26 Reply by elmoret

  • elmoret
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  • Registered: 2012-10-11
  • Posts: 6,048

Re: On extruding reliable filament

CornGolem wrote:

In the previous run I forgot to put back my hot end enclosure. Now I put it back, I didn't cut the board shorter but I put aluminium foil at its edge, I cleared the floor and I moved the insulation so it's flush with the nozzle face. The result is not one tangling until I stopped the machine (and a matching temperature). Several tens of meters of straight filament (I didn't measure). I think that the enclosure is a real game changer.

Then I switched to the supplied PLA. I poured some pellets in the hopper after it was empty of ABS and after some times I set the temperature to 160°C.
I also got many meters of straight filament but... it was very thin and very fast:
extrusion speed: 70,8cm/min
filament diameter: 1,305 ±0,085mm
(I made sure that I measured pure PLA not an ABS mix. Until I get masterbatch I'll use some coloured plastic to mark the coming of a new polymer - anyone doing this ?)

I'd be curious about that hotend enclosure. Can you try without it? I have never needed one. If you end up benefiting from it, can you post a picture?

PLA is tough. Here's a thread on it: http://www.soliforum.com/topic/2847/tem … -filament/

You could try overdrilling the nozzle, but as you saw, the diameter variance is bigger with PLA than ABS. Did you pre-dry the PLA? PLA is pretty hydroscopic.

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27 Reply by CornGolem

  • CornGolem
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  • Registered: 2013-07-22
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Re: On extruding reliable filament

I removed the hot end enclosure and did not notice significant changes. Maybe I didn't wait long enough. I prefer to keep it as it prevents perpendicular wind blows below and over the fan.

I'm moving to that thread to solve the PLA issues.