Reservoir Heads

Reservoir Heads is how we print (also known as Direct Ink Writing or Robocasting) with fluid or emulsified (non-filament-based) materials which are deposited at, above, or below room temperature, with or without UV Crosslinking.

Materials for Reservoir Heads

Reservoir Heads heads are for printing as follows:

• With pastes, gels, emulsifiables or waxes.
• At room or elevated temperatures.
• With or without UV Crosslining.
• With Hyrel Nozzles (1.5mm, 2mm) or Luer Tips.

The following materials can be printed from Cold Flow heads. Note that more viscous materials may not be suitable for plastic syringes or smaller luer tips.

• 3P Quick Cure Clay
• Adhesives
• Clay, Generic
• Epoxy, Two-part
• Fimo
• Glue
• Kato
• Metal Clay, including Precious Metal Clay (PMC)
• Modeling Clay
• PEG PolyEthylene Glycol
• Porcelain
• Plasticine
• Play-Doh
• Resins
• RTV Silicone
• Sculpey
• Sugru

The following materials can be printed from Warm Flow heads. Note that more viscous materials may not be suitable for plastic syringes or smaller luer tips, or may print more easily at higher temperatures.

• Adhesives
• Fimo
• Kato
• Glue
• PCL
• Plasticine
• Resins
• Sculpey
• Wax

Reservoir Heads

Ambient or sub-ambient deposition is available through the following Reservoir-based heads:

• 

  EMO-25

• 

  COD-25

• 

  SDS-5, SDS-10,
  SDS-30, SDS-60

• 

  CSD-5, CSD-10,
  CSD-30, CSD-60

• SMH-2 Static Mixing Head

Heated deposition is available through the following Reservoir-based heads:

• 

  VOL-25

• 

  VOL-25 with COD

• 

  KRA-15

• 

  KRA-15 with COD

• Overview of the EMO Heads
• Overview of the SDS Heads
• Overview of the VOL Heads
• Overview of the KRA Heads
• Overview of the SMH-2 Head
• Please see our Manuals as well.

EMO-Type Head Comparison

Temperature >	20°C < Ambient	Ambient	Up to 50°C	Up to 90°C	Up to 180°C	Up to 270°C
Crosslinking Optional	RSD-30	EMO-25 SDS-5, -10, SDS-30, -60 SMH-2	HSD-30	HSD-10 VOL-25	KRA-15 KR2-15	TAM-15

Note, RSD-30 will take you about 20C below ambient.

So, what do these goofy designations actually stand for?

EMO: Emulsifiables at Room Temperature - Low to Medium Viscosity

COD: Emulsifiables T Room Temperature with Crosslink On Demand - Low to Medium Viscosity

VOL: Volcano: Heated (up to 100°C) Emulsifiables - Low to Medium Viscosity

KR2: Krakatoa v2: a more robust KRA head with a double gasketed plunger hotter, more viscous Emulsifiables - Very High Viscosity

TAM: Tambora: Heated (up to 300°C) Emulsifiables - High Viscosity

SDS: Syringe Dispensing System (uses disposable plastic syringes at room temperature) - Low Viscosity

HSD: Heated (formerly Volcanic) Syringe Dispensing System - Low to Medium Viscosity

RSD: Refrigerated Syringe Dispensing System - Low to Medium Viscosity

DSD: Dual Syringe Dispenser, dispensing two-part mixtures at a fixed ratio - Low to Medium Viscosity

SMH: Static Mixing Head, blending your ratio of material through a baffled nozzle - Low to Medium Viscosity

Research Papers Citing Hyrel Reservoir Heads

These are now listed by year here.

Firmware Versions for Reservoir Heads

Firmware information is listed on our Firmware page.

Settings for Reservoir Heads

All printers and heads shipping after 1 Jan 2020 have shipped with some release of version 4, and these values are shown below.

Older settings are listed here.

