26 Reply by Rocketman

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

Hunter Green wrote:

I've heard that darker colors are more sensitive to humidity problems, but I don't know if that's a few bits of anecdotal evidence being overgeneralized.  I do note though that the white ABS I got from Solidoodle has never had any problem; the blue I got at the same time has never ever worked; and the light green that came in the same batch worked for a while, then started to fail.

What an expensive hobby this is turning out to be. lol. When reentering into the software the PID data, what should it tell you? Will it say "thanks, info received" or what should I expect?

27 Reply by Rocketman

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

I was talking with tech support and have made some progress. I dusted off the wheel that feeds the filament in. I had a 90 minute print job test, and it haulted about 5 mins before completing due to another clog. The last few times it was a good 45 mins to finishing, so I'd consider this progress. Other than a toothbrush is there a more through way of cleaning in there?

28 Reply by cckens

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

Do you have a keyboard vac?  Those things with a brush attachment would clean it up pretty quick.  Even a regular vacuum would remove the filings from the wheel if you use it in combination with a toothbrush.

29 Reply by Krythis

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

A quick blast of canned air also works well

E3D-v4 Hotend, MK5 carriage with round plastic wire conduit , 3/16" tempered glass,  Well nut, SureStepr SD8825 1/32 Extruder Driver, PowerEdge 2650 500W PS, QU-BD heated bed, circuit board fan, hinged plexiglass enclosure with plastic tray top. Other than that mostly stock SD3

30 Reply by dkeeling728

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

try wrenching down on the tensioner. the bearing should be tight enough against the filament that the hob chews noticeable marks into the filament that you can see before it enters the PEEK. when you think you have it tight enough, give it a few more turns! just use your judgement on whats too tight, don't want to break off the arm. 

also, did you ever look at the temperature curve of your hotend during the print? i sometimes get swings when im printing PLA with the case off that dip low enough to trigger the cold extrusion safety in the software. never a problem with ABS since its always case on printing. but if your PID settings are off and the temp is swinging, it might be alternatively overheating and over-cooling the ABS, causing burnt bits to get stuck in the orifice.

but the failure rate and timing of it seems like you are getting a clogged up extruder drive to me. might just be some really flakey/inconsistent diameter filament, or too light tension on the bearing like i described above.

31 Reply by neoblood3d

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

If you get a plastic container and put a layer of 20 Mule Team Borax in, it will keep most anything as dry as a bone.  Tip#2 if you put flowers in it they will dry so quickly they retain the color and you can spray them with any clear coating and give it to your girl so she will let you play with your printer whenever you want.

32 Reply by Hunter Green

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

So while I understand the role of humidity in the ABS, what about the role of humidity in the air?  Do you find you can't use your 3D printer on humid days, regardless of the quality of the ABS?  (Or am I the only one who doesn't have AC on all summer long?)

FlashForge Creator, SketchUp 2013

33 Reply by mconsidine

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

It's funny you ask that, because that exact question crossed my mind a couple of weeks ago.

I wasn't running the machine in an A/C'd area.  Neither do I have a fan on the electronics.  And when the humidity and temps jumped up here ( a few miles south of you ), I started getting jumps in the y-axis.  I wouldn't have thought that the difference in ambient from - say - 70F to 85F would have been enough to cause the problem and that made me wonder about the humidity, which *had* gone up quite a bit.

Moving the printer to the basement where it is both cooler *and* has a dehumidifier running solved the problem of the y-axis skipping.  But I still don't have a good answer as to whether or not humidity was affecting the electronics.  I wouldn't have thought so...

34 Reply by dubbsd

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

the humidity in my house stays @ 52% and the printer sits in the laundry room next to the outside door
the grand kids are in and out all day long and on occasion they leave the door open. I haven't had moisture problems yet.
(now where is that wood i need to knock on)

Ultimaker S3.

35 Reply by Hunter Green (edited by Hunter Green 2013-07-07 22:59:48)

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

I haven't had any Y axis jumps, but I printed and installed a fan cover for my electronics this winter just to head that off.  But with the humidity sky-high the last few days, I've had layers adhering poorly if at all, and lots of stringy "hair" on my prints, just like when I have printed with over-humidified ABS.  In the evenings sometimes the same filament would work better, though.

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36 Reply by Hunter Green

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

So, for the record, the humidity in Vermont finally broke yesterday.  I printed the same design with the same filament and no other changes.  In fact, the filament had been left out for days in the humidity.  And it printed nice and solid, where the last attempt fell apart in the attempt to lift it off the glass.  So the answer is a resounding yes, ambient humidity makes a huge difference in print quality, and has the same effect as over-humidified ABS.

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37 Reply by nemesis200

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Re: Over humidified ABS.

buy cheap foodsaver and revacum seal spools. Just cut the bags big so you can keep reusing them. amazon has them for about  60 dollars