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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → XYZ Printing DaVinci → PLA Printing
I'm thinking about getting the da Vinci 1.0 as my first 3d printer and read that they are planning on releasing pla cartridges this quarter. I've searched but have been unable to find out if they are still planning on releasing these and if so, when. Anyone know if this is still in the works?
Probably best to assume they are NOT going to release it until they do. At this point, given how much trouble most people have printing PLA, I doubt they will.
Probably best to assume they are NOT going to release it until they do. At this point, given how much trouble most people have printing PLA, I doubt they will.
Yea I am still not sure I believe they will release the PLA cartridge but I did finally receive a response from their tech support:
"Hi XXXXXX,
We are working toward to have the PLA filament ready to market by the end of the year. Most likely we will be able to launch the full line of PLA filaments in early 2015.
Kind Regards,
Customer Care
XYZprinting North America
"
Supposedly they are still working on it and intend to release the cartridges early next year... not sure I'm believe that. Ended up ordering the da vinci 1.0 any way.
Thanks for the response.
Unless they send out an updated extruder, the current one will not work with PLA. The heat crawls up the barrel and causes the PLA to swell before it should causing the extruder to jam and be a real pain to clean out.
Some have modded their extruders with heatsinks and extra fans and got their to print with PLA. But they also have installed the Repetier firmware which allows them to use and ABS or PLA filament since it no longer checks for the cartridge.
Others have completely changed out their entire x carriage so they can install the E3D head which seems to work well with any filament even fishing line ninjaflex and Polycarbonate.
Unless they send out an updated extruder, the current one will not work with PLA. The heat crawls up the barrel and causes the PLA to swell before it should causing the extruder to jam and be a real pain to clean out.
Some have modded their extruders with heatsinks and extra fans and got their to print with PLA. But they also have installed the Repetier firmware which allows them to use and ABS or PLA filament since it no longer checks for the cartridge.
Others have completely changed out their entire x carriage so they can install the E3D head which seems to work well with any filament even fishing line ninjaflex and Polycarbonate.
Yup. I've got my E3D head in hand, just waiting on a few additional parts to come in to finish the modification.
Well worth the money IMHO. I wanted some slightly better X and Y resolution (0.25mm instead of 0.4mm) to improve my print quality. I'm sure it will help.
And I can't wait to try out some ninjaflex as well.
carl_m1968 wrote:Unless they send out an updated extruder, the current one will not work with PLA. The heat crawls up the barrel and causes the PLA to swell before it should causing the extruder to jam and be a real pain to clean out.
Some have modded their extruders with heatsinks and extra fans and got their to print with PLA. But they also have installed the Repetier firmware which allows them to use and ABS or PLA filament since it no longer checks for the cartridge.
Others have completely changed out their entire x carriage so they can install the E3D head which seems to work well with any filament even fishing line ninjaflex and Polycarbonate.
Yup. I've got my E3D head in hand, just waiting on a few additional parts to come in to finish the modification.
Well worth the money IMHO. I wanted some slightly better X and Y resolution (0.25mm instead of 0.4mm) to improve my print quality. I'm sure it will help.
And I can't wait to try out some ninjaflex as well.
Hi darkhawk
Could you inform us of the parts that you needed to print pla and ninja flex, and how you installed it into the printer?
Thanks
Alex
I've been experimenting with PLA using the stock extruder for the past couple of days.
I had some trouble with extrusion until I got the bed height right but it is printing now.
Haven't quite got it sticking to the bed properly but I'm working on that too.
The only mod I've done so far is to cover the gaps in the extruder fan shroud with kapton tape to improve airflow.
There's a couple of threads on the Voltivo forum with some good advice on printing with PLA on the Davinci.
Out of curiosity, why do folks want to print with PLA? I get wanting to be able to run exotics, but seems like stock PLA is actually inferior to ABS and is a hassle to get printing on a DaVinci. Is it just a completionist thing or is there a fundamental advantage to PLA I'm missing, beyond smelling like cookies when it prints?
Personally, I'm not looking to use regular PLA right now but I'm about to try Bronzefill and Woodfill which is PLA based so I just needed to be sure I could get a decent print with regular PLA first.
From what I've read though, PLA is generally used for prints that are for display and ABS more for working parts.
I've finally managed to get a good print with PLA.
