Mosquito Hotend - Review - Slice Engineering - Chris's Basement 

not sure if you know this but if you search mosquito hotend on YT this is the first video that pops up. Thanks for the detail Chris.

You have answered every single question I had about this hotend. Thank you very much for this great video.

That nozzle change time is awesome haha, and I’ve never seen a cooling method like that before, impressed it works, a shame it costs 150

Thanks Chris. Ok ... this just told me that I don't need a Mosquito at least for now. I just got my supplies in today except for my water cooled hotend. It is using a titanium heat break with a polished interior, a E3D style Volcano Clone, stainless tips up to 1.2mm, currently 40w but going to 50w heater and a customized screw in high temp thermostat. The system works with two coolant lines going to and from the heat break coolant device, then to a cooling radiator (tiny) with a 80mm LED temperature scrolling fan (pretty darn cool) and then to the water tank and pump which sits around 6-7". I was just getting ready to return my items until I saw your video and realized that mine might be elaborate but for the cost of around $120 I have a complete system with a Volcano setup. Before you know it, using their parts it will hit $200. Mine is for larger volume printing and I didn't want to spend what I did but its something that I have not seen yet anywhere online and the parts can always cool something else like a laser if needed (thats the bonus!). I will upload the build on my channel soon. Thanks for showing me that I made the right choice. Sure simple would be fine but you already have a V6 setup an if thats good enough when compared then why even get a mosquito. Maybe I will give them a shout to see what is the big build capabilities. Next big project is a DIY or modded tall and wide Delta Kossel. Cheers!

Excellent comparison as always Chris! Thanks.

Bought one at ERRF and still haven't installed it in anything but recent "issues" on my CR-10s has me convinced its time, Thanks for another great review

On my shopping list....thanks Cris. Great presentation. I have an aluminum screw in v6 mount.

Frankly, you've piqued my curiosity. I print lots of polycarbonate along with some Ultem (PEI) and PEEK for school projects. I've been using an e3d v6/volcano combo as you imagine but I've been looking at going with the gold version v6, titanium hot end and copper volcano for better performance. That combo is quite in line with the pricing of the Mosquito until I start adding in the cost of water-cooling. At that point, the Mosquito is a very compelling alternative. I'll definitely be dropping a message to the guys down at Slice Engineering to get their take on my unusual use case. I love the v6 ecosystem so I can't imagine swapping all of my machines over, but I can definitely see getting one or two machines onto the Mosquito for sure. Thanks for a very compelling review, Chris!

Chris, When you said "How do test a hotend, I really don't know". You totally had me laughing. I love your honesty. You are one of the best 3d printing channels watch. Keep up the good work!

Great walk-through Chris, thanks buddy. Although I don't personally see me forking out for a Mosquito at this point, it certainly is good to know it's available if my requirements change.

I haven`t hear from Slice Engineering yet. But, you right!I must see what they say first about the problem! But my purchase decision was with your review, that`s why I decided to write to you first! I will definitely comment back when they reply. But before that, I will delete my previous comment before they reply.

Have has my eyes on this great video bro

Thanks Chris great review

Cool Chris , wish I could get one for my Hypercube build

Thanks for great review.

Great to see the results. More pictures of the Mosquito installation on the MK2 would have been great too see.

Great review real information i can take to the shop floor no BS

i pre ordered the mosquito magnum last year, and just now installed it onto my CR10S, replacing the micro swiss all metal hot end. I am very impressed with this thing! I print primarily nylons and am moving towards PC so this is right at the level of temperature range i need to be operating in. With the 0.6 nozzle and 0.2 layer heights this thing kicks ass with carbon fiber reinforced nylons!

I pre ordered the mosquito magnum from Slice as soon as i heard about it. It's been sitting on my desk for a while now, as I travel for work (field engineer). I print nylons almost exclusively right now, but I've wanted to give polycarbonate and maybe even ultem a shot eventually. one look at the mosquito and i knew this was a design i wanted to use.

