Heater Cartridge

The heater cartridge is pretty self explanatory. It heats the plastic. It is simply a high power resistor. Almost all modern printers use cartridge heaters, but many older printers used coils of nichrome wire (like the kind in a toaster). If you are replacing your heater cartidge, of even your entire hotend, make sure you know if your system is running 12v or 24v.