Why did the filament break?

[REMAP 1]

My UM2 is just a couple of weeks old and I've printed only 5 models. On two of them there is a clear fault between two layers - one of them broke at the fault when being removed from the bed.

After this I've noticed that the filament in the transparent tube is broken - there is a 1cm gap, which is clearly shown in the attached photo. I think that similar unnoticed breaks and gaps were the cause of the lamination faults, and that the one illustrated will cause another error in the next thing that's printed.

The filament is the one included in the delivery box.

Does this indicate a fault in the printer and/or the filament? How do I remove the two parts of the broken filament.

Here's a photo of a lamination error.

[DidierKlein 729]

Hard to say why it broke.... usually the silver UM filament is a good quality filament. I don't think a problem of your printer could have caused it...

To remove,

First remove your material, then press cancel when it asks to insert the new filament.

Heat up the nozzle to 210°c (it should already be hot because of the remove material procedure) then remove the bowden from both sides:

Remove the clip, push the white collet down and pull the bowden (it shouldn't require much force) if you feel some resistance make sure you pushed the white collet down enough.

If you can grab the piece of filament from the side of the head then remove by grabbing it. If not, take some filament and enter it from the side of the feeder and push it out.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Why did the filament break?

Seems the fillament they gave you is older than your ,machine, or was stored incorrectly.

When you feel the fillament in your hand is there a huge tension on it? does it break easy when you unroll a bit from the spool?

Think you dont really have to remove it as the printer will probably just push it in correctly, but if you do simply take of the bowden tube on both sides and push it out manually.

To remove the bowden take of the little blue plastic horseshoe shaped thing (nail, tweezer or small pliers) and push on the white plastic collet while holding the bowden tube.

[JohnK 30]

Very interesting this came up now. I just started printing with a new roll of UM silver after going through another roll of it without problems. The new roll prints fine but I've had it break just below the feeder (below the last retraction after a finished print) after it was left on the printer overnight (not printing). This has happened two nights in a row. The lowest temperature in the room while the printer was left idle would have been around 16C. It almost looks as if the filament tried to return to a curved shape and snaps.

Then when removing the remaining filament from the bowden tube, I can snap it very easily without much force.

The stuff on the roll that hasn't passed through the printer, takes a little more force to snap, bends slightly, then snaps, whereas I've got some black UM PLA and I can almost fold it on to itself before it snaps.

[REMAP 1]

I've just removed the filament - it obviously left the section in the print-head, but it broke again as the m/c was withdrawing it, leaving a short 12cm section in the tube. I then tried bending some of the filament still on the drum. It was very varied - some bits bent almost double before breaking, and some bits snapped as soon as any bending force was applied. I guess the filament is faulty. Do you concur?

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Yep, that filament is not ok if you ask me ... usually only see it when it's old ...

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

PLA becomes brittle in humid environment....

[Blizz 53]

Threw away a complete spindle a couple months back for exactly the same issue... Also UM silver.

[Remy 13]

Threw away a complete spindle a couple months back for exactly the same issue... Also UM silver.

 

I've also run into this issue before. It's possible there was a bad batch of silver metallic or something similar. I had a couple spools lately that printed very gritty and in general extruded badly. The bearing you printed doesn't look to be gritty like the filament I saw, but could be related. Hopefully it was just one batch/a couple spools, and considering it got distributed to the entire world there are probably a few more unhappy users out there as well.

[MiguelUK 0]

Yes, we're unhappy with ours. The silver filament, that came with the machine, has broken several times, as well. We've only had the UM2Ext for a little over a month.. Fortunately we ordered additional filaments along with the machine. We'll try one of them and see if we experience any breakage with it.

[williej 0]

Hello all

Since august 15 I am also in possession of an Ultimaker Original +. The filament that was added in the box also breaks fast at the extruder drive position. Now already two days in a row, when I pick up the machine and place it somewhere else, the filament breaks. And it is quite a hassle to fix this , because the filament keeps breaking when handled. It is also silver colored like the ones mentioned in other posts.

[Labern 775]

I just got a bad roll of UM silver.

2days old and Broke in 2 different places in the bowden and snapped off in the feeder. As I was trying to get it out it kept breaking more.

[valcrow 145]

I've only had this one time on brown filament. It broke in several places in the bowden tube when I moved it, and once when I left it for a while.

It's strange because that's the first time that's ever happened and it was one roll of filament only... so I think it's strictly filament QC related and nothing to do with the printer.

UM silver is the best quality IMO, I've never had that break. But maybe a bad batch is going around?

[Labern 775]

Yeah this silver prints really bad and is gritty as mentioned above

[lderoo 0]

I had this happen with my UM Silver filament today as well. 16 hour print gone wrong... :(

It broke just before the feeder. Should I throw out the whole spool?

[gpb01 23]

Before you throw away the whole spool, have you tried

method?

