So I got my ultimaker back in June and had been using it on and off, with multiple problems all along. The most common one that has plagued a lot of us is the Bowden Tube popping.
Fastforward to 2 days ago, I accidentally managed to melt my peek as the temp sensor was not connected to the aluminum block and the heater was on. (NOT GOOD)
Worked the entire last night to print without a peek and use fricton to hold the hot end in place. It worked and no popping of the tube etc, none of the problems because I could tighten the Brass Tube and see how much force it needed.
But a few things I have realised while working on a no-peek machine (milled PTFE tube with the brass tube a few mm inside the PTFE tube, surely more than the existing peek architecture). A lot of PLA leaked from the sides of the brass tube
(Orange = PLA, White = ABS)
But this didnt seem to affect my prints at all. Infact the ultimaker was printing perfectly. Which makes me believe that PLA expands considerably and the expanded PLA leaks out from the sides. (Extruder Calibration needed maybe, dont know how with the latest CURA)
Now if I had a functional PEEK, this leak would get arrested, but the PLA would still expand would it not?
Again you could say that I could be over heating the PLA causing expansion, but I've used two different Spools, purchased both from Ultimaker and the temperature for a stable print have been 185 (Brown PLA) and 235 (Orange PLA).
I could be completely wrong in understanding the problem and the importance of the peek in the design. Could someone help me to figure out how the V2 will help with expanding PLAs.