Metal Compound Filament print experiences

[The_Rob 1]

Hi folks,

 

I am doing some prints with metal compound filaments and as it is very tricky, I want to share (and archive) my results here.

I am using UM3 with Hardcore SS0.5mm nozzle on ex1 and standard AA on ex2.

The filament I am using is Conrad Renkforce PLA compound bronze and the new Ultimaker breakaway for support.

(Breakaway is fantastic btw, it prints flawless and removing it really is a matter of seconds.)

For the compound filament I had been using the generic PLA settings, just changing the printing speed to 30~40mm/s. There has been some oozing, but the results were okay.

 

Now the trouble started with dual extrusion. With a success rate of 100% the compound filament is stuck in the heatsink after printing the support.

The nozzle is always clean, after removing the stuck filament and cutting off 5mm, I can extrude easily again. Filament looked the same, as if front fan doesn't work properly (That is not the error here).

 

What I tried just now, was to set the standby temperature to 50°, but that had not been sufficient yet, it still got clogged. I noticed that the printer starts heating the nozzle rather early, it was heated to 180° and kept that way for about 20s, before it started to try printing on the prime tower.

I will try to check if there is any setting to start the reheating as late as possible, in the hope that it will not get stuck anymore.

I will post the results here, or maybe any of you has some tips.

 

Robin

[gr5 2,172]

Is the filament stuck in the UM core or the hardcore?  Is it stuck when trying to remove the filament or only when printing or both?  Which way are you *certain* is stuck and which way do you think might also be stuck?  If it's stuck in the core how did you get the core out of the print head?

 

It sounds like you are describing a new problem just discovered with a few hardcores.  The solution is pretty simple if it is the issue I'm thinking about.  Also did you buy direct from 3dsolex or from a reseller and if so which reseller?

[kmanstudios 1,120]

3 hours ago, gr5 said:

Is the filament stuck in the UM core or the hardcore?  Is it stuck when trying to remove the filament or only when printing or both?  Which way are you *certain* is stuck and which way do you think might also be stuck?  If it's stuck in the core how did you get the core out of the print head?

 

It sounds like you are describing a new problem just discovered with a few hardcores.  The solution is pretty simple if it is the issue I'm thinking about.  Also did you buy direct from 3dsolex or from a reseller and if so which reseller?

Could you be specific as to the issues discovered as I wonder if that is what happened to me with the copperfill I was using.

[gr5 2,172]

The symptom is that everything works fine except at the end of a print you can't remove the filament.  You can start a new print just fine.  But the old filament won't come out of the core.  The fix is to send the core back as it takes me only 5 minutes to take it all apart, drill out the anodized aluminum heatsink (and possibly the steel trumpet part above) and then put it all back together.  This only happens on a small percentage of hardcores.  Probably between 1% and 5%.  Hopefully 1%.  Partly the problem is rare because the teflon inside the heatsink has to be larger I.D. than typical and in addition the heatsink has to be smaller than typical.  The filament expands into the enlarged teflon and won't come up out through the heatsink.

[The_Rob 1]

Okay, I will try to answer all the questions.

The metal compound filament is stuck in the hardcore.

I repeated this print on two different UM3 which each had an individual hardcore. Both hardcores were bought together from the same reseller. I need to find out first, which one it was.

 

I can't say if it's stuck in the PTFE area or in the heatsink, because I never took the hardcore apart before and don't know where exactly each part is. But it is not stuck in the nozzle.

After removing the filament (picture) I can feed fresh filament easily.

The filament does not print anymore and needs to be pulled out with some force, similar to a cold pull, although heated.

As it is possible to remove the filament manually, there is no issue removing the printcore.

It can be, that it is also stuck for forwarding, because the printer attempted a 16mm retract before  extruder change, which made it stuck.

 

I am not sure if I had any troubles removing the filament after a succesful print, but as far as I remember not (that much).

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by The_Rob
Added picture