1 Topic by Zirak

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Topic: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

Hi,

I purchased ABS pellets online (http://www.ebay.ca/itm/331712384897?_tr … EBIDX%3AIT) and tried extruding them at 180 C, but found out the filament diameter was too large, as it would get caught up in the tubing on the filawinder. So I increased the temp to 190 C and eventually to 220 C to make the diameter be around 1.75mm. However, now I am noticing the filament being extruded is not smooth, it looks a little rough, and does not feel even when touching it. Has anyone else ever experienced this issue, will they negatively effect 3d print quality?

Thanks,
Zirak

2 Reply by prpickett

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

I posted a write-up on my experience with these pellets  ( http://www.soliforum.com/topic/14192/abs-lustran-248/  ). I didn't have any roughness issues.

DaVinci 1.0 w/ repetier firmware, Andy's Carriage, E3D V6, Filastruder #1956, Filawinder

3 Reply by Zirak

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

Thank you, that was a very informative post. I will try to tinker with the temps to see if I can get it smooth.

By the way, do you think it would impact the 3d print quality because of the slight roughness?

4 Reply by elmoret

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

220C is a bit hot and likely causing the roughness. I would recommend reducing cooling instead of increasing temperature.

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5 Reply by CFTechno

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

Zirak wrote:

By the way, do you think it would impact the 3d print quality because of the slight roughness?

No, it will not impact the 3d print quality

6 Reply by kszwab

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

My experience with PC/ABS was crap. Getting plain ABS worked perfect with no hoops to jump through.

7 Reply by Zirak

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

My diameter seems to be very inconsistent, near the nozzle (with or without the fan) it measures a nice 1.75~1.78mm, about a few feet closer to the ground, it increases to 1.85mm+ (sometimes even 2mm!). I've been tweaking the temps from 195C to 215C, but with no luck...

I would let the motor run for a bit, then snip a piece of the filament out and measure it using calipers, and generally filament closer to the top is more in line with the diameter I want, it always increases in size the further down it goes. And this doesn't change when using a fan as well.

Another thing I noticed is that with the fan on, the temp drops to 180C and can never go higher, even when I'm only leaving a small bit of room for the air to hit the filament in the edge.

8 Reply by elmoret

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

What you describe isn't like any ABS I've ever used. I did have a lot of expansion with ABS/PC blend. Perhaps that what you got from the eBay seller? Roughness and expansion also indicates temperature is too high and/or there is moisture in the polymer.


As for 180C, I'm a little confused as the original post stated you achieved 220C. Is the barrel insulated? Can you measure the voltage on the heater wires? Is the heater cycling (relay clicking) or just staying full on?

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

9 Reply by Zirak (edited by Zirak 2017-02-07 21:09:07)

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

The initial time I did this, the measurement was much too small, and it deviated alot (1.4 to 1.6mm), at the time I didn't have calipers so when I saw it go through the tubing on the filawinder, I assumed it was perfect. My prints came out pretty terrible with the Z-banding like symptoms. Eventually I ended up using all of the filament and was ready to re-attempt this with using calipers for testing.

Barrel is insulated, the voltage is between 11.9V to 12.2V as per the display, the heater clicks every few seconds, the temp stays consistent, only if I am not using a fan. It stays full on if I put the fan next to it the filament similar to the filastruder pictures on the main site.

10 Reply by Smow

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

Try putting some of the pellets on a pan, and put it in the oven for 4 hours at 205F / 95C. See if it goes away.

I too have some glow in the dark chips that are coming out rough (feels like 300-400grit sand paper) and looking at it under my microscope there are hard granules. My next experiment is to try drying it out and see if that fixes the issue.

Good luck

11 Reply by Zirak

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

The original roughness issue was resolved by lowering the temps, the issue is just the inconsistent diameter.

12 Reply by elmoret

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

Zirak wrote:

Barrel is insulated, the voltage is between 11.9V to 12.2V as per the display, the heater clicks every few seconds, the temp stays consistent, only if I am not using a fan. It stays full on if I put the fan next to it the filament similar to the filastruder pictures on the main site.

I need the voltage at the wires going to the heater, if a poor connection was made during assembly of the kit, the heater may be getting less than full voltage. It should require about 70% on time to maintain 180C.

What was the diameter like with the original material included with the kit?

Can you confirm that the hex socket has 1-2mm of axial play (in other words, that the auger is not being pushed into the gearbox)? This can cause diameter variance issues.

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13 Reply by Zirak (edited by Zirak 2017-02-07 22:28:07)

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

Yes there is some room between the hex socket and auger, back when I was assembling it, I made sure to give it some room to shift around, while still being connected to the hex socket. Would you happen to know of a simple approach to measuring the heater voltage using a multimeter without having to disassemble the filastruder? Thanks for your help so far!

Also, it's only 180C when the fan is running, otherwise it easily climbs to 215C.

14 Reply by elmoret

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

The 70% on time was with the fan running. Is the insulation flush with the face of the nozzle?

To measure without disassembling you could stick the probes through the heater wire insulation, or slice off a bit of the insulation - just be sure to wrap where you slice with electrical tape afterwards.

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

15 Reply by Zirak (edited by Zirak 2017-02-26 18:41:43)

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

Hi Elmoret,

Finally got around to measuring the voltage, it measured about 12.5V, this is before starting on the motor. I will measure again once the motor is on.

And yes, the insulation is flush with the face of the nozzle. I am thinking it might be my fan, my original one broke, so I purchased a computer fan that was 60mm, with 2x the depth of the original fan, and it also seems to be more airflow overall.


Edit:
About the same when motor is running.

16 Reply by Zirak

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Re: ABS filament not extruding smoothly

I tuned down the CV, I think the motor was moving too fast causing the extrusion to be really fast, resulting in the fan not providing sufficient cooling. The ambient temperature of the room some how caused the filament diameter to always rise above 1.9mm. It seems to be extruding consistently now.