Longtime lurker willing to enter 3D

[Artur5]

Just finished another Benchy (yes, @The Hat, I know that you hate these tests )
Second try with Poylmaker’s PC Max. The first one failed because of an extruder jam.

Now I’ve replaced the heater block and heatbreak with more efficient parts ( from China, go figure ) and the print was finished successfully without heat creep or clogs. .. BUT the profile in Prusa slicer for that filament disables totally by default the print fan, regardless of layer size.
See the picture below. Black Benchy from PC and the green from PLA.
The chimney of the black one looks like the tip of a drill. I saw that during the chimney printing the filament didn’t have time enough to harden between layers and the tip of the nozzle was literally covered with a blob of semisolid filament.

If the profile had enabled the print fan, albeit at low speed, for layers which take less than 15-30 seconds to complete I bet that wouldn’t have happened.
It’s interesting that the profile for Prusa’s own polycarbonate enables the print fan at 20% for layers that last less than 30 seconds to complete, but the fan is totally disabled in the profile for Polymaker PC-Max.
A tactic to convince the users to purchase Prusa’s stuff and nothing else ?

Anyway, if it serves of guide, @The Hat, check the settings of the fan in your slicer program, whatever it is, and don’t print fast, this isn’t PLA.


BTW That PC Benchy is sturdy and hard but the finish is quite rough specially on narrow vertical parts. I’d say that this stuff is no good for detailed tiny models requiring ‘good looks’. Compare with the Benchy in green PLA.
Maybe you’ll have better luck with the one you got (Chinese, I gather ? )

 

[Artur5]

Behold my powerful Benchy fleet proudly challenging the 3D Seas,
Seven of them, each one from a different filament.
At centre the PLA flagship surrounded by PETg, TPU, PP, PA, PC and PLA-Flex.

PLA fans will be glad to know that, IMHO, none of the other filaments comes close for detail, resolution and management of overhangs/bridges.
That said, all these Benchies are OK, No collapsed walls or clogged portholes.
Flex materials as TPU and PLA-Flex look rougher than the others but still acceptable.
That red TPU95 Benchy bears without problems rough mishandling while still being quite flexible.

I really like the polypropylene Benchy, but it didn’t pass the chimney test (snap the chimney using pliers.). I expect that this is the weak spot of the Benchy model concerning layer adhesion. No pliers torture for the PLA unit, being afraid that it wouldn’t pass the test either. This is a point where TPU or nylon excel. No way you can snap their chimneys using pliers, You’ll have to cut it.

PA (nylon) is really a nasty costumer. That small 50 gram sample was dried for several hours before using it and no problem with water bubbles at all. I managed to print the Benchy but nothing else. A spare part for my printer was an impossible task. I tried several times but always warped badly after a few layers and that was it. I used glue stick for the bed, which usually works fine for most materials, but not with PA, no matter how high the bed temperature

BTW I was fool enough to purchase previously a tube of Magigoo PA, after reading the manufacturer claims that it was ‘the solution’ for solving adhesion problems with PA,
Rubbish ! The model hadn’t even time to warp because the first layer wouldn’t stick to the bed at all. Keep away from that expensive and worthless product.

Polypropylene it’s also known for adhesion problems but, in this case, the PP that I got included a flask of special primer for this stuff which really works well. You apply a coat of primer on the bed; let it dry 5 minutes; heat the bed up to 40C ( no more than that ! ) and you’re good to go. Once the print ends, the bed must be heated to 85C and the model is removed without any effort from the base.
The trouble with PP ( apart from the price ) is that you can’t glue different parts with cyanoacrylate or any common glue. It needs to be soldered.

Polycarbonate is very hard and resists up to 110C but not so impact resistant as nylon because layer adhesion isn’t that good,

I don’t care much for the exotic PLA-Flex. It seems to have all the defects of Flex filaments but very little of PLA good properties.

Benchy PETg is OK. Nothing special for good or bad. This is a filament that does most things quite well but excels at nothing. It has use for parts demanding a bit more impact and heat endurance than PLA, although overhangs don’t look very nice.

 

[The Hat]

Just got my order in from Creality and now waiting on the Flexi filament to arrive..

My flexi filament has finally landed, it has spent more Feckin time in transit and customs here that it did to come from China, they are probably still using Covid as an excuse to do feck all work, Jasus just wait till the Christmas rush starts again.

It took them till May to clear the last back log.. An epidemic in laziness..

 

[Artur5]

You should know that ETA for parcels shipped from China sometimes is quite flexible.

Haven't you looked for closer sources of filament ? ( i.e. continental Europe ). I bet it wouldn't take so long to arrive, No Customs involved and prices shouldn't be that different from Chinese vendors.

 

[Redbrickman]

@Artur5 If you ever need to buy hotends for the machine and want to buy from Aliexpress then buy from Trianglelabs store. They are well known for quality, in fact some say their V6 hotend with their titanium heatbreak is better than the original manufacturers. I run their Dragon hotend in my Voron and it is a great hotend.

 

[Artur5]

Thanks for the tip.
I have Trianglelabs in my list of reliable Ali-Express vendors.
In fact I purchased already several items there : copper nozzles, a bimetal heat-break and copper hotblock for E6 extruders, teflon tube and silicone socks.

 

[The Hat]

I have Trianglelabs in my list of reliable Ali-Express vendors.

Feck you two, I was going to build and make my own new heatsink and hotend, but seeing what Trianglelabs was offering, I taught in for a dollar. !
Let’s hope it does what it says on the pack..

I lay all the blame on @Artur5 and his Feckin Flexi filament..
P.S. I wouldn’t mind, but I still haven’t got anything I want to make with this new flexi filament..

 

[Artur5]

You're mistaken, I haven't tried Feckin Flex, only Esun Flex.

I'm a bit confused. In ealier posts you mentioned having purchased polycarbonate filament ?. Or is it both flex and polycarbonate ?'

Yes, flex filament has limited uses. Maybe some toys for Ted to play ?.
As I said weeks ago, ask @Mrs the Hat. She'll think of something useful.


What about a miniature garden lampost ?

 

[The Hat]

I'm a bit confused. In ealier posts you mentioned having purchased polycarbonate filament ?. Or is it both flex and polycarbonate ?'

Yes its Flexi and polycarbonate, and Mrs The Hat doesn’t know I got this stuff yet, she’ll just have to wait and see if it print ok first.

What about a miniature garden lampost ?

Ah Ha, bet you on that one, this was my first miniature garden lamp post..

 

[Redbrickman]

@The Hat

That looks like a good CR10 hotend. If it is an all metal hotend and not using a PTFE tube in the throat then you might have to adjust your retraction settings a bit, but their titanium heatbreaks are beautifully polished inside and makes the filament flow much better.