Some settings for the EMO-Type heads (like temperature, prime/unprime values) will vary, depending on what material you are printing with. Nozzle diameter should accurately reflect what nozzle you have loaded (1.6mm is default) AND what path width you sliced for. Temperature commands will be ignored by heads with no temperature control. Having said that, below are our default shipping settings:

METAL Reservoir Heads

Settings for Reservoir Heads with METAL Reservoirs

Settings	EMO 27:1 Ratio	VOL 51:1 Ratio	EMO-XT, KR2, TAM 100:1	Super Torque! Coming soon!
Material
Type	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom
Color	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Nozzle	1.600	1.600	1.600	1.600
Layer	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300
Temp Info
Print Temp	0	35	35	35
Power Factor	100	100	100	100
Minimum	0	0	0	0
Maximum	0	90	180	270
Overrides
Pulses / µL	275	517	1200	?
Multiplier	1	1	1	1
Prime
Steps	6000	1000	6000	?
Rate	10,000	10,000	10,000	?
Dwell Time (ms)	600	100	600	?
Unprime
Steps	6000	1000	6000	?
Rate	10,000	10,000	10,000	?
Dwell Time	-600	-100	-600	?
Offsets
X	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Y	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Z	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Head Info
Model	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)
PCB Type	4988/160J	4988/160J	4988/160J	4988/160J
RTD Type	1k PLAT_RTD	1k PLAT_RTD	1k PLAT_RTD	1k PLAT_RTD
Plot Settings	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Motor Settings
Step Mode	16th	16th	16th	16th
Motor Current	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
Max Jog Rate	5,000	10,000	15,000	?
Rot Speed	1,500	1,500	15,000	?
Settings	EMO 27:1 Ratio	VOL 51:1 Ratio	EMO-XT, KR2, TAM 100:1	Super Torque! Coming soon!

PLASTIC Reservoir Heads

Settings for Reservoir Heads with PLASTIC Reservoirs

Settings	SDS, HSD, and RSD Heads (with or without COD) (Various Tube Diameters, Standard Gear Ratios)						DSD-50 (1:1)	Special (with or without COD)
	1cc ET	5cc	10cc	30cc	60cc	150cc XT	DSD-50	HSD-10-Ardes	SDS-30XT	SDS-60XT
Material
Type	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom
Color	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Nozzle	1.600	1.600	1.600	1.600	1.600	4.00	1.600	1.600	1.600	1.6000
Layer	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.300
Temp Info
Print Temp	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	35	0	0
Power Factor	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Minimum	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maximum	0	0	0	0; 75 for HSD	0	0	0	130	0	0
Overrides
Pulses / µL	5.8 / 610 / 610	0.75 / 81 / 81	0.58 / 62.5 / 62.5	0.225 / 30 / 30	0.15 / 19.4 / 19.4	12.8 / 12.8 / 12.8	0.135 / 20 / 20	? / 900 / 900	? / 86 / 86	? / 25 / 28.8
Multiplier	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000	1 / 2 / 2	1.000	1.000
Prime
Steps	7500	1500	3000	2250	1500	1500	1	9000	1125	1500
Rate	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Dwell Time (ms)	800	150	300	300	300	300	100	900	300	300
Before Tool Change	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a
Unprime
Steps	7500	1500	3000	2250	1500	1500	1	9000	1125	1500
Rate	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Dwell Time	800 / -800 / -800	300 / -300 / -300	300 / -300 / -300	300 / -300 / -300	300 / -300 / -300	300 / -300 / -300	1 / -1 / -1	900 / -900 / -900	300 / -300 / -300	300 / -300 / -300
After Tool Change	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a	2 / n/a / n/a
Offsets
Clone Head	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off
X	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Y	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Z	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Head Info
Model	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)	(varies)
PCB Type	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J	n/a / n/a / 4988/160J
RTD Type	None	None	None	None; varies for HSD, RSD	None	None	None	1k_PLAT_RTD	None	None
Motor Current	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a	High / High / n/a
Step Mode	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a	16th / 16th / n/a
Plot Settings	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Motor Settings
Step Mode	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th	n/a / n/a / 16th
Motor Current	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal	n/a / n/a / Normal
Max Jog Rate	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000	n/a / n/a / 10,000
Rot Speed	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 7,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500	n/a / n/a / 1,500
Settings	1cc ET	5cc	10cc	30cc	60cc	150cc XT	DSD-50	HSD-10-Ardes	SDS-30XT	SDS-60XT
	SDS, HSD, and RSD Heads (with or without COD) (Various Tube Diameters, Standard Gear Ratios)						DSD-50 (1:1)	Special (with or without COD)