MosquitoWrangler

Thanks for the suggestions on improving clarity, I greatly appreciate it. Sheesh, I definitely have a lot to learn. Like changing my mental picture of a hot end/nozzle essentially acting like an icing piping bag. Fortunately I can get away with a "frosted/foggy" look, and in fact it might be better for a more diffused light sourcing to cast the mosquitoes into silhouette for the benefit of the electronic components of this machine I'm developing. (I'll post a picture once it's built). Thanks again, and for the prompt replies too.

Hi gr5 Yes, I completely understand where you are coming from regarding people not wanting to spring for a good filament. In my case, the printer was a donation. Such a nice printer! I then splurged on the eSun on the recommendation of a friend who said he had never had a problem. Hence I'm lighter in the pocket, and on a student budget (wimper)! Lucky friend is about to get a load of esun filament that I now find surplus to my needs. Thanks for the printedSolid.com steer. I have actually just got off the line with an Ultimaker preferred supplier here in South Africa (BuildVolume.co.za), and I'm placing an order. They only had Verbatim 2.85mm that was in clear (needed for this machine I'm prototyping), but plan to buy Ultimaker filament for the other colours. Still struggling to find clear TPU in the 2.85mm. If I don't come right I will try printedSolid.com. Yes I did notice that about the filament not fitting on the back of the printer, so I taken a large plastic trunk with a weather seal, drilled some holes in the sides to mount some PVC pipe through it on which I fitted the spools. The filament feeds through little holes and I have filled the base with dried silica gel (which we have a lot of when you work with mosquitoes). It works quite well and the printer can even fit on top of it when I'm pushed for space (like when in Covid-19 lock-down in a one room apartment). Regarding your putting the spools on the floor, do you run your filament through a cloth or sponge to removed dust? Regards Oliver

Thanks so much, Smithy. You have put my mind more at ease. I guess the adage that experience is expensive is true. Guess my friend is about to get an unexpected donation of 6 rolls of 1.75mm filament. Can you suggest a decent filament for the budget constricted?

Hi All, I'm rather new to 3D printing, but recently our malaria fighting, funds limited) science project received a very generous donation of a brand new Ultimaker 2+ for me to make functional parts for the project. I had very little trouble with the roll of silver PLA it came with, until one day my remaining roll was "lifted" but parties unknown (snipped off exactly where at the entrance to the feeder after I had finished a print!). Anyway I needed to develop more parts quickly. My next part had modules that needed to be clear, vapour smoothable and able to survive going through a washing machine, so I ordered some eSun ABS. I also ordered some clear TPU while I was about it. From the start I have had problems with bed adhesion, jammed nozzles and most often the blob of death forming around the nozzle. I have done numerous cold/atomic pulls. Which sort of helped, but bed adhesion was still a problem. I even bought a creality magnetic mat (which helped until warping lifted the mat from the magnet. I'm getting really desperate and really need to get a move on with these parts for both the project and my PhD. Can anybody give me some guidance? Is the Ultimaker 2+ able to print eSun ABS and TPU (I've had more luck with the TPU but still all prints have failed). Last week while trying to see if the problem is with settings in Cura I got a message claiming my current extruder can't handle a 1.75mm fillament (all I have). is this really true? I've had one prototype print fine but for the warping, so I know it can extrude it. Any advice is welcomed Regards Oliver