Andy Roid
I had a failure again last night because of a nozzle clog after 17 hours of printing. This was my second try at the same part. I have made three of these with no problem. I assume it was because I used a lower quality PLA. I get good prints with it most of the time, but it looks like when I get failures, they are due to variations in the filament composition.
I also have problems with ABS. I get reasonable parts sometimes, if they are small or I get lucky. I believe the high amount of part warping when printing with ABS is also due the low quality filament I bought. Same issues. Larger parts warp pretty badly or delaminate. Even with real good build plate bond, I still have problems with ABS.
Can anyone recommend a reasonable priced PLA and ABS 1.75 filament that has been working well for them? My main colors are white, red, blue and black. I have heard colors can affect the print.
I've looked at Anthony's videos, but just wanted more opinions.
Thanks,
Ron R
I have used black and white RepRapper PLA for the last 2 years in my Makerbot Rep 2 without any problems. Highly recommend it.
Warping with abs is usually due to not enough build plate heat and/or build chamber heat... I have zero warping issues with my UP! Plus 2 printer since I enclosed it, cheap filament or not... ABS needs to cool slowly or it will warp... That's why you need a heated build plate and chamber...
@ANDY ROID What printer do you have?....
RepRap clone I built called a Borlee. With PLA I go along printing well then I make junk. With the same spool, it comes back fine again, using the exact same settings printing the same part. I really think it's the filament.
Regarding ABS,I have a heated bed, and tried covering the machine to keep in the heat. I have tried running the bed as low as 70 and as high as 110 and find the problem never goes away. I have the filament as low as 190 and up to 245. I even mess with the speeds. I would have to get my book to give you those numbers, but I have slowed it to about 75%. I will admit sometimes my tape breaks loose and I get a warp that way, but often I will get a delamination.
I want to have a good brand of filament so I have a good idea of something being constant. Then I can try changing settings.
Ron R
@ bhouston Thanks for the advice.
Ron R
Richard R,
In my R2D2 post is a picture of my printer. Maybe I will make an enclosure like you have done for ABS. I normally just cover it with a fire resistant cloth to keep the heat in. What temperature do you keep the chamber at?
Ron R
You can buy "Smart abs" .... I can get it at Filaments.ca here in Canada (not sure about the US)... I haven't tried it but it claims to be formulated for 90% less warping... It's kind of pricey too.... Smart ABS Filament
Thanks Richard. I will look into it.
I am going to try your suggestion of enclosing the build area. What kind of temperature do you maintain in the build area. I may consider using a heat gun with a thermostat if necessary. We used a similar method when bonding areas on aircraft parts, We would bag the part and heat it with a heat gun and controller to cure it. I think it is overkill, but I really want to make some larger parts out of ABS.
Ron R
Usually you just need to enclose the printer... the nozzle and heated bed keep it nice and toasty...