recommendations for 3rd party filamen.

[Matt]

Hi

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for 3rd party filamen that works well with a M2? I was looking at repraper.com or http://www.mbot3d.com/collections/plastic as an  alternative.

 

thank you

[Ron Walker]

I have used around 8 rolls of pla and abs from repraper.com I have not had any problems at all. It's the cheapest I've ever found  

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Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:37:23 -0700
From: tan...@gmail.com
To: make...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [MakerGear] recommendations for 3rd party filamen.

[B W Evans]

brw_racing, Im curious what is your nozzle diameter? 

Ive ended up with two lots of repraper filament (long story) all 1.75mm pla and so far, their grey had big chunks of what looks like dirt in it, white had the same but smaller specks in it, and their black completely jammed the .35 nozzle and screwed everything up. Disassembly of the MG hot end to clean it out caused the heatcore to crack and break. I replaced the hotend, shoved the black roll in a very dark place somewhere, and started printed with translucent blue which worked great up until it didn't. Skipping steps and other nonsense scared me that it might jam my new hotend so it went to the same dark place. So far, the only repraper filament that Ive had working consistently is the translucent orange which prints reasonably well considering. Images here: http://hardwired.cc/?p=189

Frankly using cheap chinese plastic is just not worth the cost of a new hotend to me.

Protoparadigm has always been a top performer and worth the cost. I want to try Ultimachine pla filament which comes from NatureWorks in Nebraska which pretty much means you know youre printing with corn. ;-)

[Ron Walker]

I have been using a .35 nozzle for the most part. 1.75 diameter.
The problems youve described really surprise me. I have had nothing but good results with the cheap stuff. Ive used the blue, black, white and translucent whitish stuff never any problem with the filament itself. I have 2 rolls of abs that ive not tried yet but ill let you guys know if there is anything wrong with them. Sorry to hear of your bad luck with the filament.


 

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Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:55:09 -0700
From: bwe...@gmail.com
To: make...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [MakerGear] recommendations for 3rd party filamen.

[NCBob]

I too had similar problems except with white, blue, aqua and I too have refused to use it in any of my printers.

I noticed debris in the filament that was the eventual cause of the blockage and failure, also the white was of such varying quality in terms of melting point it was weird.  It would only flow smoothly from about 182-187, lower than 182 and it wouldn't extrude because it was too thick, 188 + it actually flowed like water out of the nozzle without even running the extruder.   Also it actually bonded to the blue tape and leached all the color out of it.

Now other people have gotten good batches, and I bet they'll keep using it until they get a bad batch, but I agree that it's not worth a clogged/ruined hot end for the money your saving.

Personally I buy my ABS from 3dPrinterStuff, my PLA from Ultimachine and have had absolutely zero problems from either vendor.

[Tanma]

Unfortunately that does not sound too encouraging if there is a risk of damaging the hot end. Are there any reputable china suppliers that anyone has come across. 

As for the US suppliers, i do wonder if these are actually manufactured in the US or just a rebrand from china. If it is the former then the premium is worthwhile IMHO

[Matt]

 

With reference to filament choices, I noticed that wiki at http://makergear.wikidot.com/m2 mentions that the "Nozzle heater operable to 220C". Does this mean that compatible ABS filament should have a melting point equals to or less than 220c? Is the 220c the max temperature that the nozzle can operate on or can it still go higher?

 

The reason i ask is that i see quite a few 3rd party filaments advertised their melting points at around 230-250c.

 

Thank you

 

 

[B W Evans]

Matt, as long as you stay clear of the 260C limit of the PTFE barrier in the hotend you will be fine. Make sure your hotend is bang on (< +/-1deg) as you approach 250 though or the PTFE can start to breakdown which is very bad.

There are several other chinese vendors but with so much bad PR about it why bother. RichRap posted a blog about finding little ball bearings in his chinese filament. The little that you save per roll does not begin to add up to a new hotend. Of course YMMV. Ive used 3dprinterstuff as well and it works but it is not a very high quality abs. The color is not very consistent and it smells even more like an oil refinery. 

In the end I don't care where my filament comes from although buying domestic is always a plus, but its just not worth the headaches for crap plastic.

[Triffid Hunter]

On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 10:24 PM, B W Evans <bwe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Matt, as long as you stay clear of the 260C limit of the PTFE barrier in the
> hotend you will be fine. Make sure your hotend is bang on (< +/-1deg) as you
> approach 250 though or the PTFE can start to breakdown which is very bad.

as far as I know, the limit is imposed by the PEEK which goes soft at
245-250c and may drop the barrel, not the PTFE which degrades and
outgasses at 260c.

[Billyray]

With my new M2 it uses way more filament than the older mosaic so like you I was looking for a cheaper Pla supply. I can't afford 65-70 per roll. Anyway I have used 4 rolls from onlinefilament.com. Works perfect, cheap and fast shipping.   Never tried repraper.com.

[Jay Couture]

Prints are volumetric, so are you saying that you you are printing more now with the M2?