3pcs MK10 Silicone Socks instead ceramic insulation for Wanhao i3 QIDI TECH Flashforge SILICONE HEATER BLOCK COVER

Having upgraded my Prusa3d printers with e3d socks, this seemed like a wise upgrade for the Wanhao i3. It fits great and is much easier than cotton+kapton tape. These socks should come on the Wanhao from the factory. One improvement could be an extra flap to fill the void between the top of the heat-block and the main extruder bracket to provide additional insulation and prevent the extruder motor from heat-soaking. I have wedged a cotton strip in that location which works OK for now. Another option would to have a little cover for 3mm screw-in style thermistors so that the brass protrusion is also covered. With high-powered fans, used with the Diii Cooler, the temperature readings on screw-in thermistors can be off by a few degrees without some insulation.

Works good, had to tape mine on though as it fell off on a long PETG print. It didnt damage, just got a little loose and fell off. Monoprice select V2 (Wanhoa duplicator i3 clone)

While taking apart my extruder to replace it with an all-metal hotend, the tape and insulation came off, which was not unexpected; but having to replace that every few months is not something that I look forward to, so I took a chance on these instead. In fairness, I can't tell if they actually have made a difference or not because I don't run my print at a high enough temperature to really make a difference, but that insulation was there for a reason and many people have recommended silicon socks instead of kapton tape if only for convenience. I can say for sure that these are definitely more convenient. These socks fit right over the extruder without having to take the extruder apart! Slip it on, make sure it's set properly, and ... that's it! So from that standpoint alone, these were worth the price, and I expect silicon to be far more durable than tape. UPDATE: I felt the need to edit this and knock it down a star. I don't know if this is how silicone is supposed to behave, but I these socks become a bit loose after some use. You can see in the photos themselves that there is not a lot of room for these to lock onto the top, but these end up deforming rather quickly to the point where the side opposite the extruder opens up and no longer stays firmly in place. Although the sock itself doesn't seem to fall off because of the lower opening around the extruder nozzle, it's a bit disconcerting to know that it's more liable to fall off because the top is no longer secured. Does this affect its functionality? Not that I know of. But this is something that I noticed and wanted to make you aware of it.

Works great! Makes cleaning a lot easier after a failed print. Only issue is it occasionally falls off, but that's easy to fix with a little Kapton tape.

I had removed the factory insulation due to contamination with resin. I could see the heat go up and down about 3 degrees while the printer was in use, very inconsistent. Now with this insulator it is perfect and only changes 1 degree! A very easy, snap-on upgrade.

The fit on the heat block was very sloppy and fell off and ruined one print. I bent some stainless filler rod to hold tension on the sock and it has stayed in place. Maybe stiffer material would hold its shape better and not drop off the heatblock. The bent filler rod works great to hole the sock in place. A paper clip may work or a piece of hanger. Ty wraps will not take the heat.

I am not sure that the silicone insulation is nearly as good as the foam tape, but it fits better and should last longer. Best of ass it is a lot easier to clean up when disaster strikes.

Very easy to install. No need to disassemble anything and no tools needed. Took longer to get the old insulation off. Keeps temp where it should be and they are very durable so far.