PVA, cleaning time

[luisito 12]

Now that UM3 is coming, i have reviewed some videos about PVA. My question is: how much time takes it to remove PVA filament from the printed parts?. I have heard that it takes about 24h, depending on the amount of PVA. Is there any way to speed it up? Have seen some videos where ultrasonic cleaners are used.

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

Moving the water helps. Warming up the water helps too. The exact time depends on the geometry. I would say something between an hour and an eternity... I did some tests about two years ago and it was desolved during a night.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Guest

[yellowshark 153]

Hmn interesting; I always thought you needed limonene to remove PVA, not water. I think I have some PVA but have never used it, perhaps I should give it a try.

[luisito 12]

Yellowshark, limonene is used to disolve HIPS, which is another kind of support filament. And it takes hours to disolve as well.

[yellowshark 153]

Correct:) It is HIPS I have

[DidierKlein 729]

Yes an HIPS is to support ABS not PLA

PVA is to support PLA and probably other types of filament.

To disolve PVA you can either put it in water and wait a couple of hours, after eight hours it has disolved a lot (depending on the density of course).

To speed up things, heat and movement can reduce the process to 1 or 2 hours (depending on the density)

[MartijnvG 16]

Yes an HIPS is to support ABS not PLA

PVA is to support PLA and probably other types of filament.

To disolve PVA you can either put it in water and wait a couple of hours, after eight hours it has disolved a lot (depending on the density of course).

To speed up things, heat and movement can reduce the process to 1 or 2 hours (depending on the density)

 

Just make sure you don't heat up the water to more than 35C because that can cause to deform the PLA.

[flowalistik 181]

I recommend to get some pump to move the water, it helps a lot. But don't think that you need very big and professional equipment to use PVA, just a 5€ aquarium pump should work fine with a small bucket.

I used a small bucket and a toothbrush to remove PVA from some prints, and although it takes some minutes (5 minutes for a 10cm print with a lot of PVA), it can be done with no problem. Just make sure that after working with PVA you wash your hands and the bucket or what you use, because PVA tends to deposit on the bottom.

[peteruithoven 4]

So since moving water and heat helps, couldn't we simply use a small aquarium? Probably preferably with few elements in the aquarium itself?

[flowalistik 181]

So since moving water and heat helps, couldn't we simply use a small aquarium? Probably preferably with few elements in the aquarium itself?

 

Cheap aquarium water pumps also work. Someone told me he had purchased one and it worked really nice. It's cheap, and although it's not the most technological gadget, it works pretty nice with PVA prints.