Longtime lurker willing to enter 3D

[Nifty]

After almost five months dealing with PLA, PETg and a bit of flex. now I feel the urge of challenging the tough guys.
So, I ordered a pack of 50gram samples of Nylon, Polycarbonate and PLA flexible to see how my printer and I manage this stuff.
If this is a fiasco, the loss won't be much but anyway I'll let you know the results in a few days.
I'm curious about flexible PLA. They claim that, apart from being flexible, it's much more resilient than normal PLA concerning heat and mechanical strength.

You're clearly a much braver (and probably smarter) man than me!

I'll live vicariously though you as you post your updates and process

 

[Artur5]

Don't hold your breath Nifty.

Those filaments haven't arrived yet and anyway, before I start trying them, I have pending some PLA jobs. That will keep me 'entertained' for a while. So, no nylon or PC until the first weekend of September

 

[The Hat]

@Artur5, Your printer should look Grand working in Nylons…
All because the lady loves..

 

[Artur5]

First try with Polycarbonate.
Just a couple of fan shrouds for my Prusa printer.

At left one of the two new shrouds made from PC. At right the old one that was removed from the printer, made from PETg.
No problem whatsoever printing this part. Prusa Slicer has a dedicated profile for Poylmaker PC-max and I used those settings. just lowering a bit the temperatures of nozzle and bed. I know by experience that Prusa tends to set profiles with temperatures a bit too high.
I used no supports and the print came out quite well, in spite of some steep overhangs. Not so good looking as PLA would, but on a pair or a tad better than PETg.
Moderate oozing with very fine threads. You remove them easily rubbing with the fingers. PLA oozes less but, when it does, it's thicker

Now, this is a very small job. Only 4 grams of filament per shroud. Compare with the 50 cts. coin.
I guess that larger models will be far more challenging.

 

[Nifty]

Nice!

I guess that larger models will be far more challenging.

I'm totally in support of baby steps! LOL!

 

[The Hat]

First try with Polycarbonate.
Just a couple of fan shrouds for my Prusa printer.

Well out of curiosity and near persistence from @Artur5, I decided to buy a 1 kg roll of Polycarbonate, but I don’t have anything specific to print right now, so will have to find a wordy cause to test it out on when the timecomes.

It’s going to be interesting because of the higher temperatures needed to print the Polycarbonate filament, because I’ve never gone above 240c on my nozzle and 60c on the bed, but the slower print speed won’t be an issue.

If this works, it might spur me on to trying PETG and ABS again, but I did find their smell very untasteful, so let’s see how this Poly-C is, and I won’t know till I get it from AliExpress..

I’ll set up a heated filament box for it and try keep the humidity as low as possible.. I want to give it a fair chance..

This is what I plan to start with…
Print Speed:- 40mm/s
Nozzle Temp:- 260c
Bed Temp:- 100c

 

[ninj]

If you're planning to print that hot (above 240) you really need an all-metal hotend. The PTFE tube in standard Creality printers goes right down to the nozzle and will degrade and jam. More importantly, PTFE off-gasses neurotoxins at those temperatures - known to kill pet birds and not great for humans.

A quick fix is to get some Capricorn XS tubing, which tolerates higher temperatures for short periods, but it still has the off-gassing problem, so needs to be used in a well-ventilated place away from people and pets. See: https://www.captubes.com/safety.html

 

[ninj]

... I should just add that the downside to all-metal hotends is that PLA tends to jam - though there are ways around that. I've just ordered a cheap one from Aliexpress to experiment with.

 

[Artur5]

You're spot on @ninj. I've been figthing with a variety of PLA green from Prusa these last days and no way to go past 6 or 7 hours before it jams. Maybe because they add something to give it a glitter finish. Instead, white or red (no glitter ) are troublefree...for the time being.

I've seen a video on Youtube where somebody from filament manufacturer Proto Pasta explains why the MK2.5 and above versions of Prusa printers are specially sensitive to this issue.
It seems that from Mark2.5 version, in order to a avoid tolerance issues changing filaments with the multimaterial accessory, they modified the heatbreak. Current versions have a wider diameter at the top than at the bottom. Thus, there's a sort of sharp step inside the heatbreak, where the filament might get stuck if there're a bunch of retractions in a short period of time and the machine has been working some hours, The original heatbreak is made from one piece of stainless steel which isn't efficient enough to keep the heat from creeping up into the cold zone.
Those two factors combined (SS heatbreak and internal step ) seem to be the root of the problem.
Proto Pasta suggests to replace the current heatbreak with the older model of the Prusa Mk2, Unfortunately, Prusa hasn't them anymore. So, like you, I decided to purchase a new heatbreak at Aliexpress. More to the point, a bi-metal unit from Triangle-Labs. That one won't have the internal step and, I hope, it will be more efficient insulating the heat than the stainless steel model.
Let's wait for the arrival of my order and see what happens.
Please, feel free to tell us what happens with the one you purchased. I gather you got the whole hotend unit, not just the heatbreak ?.

 

[The Hat]

A quick fix is to get some Capricorn XS tubing, which tolerates higher temperatures for short periods

Thanks @ninj I was worried about these higher printing temperatures and you have certainly filled in the gaps for me.

I decided to go off and buy the Creality Capricorn 1Meter Bowden PTFE Tubing and am hoping to get it when they sort out their Feckin checkout system..

The more I learn the better chances I have of getting a successful print off my Auld CR-10, and anything I can add to help her and me long is a good thing..

P.S. the last clog I had was when I tried printing with PETG 6 months ago..