Topics

1

Materials Compatibility / ASA filament

« on: December 18, 2016, 03:09:14 PM »

Anyone printed extensively with ASA filament yet? It's said to have high strength and chemical resistance like ABS but better UV and weather resistance so outside items retain shape and color better over time. It prints similarly to ABS but with less print cooling. Can be acetone-smoothed. 

I bought a roll of Fliamentum/Filament@ne natural and made one print with it so far. At recommended settings it printed very easily and the print came out exceptionally well. It didn't seem to smell much, either, but maybe that's just me.

Looking for feedback from those who have used it more before I buy more. Filament@One is offering a 30% year end discount that make the effective price $24 per 750g spool w/free shipping. Code is YEARENDSALE

2

General Discussion / Z-Temp HE PTFE tube maintenance

« on: August 28, 2016, 07:27:39 PM »

Hi Julia,

Nothing is wrong; just wondering about the expected life of the PTFE tube at max rated temps or a little above.

My Z-Temp HE is printing fine using various PLAs, UltraT, Z-ABS, etc. However, my readings say the Zortrax M200 prints UltraT at ~260℃, Z-ABS at closer to 275℃ with thermal overruns even higher.

I now have a reason to print quite a bit of Z-ABS:
a. In rough terms, what has your experience been regarding the life of the PTFE tube at those temps?
b. What are the symptoms when the PTFE has seriously degraded?

Tnx,

Jeff

3

General Discussion / Upper fan issue.

« on: June 03, 2016, 12:12:31 PM »

I just discovered a small, odd piece of plastic wedged in a side crevice of my M200's base. After a lot of looking I realized it's a chunk off a blade from Fan 1, the upper extruder fan. In fact, I now see that four blades are either partly or mostly missing. I can't find any Zortrax info regarding this fan's function but my guess is it cools the extruder above the hot end to prevent heat creep that could cause filament to be delivered to the hot end at too high a temp. Question for those more experienced than me: is that this fans function? And since this damage has obviously compromised fan performance, how would it have affected this newbie's printing to date?

Fortunately, I already ordered three Noctua 40 X 10 12v fans, two for a double print fan mod and one spare. Two have arrived so I could move the lower fan to the upper (Fan 1) position and use the new Noctua fans for the print fans. Zortrax's directions are clear up to a point but why cut off the connector on the old fan? Is that just to get the wires back out through that shrink tubing sleeving? If so, does that mean they intend me to also cut off the connectors the new fans then solder them back on after threading the wires? They never say anything about cutting off or reattaching new fan connectors. BTW, I  realize the double fan mod requires me to make a parallel splice but thought I'd do that down near the fans.

Lastly, I'm wondering how this fan got damaged. I guess it could have come to me that way but in that case I've been printing like that since day 1. I use the OEM side covers and print in a 4th bedroom that only I use so misc stuff flying around is unlikely. The only thing I can think of is that during a filament change I let the tube droop down and get into that fan while waiting for the extruder to push out the old filament. I have that tube clipped to the flat cable so it doesn't want to do that but maybe I elbowed it clumsily or something. If so, the wire finger guard wouldn't have stopped it. Anyone else experience this?

Thanks in advance for any info on how to make this go easily and prevent it in the future.

Jeff