Good knowledge and sharing. Thanks bud

Off topic from the video but wanted to say thank you Chris, i talked with Ben and he was able to send over some advise. Onto the mosquito, i think you nailed it with the everyday use vs high temp, ease of use vs cost. Finding the balance between $$, need and desire brings it into focus.

I love a machined beautiful copper alloy hotend on a printer that's mostly printed out of plastic. good times. We need a support group.

I ordered one for a large format printer build... I must be crazy but this video helped seal the deal for me over the super volcano.

That's awesome, thank you! I'm looking for a good all metal hot end to print at higher temperatures, and I think I'll go for Slice Engineering products. I want the Bowden tube to be as isolated from the heat source as possible to avoid noxious fumes, and the Mosquito hotends look like they're the best for that by quite a long shot.

well done Chris

Great vid, I debated myself but am taking the plunge to get the mosquito for my ender 5

Chris, thank you for the review. You may also compare the volumetric speed limit of different extruders. It would be nice to see if Mosquito design with 50W heater has any advantage in volumetric speed limit compared to a volcano. For example, if it will be able to print at 250 mm/s with 0.4mm nozzle and 0.2 mm layer height it will be a great advantage over any other hot ends.

Another lovely review. I heard from another guy testing the mosquito that it worked well for PETG, but he had clogging issues with PLA, which seemed to be tied to retraction. It sounds like you did not have these issues.

Great video Chris, I have seen these spice engineering hotends and honestly didn't think they would be good, I currently have a titan aero clone which is great, but it's pretty big, especially compared to this one. Cheers for the vid

hassle free is so underrated. Time is precious

I appreciate you doing a review on it. The easy change nozzle is a huge plus for me (especially with the lesser chance of stripping), but the price is about as much as a whole end effector for my printer, and I doubt that I'll get it to fit on my Rostock anytime soon.

It’s a bit out of my price range, but if I only had one printer it would make more sense to me as it would make that printer more versatile and reliable. Great job explaining, and showing the differences.

Excited to see how these guys work on 400°C+!

@Chris Riley, thank man. What do you do with all the test models produced?

Really interesting to see you using such low retraction. On my Sigma R19 I often use 5mm-6.5mm retraction to get rid of stringing. It aloud as hell as slows the print down. Waiting for a Zaribo machine to arrive and see how it stands up against the Sigma.

Great video...but how do you not have more views/subs? You have pretty good content and I would love to see more stuff along the lines of NylonX, Polycarb, Polycarb/CF, and Prusa printers.

The easy nozzle changes is really the only benefit I see at this price point. Thanks for the testing.

Nice review and details, thank you. Did you check the temperature control with a PID calibration? With the thermal properties of copper, maintaining temperature should be a lot easier?

Chris, thank you for this review! I'm considering this for my OG Prusa MK3 (upgraded to MK3S). What parts would you buy from Slice to convert the hotend? It looks like the mosquito is compatible with the E3DV6 heater and thermistor. Would you recommend upgrading to the Slice engineering heater and thermistor or roll with the stock E3D parts until they die?

OK for printing solder

Would be very interested to see what the max volumetric speed is for say PETG or PLA on these hotends. For example, I can push out about 23mm³/s with PETG out of my cheapo v5 clone with a 40w heater at 250C using a 1mm nozzle before it starts to degrade the print quality, or another way of putting it about 1 kilo every 16 hours.

i have an Anyquibic delta Predator and i wonder if i can install Mosquito™ Magnum Hotend and if i can get the temp to print carbon fiber and PC ? thanks

I get a lot of jamming printing small text w/ 0.25 mm nozzles (all kinds) on my Titan Aero V6 using Hatchbox PLA. Slicer settings have been tweaked by experts in the field and still getting jams. Do you think a Mosquito Bondtech BMG extruder combination will do a better job of eliminating jamming w/ smaller nozzles like a 0.25 mm nozzle?

Would have been nice to see a test at high print speeds for the magnum vs volcano

Did you weigh the 2 hotends? A lighter piece will lower the moment of inertia reducing ghosting and potentially increasing Accel lowering print time.