Guglielmo

P.S.: The video is really horrible, so ... be patient. Many people have tried it and they say it works. I also read that, after a few days, the filament back to brittle, but, in any case, it is worth making an attempt

Edited September 13, 2015 by Guest

[ultiarjan 1,223]

thinking of how many suppliers putting dry-packs into there filament boxes this method does come as a big surprise ....

I did noticed though that colorfabb stopped adding the dry-packs in the box ... I assume they know what there doing and its not just a saving for them....

[gpb01 23]

thinking of how many suppliers putting dry-packs into there filament boxes this method does come as a big surprise ...

 

Totally agree with you, I always used the silica gel to keep the filaments well dry, so ... was really a surprise ...

Guglielmo

[kelechi 24]

My UM brown filament also broke during a print last month. Well I just watched the tube and pushed the filament back to the section in front so as not to have a break in the job.

[peetersm 124]

I am having the exact same issue, and I'm on my 6th returned spool from UM support, all bad so far. This is a summary of what everyone has been saying:

1. PLA off the roll seems fine, I can usually print long print jobs.

2. Every day the PLA breaks at the point it's entering the extruder and has a very brittle area around this.

3. Once the PLA is "straightened" for a while it become brittle and break easily.

here's a video showing my testing method and results.

 

SO far the batch numbers I have been sent that are "bad" are:

UM-7021b075 150508b04-11

UM-7021b075 150508b04-12

UM-7021b075 150508b04-6

UM-7021b075 150508b04-9

UM-7021b075 150508b04-317

UM-7021b075 150508b04-324

I have read before that UM changes sources for their PLA from time to time, I think they are buying from a new source that is sub-par with the quality we've all come to take for granted.

The bad stuff is shrink wrapped with a desiccant pack inside. I got some silver rolls from them early this year(2015) with that was not shrink wrapped, it's great.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Man you are really patient... I would not have made it to 6 attempts...

[peetersm 124]

Man you are really patient... I would not have made it to 6 attempts...

 

Well it's two machines (same issue) so really it's only been 3 attempts. But today (on my 4th re-ship) I asked for a different color or brand of plastic and they said it has to be silver, but that a new batch is in and they are going to be sending me 2 new rolls of that. (so that 8 rolls I've sent back)

I'll keep you posted if the new batch looks better. At least I know how to test it and don't have to put it in my printer.

As frustrating as it is to have to keep sending it back I am getting great support from the US support partner fabrc8. LOVE those guys!!!!!

also I've got plenty of ColorFabb so I'm not at a printing stand still. :-)

[model_dude 1]

I am having the exact same issue, and I'm on my 6th returned spool from UM support, all bad so far. This is a summary of what everyone has been saying:

1. PLA off the roll seems fine, I can usually print long print jobs.

2. Every day the PLA breaks at the point it's entering the extruder and has a very brittle area around this.

3. Once the PLA is "straightened" for a while it become brittle and break easily.

here's a video showing my testing method and results.

 

SO far the batch numbers I have been sent that are "bad" are:

UM-7021b075 150508b04-11

UM-7021b075 150508b04-12

UM-7021b075 150508b04-6

UM-7021b075 150508b04-9

UM-7021b075 150508b04-317

UM-7021b075 150508b04-324

I have read before that UM changes sources for their PLA from time to time, I think they are buying from a new source that is sub-par with the quality we've all come to take for granted.

The bad stuff is shrink wrapped with a desiccant pack inside. I got some silver rolls from them early this year(2015) with that was not shrink wrapped, it's great.

 

This is the same issue we have been having with filament on our new UM2. Mainly with Ultimaker white PLA filament (although did happen a couple of times with silver Ultimaker filament) the issue is exactly as you describe - off the roll/freshly reloaded it prints ok but leave it for a day or so and it fractures around the extruder (usually below) but is very brittle for an inch or two either side of it. I wondered if it was to do somehow with the aircon in the office but then we have never had a similar issue with the PLA filament on our other machine (Makerbot Replicator 2) although that is the thinner 1.75mm filament.

So UM support have confirmed it is 'bad' filament? The filament we have did come shrink-wrapped with desiccant pack inside, so sounds like the same stuff.

I assume that no-one is having the same issues with ColorFABB filament? If not I might have to start ordering CF filament rather than the UM stuff until this issue is resolved...

[peetersm 124]

I have never seen this with ANY other brand, but I have only used ColorFabb, Faberdasry and Diamond Age.

I got my 4th batch of replacement spools today, same issue, so here's the part numbers I've seen so far:

UM-7021b075 150508b04-11

UM-7021b075 150508b04-12

UM-7021b075 150508b04-6

UM-7021b075 150508b04-9

UM-7021b075 150508b04-317

UM-7021b075 150508b04-324

UM-7021b075 150720a02-240

UM-7021b075 150720a02-254

here's what they look like:

[SandervG 1,521]

So @Peetersm, have you received new reels of filament? And were they better?

Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and the potential frustration of this bad batch of filaments!