that the Nova is the “best machined hotend period.” Well... no. Not even close. The chrome finish hides many of the machining issues, heatbreak is poorly made, fitment is meh, anodizing chips easily, nozzle coating is clumped into the orifice, and other glaring issues make it fall short of their claims.
In the end I’m weighing on this hotend harder than I would normally but the owner notoriously claims these wild statements then when challenged blocks the person.
Please also note that Vlad attacked the Slice Copperhead Kickstarter because Slice claimed the copperhead was the most thermally efficient hotend under $100. Yes you can buy a Nova for $100 but it’s completely proprietary. No reprap nozzles, heater cartridges, nozzle tools, nozzles, thermistors, heatbreaks or heatsinks will work with it. None. In the end the minimum you need to spend for a working hotend is $175.
For $175 and the wild claims I’d hope for something to work with but I continue to be let down at every turn. Next is testing the max flow rate vs other hotends which Vlad claims the Nova is the fastest hotend on the market with a 47 cubic mm top flow rate.
We shall see about that.