I love the idea of this for my Anet A8... but it cost more than I paid for it! :) I may be picking up some of the paste and heater cores!

Chris I really appreciate your videos, I like how you performed these tests. Would you consider doing a test of the Mosquito Magnum? I think that would be a great test, especially for the CoreXY community as these printers are very fast and the increased flow would really help. On the same vein, do you think you might do a video of the TriangleLab Dragon hotend? It isn't a clone of the Mosquito, but it is in the same category but at a much better price than the Mosquito. Keep up the great work!

Can you tool me the tool you used to change the nozzle? Looks so useful!

Fantastic to see some more products. Thanks for sharing.

Did you test using the magnum/high flow version of the mosquito hotend or with the normal/non-volcano model?

It would be nice to see the maximum flow rate achievable vs a volcano/v6.

I am curious to see how the mosquito responds to a notoriously stringy material like PETG

Love the concept behind the mosquito, but I don't print higher than 300C and I never do nozzle changes (diamond-tipped nozzles) so I can't really justify swapping over from the V6.

Hi Chris, I love this hotend - but I do get a bit more stringing :/ even when ramped up retraction. I'm on Mk3S - do you have settings you may have used?

I currently swap around a V6, Volcano, and now a Magnum. Sometimes I print small and detail, sometimes large and functional. I especially like that the mosquito/magnum do 1 hand nozzle, change, and whats not mentioned much is they use the regular sized nozzle, not the volcano length which when you look at titanium, X, or other specialty nozzles become more expensive. What I would like to know, since you have both a Mosquito and Magnum, is " is there any downside to a magnum vs the mosquito" I know the magnum has double the flowrate, but does the magnum require more retraction, drip more, or anything that would point to purchasing a mosquito vs the magnum ? Is there any situation where you couldnt just use the magnum?

Hi Chris, when changing a nozzle single handed is it still better to heat the block up first to a high temp or is it Ok to swap cool with this hot end ? Will it still not spin in the circular clamp similar to a V6 without holding the block? best Steve

07:29 Is the V6 shinier than the Mosquito or is it just the lighting? BTW avid fan of your channel! thank you. :)

Ok after 4 months of intense printing (almost 24/7), amazing prints and amazing results disaster struck, during a 30h print in last 4h assembly came loose - heat block started moving up and down vs the 4 tubes and two screws for the heat sink. I took the hot end off and I can see you can retighten the screws but I can't seem to find a hex key that works? Is it some America hex key nalarky - the ones with mm measurements don't work!

The ability to swap nozzles so easily would be worth it even if there were no other advantages, but there are, especially if you want to be able to print some high temp plastics. The oft touted Micro Swiss doesn't offer a copper version of their hot end so aren't even competing in that regard.

Can you use Standard E3D and Volcano Nozzles in this?

You say the weight of the Mosy is the same as standard E3d v6, is that the the up and running carriage? Because there's nothing to the Mos, I would be interested if it was Less weight ( = less Momentum), also I've heard you don't need an cooling fan for the Hot-end, (Heat break not print fan), with the Mosquito (weight saving) which is what I want for my ~A8, I'll be leaving my Prusa Mk3 as is for the moment though!

yeeeeeey thx ;)

Did the prints on the mosquito have a more matte finish? Or was it just a lighting thing?

The mosquito appears to have a harder time with the overhangs. Both on the Bender head and near the bottom of the Benchy.

Great product and great video. For those commenting on the cost, keep in mind that it is still a fairly new product and they are still paying off R&D. LOL! I am sure the cost will drop as time goes on. :)

What kind of settings do you use and what slicing software ? I'm curious just to compare would appreciate it if you don't mind

Hi, interesting video. I found on Thingiverse a direct drive solution with a Bondtech extruder and Mosquito hotend for a Tronxy X5 SA Pro. Do you think it's a good idea?

Do you need to tune that thermistor more? Something seems up with the temps. The E3D prints are much shinier than the Mosquito -- seems like maybe the Mosquito wasn't as hot. Maybe different batches of the same filament?

