Modding The 3D Printing Thread

Finally got some reasonable quality out of Overture PETG. Took six hours drying and I fed it direct from a dry box at 25 RH, but it turned out ok.

ION: I may have ordered another SnapDryer

 

Much obliged, I may send a similar offer myself.

Aye, eBay links outside of marketplace are fine. I’m presuming the ban on eBay links in marketplace is to prevent people using the forum to pump their eBay side hustle (although we wouldn’t have been calling it a “side hustle” when the rule was introduced, that is a distinctly 2020s-era phrase…)

I tried… I have most of a reel of grey Overture PETG left; I ran it through 2 6-hour drying cycles, put fresh brand-new desiccant in the drybox, and made sure I printed when the hygrometer read 15%-20% humidity… Still shite.

I could go through all sorts of calibrations to try and get it printing well, but it’s not worth the effort. A higher end material like ABS, ASA, etc, then yeah it’d be worth it, but not for the cheap commodity PETG I’m regularly cranking out. Elegoo and Creality PETG filaments come out great on standard “out of the box” presets, with just a small tweak to temps to reduce stringing. Creality PETG, in fact, is bloody brilliant stuff.

I was going to toss it in the recycling, but if you think you can get good results out of it I’m happy to send it your way? I can try to weigh it later, but I can’t have used more than about 50-100g out of a 1kg reel.

 

Yeah, I'm up for that, mate. It'd be interesting if you printed a test piece and shared your settings, then I could try the same.

Ping me some deets for postage/buggeration cost.

 

OK, hands up anyone who prints in ASA?

Keep your hands up if you can manage it without glue. I love this material - the quality is fantastic but, without using a glue stick, I can't even finish a Benchy.

So if you are one of the gurus who print it without the sticky stuff, please share some wisdom.

 

I don’t, but have you tried 3DLac?

It’s well recommended as an aid to build plate adhesion. I use it as a release agent when printing in PETG, because PETG sticks to the print bed too well and using glue was messy af.

Does ASA require a heated build chamber? Because you may have losses heat losses or temperature inconsistencies. My Q1 has a bunch of mods available to plug up the gaps around the build chamber, which helps mitigate heat loss. Though I don’t know how much that’d help build plate adhesion; AFAIU, usually you’d be getting issues with layer adhesion or warping if the build chamber temp is out of whack.

 

I just don't like the glue. I'm used to using my build plates constantly, print after print but, with glue, it means a trip to the sink to scrub it clean.

The chamber heat is ok - for larger pieces like the double barrel manifolds for the polydryer heaters. I just close it off and run the plate up to 100 degrees for 15 minutes before send ling the print.

Layer adhesion is ok, it's build plate adhesion that's the issue. Even brims don't seem to help - it'll pull a bench off the bed as soon as the hull is complete.

I've not heard of 3dlac. If it's a less messy glue, I'm up for trying it.

 

I just had a quick look at a Prusa3D article on printing in ASA; no doubt you’ve seen plenty like it, but it mentions that warping is a significant problem for ASA, which backs up a gut feeling I had. If the print is warping, the pressure that induces could be enough to lift the model from the print bed.

As to how you’d combat that however… I don’t know, I’m afraid. It might be worth checking to see if the Carbon has similar “heat plug” mods that my Q1 does, just to mitigate any potential heat loss due to gaping gaps.

I’ve never used ASA myself, but some dim part of my memory seems to think that this was quite a common issue for ABS filaments back in the days before enclosed (or heated) build chambers were the norm.

From what I can tell, it’s performs a similar function to hair spray. Except it’s in a plastic bottle with a pump spray and not in an aerosolised tin, so you don’t get the same risk of contaminating your build plate with droplets of aerosol. Picked mine up from Amazon quite cheap.

A few spritzes to coat the build plate usually lasts me maybe half a dozen prints, maybe more. Basically I only really re-apply it when I clean the build plate.

 

What temps were you using? Also, extrusion rate, if you know it.

 

I'd give really massive, thick brims a try. It's abs, you can whittle 1mm with a knife easily, or cut it with heavy shears. I couldn't do it with the one abs print I did because it filled the entire plate.

 

I might give HIPS a try. Apparently, it's less prone to warping and doesn't lift off the plate as badly.

 

Just in case you haven't yet ordered one, B, they are legit:



The only difference is the Snapmaker branding.

Also, they swapped out the larger 6mm PTFE tubes for standard 4mm tubes.

 

Double Barrel mod - one dryer, twice the fun.

 

I'm thinking of a chamber heater and, maybe, the possibility of powering it via the AMS port on the rear. No! I need to stop spinning all these plates and get some stuff completed before jumping into something else.

[edit] back to why I love printers so much... the missus bought the wrong refills for our air fresheners - she got the Glade refills which do not work in the Air Wick chassis... until you spend ten minutes and print an adapter to make them work.

Internet Rule 34a subsection c: There will be a printable for it.