The key was glue stick on the bed at 50C and 180C for the extruder.
I'll post some pics later.
Quite impressed by how well the stock extruder performed after the initial struggle with it.
The layers are very neat and smooth and there's no sign of any of the little bumps you sometimes get with ABS.
The length of the print is 60mm and height is 12mm.
Sliced with Cura at 0.3mm layer height.
The PLA is translucent yellow.
@Scobo what temp settings are you using to print PLA? and do you have any extra fans or heatsinks on the extruder? I have tried pla but it keeps expanding in the barrel of my extruder and jamming (@190C)
...I also wonder why it expands, PLA is supposed to have a much lower thermal expansion coefficient compared to ABS, so why does it expand in the Barrel when ABS doesn't?
BTW studica is now selling official XYZprinting PLA cartridges. although they are marked up $10 from what XYZPrinting's website says they should be sold for
I would like to see your setup as well scobo
Nothing fancy at all guys, I'm just using a bit of kapton tape around the sides of the extruder fan to block the gaps to try to allow better airflow. It's a quick version of this mod ... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:623274
I'm not even sure what difference it makes tbh.
No extra fans or heatsinks.
I use 180C for the extruder and 50C for the bed.
They key seems to be getting the bed height just right. Too high (not enough gap between the nozzle and the bed) and you get back pressure causing the PLA to swell in the nozzle and wedge.
And glue stick on the bed. I find that's the only way I can get the print to stick with PLA.
Nothing fancy at all guys, I'm just using a bit of kapton tape around the sides of the extruder fan to block the gaps to try to allow better airflow. It's a quick version of this mod ... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:623274
I'm not even sure what difference it makes tbh.
No extra fans or heatsinks.
I use 180C for the extruder and 50C for the bed.
They key seems to be getting the bed height just right. Too high (not enough gap between the nozzle and the bed) and you get back pressure causing the PLA to swell in the nozzle and wedge.
And glue stick on the bed. I find that's the only way I can get the print to stick.
Run your bed at 90 and PLA should stick without glue. It is the standard bed temp for PLA.
Cheers Carl, I'll give that a go. The retailer recommended 50C but I'll try 90C.
It would be great not to have to go back to using glue.
Well, I've been battling with PLA at a bed temp of 90C for the past couple of hours and it's just not happening.
I think there's just too much heat for the stock extruder to cope without better cooling.
It might be possible with one of the heatsink mods and/or a 12V fan to replace the stock fan but for now I'll just stick with a bed temp of 50C and the glue stick. This seems to work pretty well.
You can print PLA without heating up the bed. Just glue stick on the glass is fine. I think 90C is way too hot for PLA. I would agree that it's the standard temp for ABS, but not PLA.
You can print PLA without heating up the bed. Just glue stick on the glass is fine. I think 90C is way too hot for PLA. I would agree that it's the standard temp for ABS, but not PLA.
Well my 3DStuffmaker always used 90, but it was an anodized aluminum plate instead of glass. Also another option for PLA is blue painters tape on a room temp unheated bed. This is what Makerbot uses on their $2500 dollar units.
I tried kapton tape but that wasn't much better than the bare glass.
Would the painters tape work better than kapton with PLA ?
I tried kapton tape but that wasn't much better than the bare glass.
Would the painters tape work better than kapton with PLA ?
The painters tape works great with PLA as long as you don't heat the bed. The Makerbots run PLA and that is there setup. Painters tabe and a room temp bed. The heated bed is optional for them.
Thanks.
Anything to get round using that damn glue. 
Now I'm really confused. 
I checked the manufacturer's website for info on their PLA. They recommend 225C for the extruder.
So I tried 225C and 90C for the bed with kapton tape and got a perfect, well stuck 1st layer !
No glue, yay. 
That blows my thoughts on too much heat at 90C out the water.
Unfortunately, my 10 metre sample of PLA ran out so I can't test this any further but I'll order some more and try again.
Well, I just got a new spool of PLA and the first 2 prints came out perfect at 225 and 90C with nothing on the bed whatsoever !
What brand of PLA are you using?
What brand of PLA are you using?
Wedo3dprinting - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200955209526? … EBIDX%3AIT
I use their ABS too and the quality of both is very good.
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → XYZ Printing DaVinci → PLA Printing
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