Sunday, December 14, 2014

New Filament - So Far, So Good!

This past Friday, I picked up 3 cartridges loaded with the new filament.  The colors are Yellow, Red and Blue.

The factory receives spools of filament that they then must load into cartridges, seal them in packaging and load them into boxes.  They were at the cartridge building stage at the time I went by and they weren't even boxed as yet.  I only mention this because it would be unrealistic to expect some on your doorstep tomorrow.  They only released these to me for testing for a report on this blog.

They know that you are anxious to know if the new filament is the answer to our PLA clogs.

While I haven't been able to really give the new materials a thorough workout, so far, with the Yellow and Blue, I have not had a single clog running small and medium jobs of moderate stress.  I have not tried the red as yet.

Both the Yellow and Blue performed flawlessly from my left print jet, which I am certain, is perfectly gapped.  In trying a two color print with the Blue on the left and the yellow at the right, the yellow came loose from the plate after about 15 minutes.  This was NOT a clog problem.  It simply means that I have not yet achieved perfect print jet leveling.  The print from both colors was flowing nicely until the yellow piece broke loose because of a poor first layer.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the new filament does look like it is going to do the trick! 

And, I might add that the latest Cubify Client software has also fixed the droppings issue with two color prints!  There are absolutely NO little random bits of color filament to mar the print..

The bottom line is this:
  1.  I'm confident the new filament solves the clog issues with PLA
  2. I need to go back to the drawing board and make sure my print jets are even.
For me to declare absolute success it means being able to print colors from both print jets successfully.  So, I'll work on leveling my print jets to give both sides perfect gap and get back to you.  :)
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9 comments:

  1. EricAlbertPhDDecember 16, 2014 at 5:47 PM

    Tom - that is good news. Tweak in those gaps and lets hope that does it!

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  2. UnknownDecember 16, 2014 at 11:39 PM

    How about the ABS cartridges? Do they have the same clog issues?

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    1. Tom MeeksDecember 17, 2014 at 5:50 AM

      This is still an open question for me.

      I am told that ABS should be OK. I also learned that a fair number of early users are not reporting any clog problems. Yet, all of my ABS eventually clogged.

      With more experience using the Cube3, it appears that, in my particular machine, filament that works on one side can clog on the other. So, it may NOT have been the ABS filament,

      I am running a test this morning that show definitively demonstrate if I have a print jet issue on one side that was the reason for the ABS clogs. And, if that fails I will report that on the blog and return the printer for evaluation.

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  3. UnknownDecember 18, 2014 at 5:28 AM

    I experienced a clog mid-print just days after setting up the printer in my office. I've been waiting weeks for a replacement cartridge. Additionally I ordered (6) six more cartridges on December 1st and I'm still awaiting shipping confirmation. I'm beginning to wounder if i should return this printer since i cant seem to get any materials for it. However, your blog post gives me a bit of hope. I really do like this printer. Here is a video i made displaying the PLA clog issues I have experienced. http://youtu.be/W8PjBi4kE38

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    1. Tom MeeksDecember 18, 2014 at 6:10 AM

      Fantastic video!

      I found a trick to putting it back into place, I drill a small hole in the tip holder through which I thread some heavy thread. I use the thread to compress the spring and then pull it out thrugh the hole after the cap is in place.

      But, this, I'm convinced, is a thing of the past. The new filament is working very well. The factory is building new cartridges as fast as possible, with black and green being the obvious priority. I don't know if they have all the colors as yet; but, hopefully that is the case.

      I would actually like to include your video in a post. You did a great job.

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  4. 3dFanDecember 18, 2014 at 6:48 PM

    Jeff,

    Your cartridge problem is in the extruder gear inside the cartridge. The filament is stripped and the gear with teeth can no longer feed it upward. You need to open the cartridge and snip the filament and heat the nozzle then pull out the foot long portion of filament between the nozzle and the extruder gear. Then pull out some fresh filament, undue the 4 screws that holds the metal extruder enclosure together. Then snap in the fresh filament and manually feed it to the nozzle then stop. There is no need to heat it up at this point...just place the screws back in and snap the cartridge back together. Works, that is until the next clog that may or may not happen.

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    1. UnknownDecember 18, 2014 at 8:17 PM

      Thanks for your feedback. I have another video showing the tear-down of the cartridge itself. I did manage to get the PLA to pass between the gears by using a screwdriver in the drive shaft and pulling the PLA along until the gears could move it freely themselves. I have yet to try the cartridge again since reassembling but i plan to do so soon.

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    2. UnknownJanuary 21, 2015 at 1:31 PM

      I made a video to help people repair their cartridges. http://youtu.be/xNnvO-NfgmQ

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    3. Tom MeeksJanuary 21, 2015 at 2:14 PM

      The link is safe to click. I watched the video and it's very helpful.

      Jeff,

      I notied you back the filament out of the tip amd guide. Do you ever run into a situation where it will NOT back out of the extruder?

      THANKS!

      Delete

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