The bender head decided for me, if there isn't any print quality difference then why bother?

Did you manage to clog the hotend in any of your test prints ?? It would be a great product if it never clogged !!

Did I hear that correctly 0.3mm retraction?? Was that with a DD?

I want to mount this hot end on cr10s what do you think?

this is more professional then hobby level

8:40 - it works as both a thermal conductor and a what?

which kind of nozzles are these using? they look awesome and worth the price

I'm at a loss. I keep getting a lot of stringing. I've tried various retract, temp settings. From 0.1-2mm and 180-230C nothing seems to change. Anyone got any ideas I can try out? I have the Tevo Nereus with MKS Robin Nano. Printing with PLA cause I don't have a nice shop for ABS.

What is the difference in vertical height?

Thx. :) And you're right, not for the average (who, me? lol) hobbyist.

does it fit on the hemera?

Gotta wait for the clones :3

is it just me or did the mosquito prints seem more matte in finish?

Hey so, I bought a Mosquito for my MK3s today... My Proto Pasta just won't stop jamming... so I figured screw it. why not. Worse case I will have to use it on my Artemis...WHICH brings me to my question for today... I watch you 99.99% on my phone. Just now on my MacBook. First off, handsome... secondly what in the hell is in the SEEMECNC BOX ON THE FLOOR!!!!! OH SAY A DELTA???

It looks great but for that price there should be heater, temp, and nozzle....

What is retraction ?

I'm new to your channel and have enjoyed catching up on your vids. I like your review style. The only comment I have is you keep saying the name of the Prusa machines wrong. It's not the "EM KAY" 2 or 3. Mk is a Britishism. Its short for Mark 2 or Mark 3. In British Mark means version,. Hope it helps,. I'm now subscribed.

150 is a ridiculous amount of money ( and + heater cartridge and thermistor and making your own mount.) I think i'll pass. Always good to see inovation but with little if any benefit and at that cost its a questionable upgrade at best. I guess if its successful the big rock candy mountain mafia will be on it in an instant Looks cheap to clone too.

Hey Chris, in your Video there is a wrong information I think. You said at 4:16 that the E3D V6 has three base pieces. And all of them are aluminium. I think it's wrong. 1. High temperature will only affect the heat block (aluminium). The heatsink will not heat up like the block. 2. The heat break is not aluminium. It's S/S 303 (wiki.e3d-online.com/images/0/09/V6-175-BREAK.pdf) so it can handle more than 500°C ;) Best regards, whitecrane [PCPointer.de]

if they want to more peoples on the market they have to lower their price a little bit its a very nice hot end but the price turn me off:)

i wonder how long it will be until the Chinese make a substandard clone.....

man... it is expensive!

Hmm, buy a new hot end with slightly better stringing performance or buy a whole new printer on which I can put a different size nozzle for the same price...gee, that's a tough decision. And people wonder why China does so much cloning...

I'm sorry, at the price point the Chinese will clone the hell out of these and sell them for $20 - and they'll include the thermistor and heater. Sure the Chinese clones will be crappy to start off with but the Chinese tend to catch on rather quickly. It sucks but it's guaranteed to happen.

Lol, testing a high end hotend and then not testing engineering filaments and high speed printing. Kinda pointless like this imo.

Pricing is stupid.. You are too proud (US boys) of your products to charge this and say it's worth it? Nope..

Waaaay over priced.

I love the features but the price is totally irresponsible. At the end of the day that hotend will, jam wear and break just as any other hotend.except that in the process it will also wear and break the economics of your hobby 15 times faster.

7:36 Excuse me? The left one looks much better. shiny surface, less drooping... at 8:10 i can even tell that the one on the right is the mk2 one. Also no disclaimer whatsoever. Did you buy it yourself? Did they give you one for free? Did they pay you to review it? Because it sounds like they did. Sorry, but I'll never gonna trust any reviews on this channel... Tutorials are great, but this is too much for a hotend that brings no benefit, prints look the same if not worse, with that pricetag. It's just too much praising the thing while holding up prints that definitely tell another story.