Verbatim BVOH & UM3?

[Bossler 8]

Hi there!

I did love Verbatim's BVOH with my former printer but did not find any usefull reports about it's usage in the UM3 yet.

Anybody tried BVOH in the Ultimaker 3 (extended) and can report how it works?

 

The major advantage I see compared to plain PVA is that it dissolves much quicker than PVA.

Plus it is/was easier to print than the PVA I tried (which was not Ultimaker PVA, I have to admitt).

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I had to look it up. I was not familiar with this filament. But correct me if I am wrong: This is just another variation of a water soluble support material, yes?

 

What I saw showed no reason to be worried as it does not seem abrasive (cured with a 3D Solex and hardcore nozzle) and meets all temp specs of the UM3(X).

 

The main thing to look for (at least what I look for) is abrasiveness or temp requirements. Otherwise, the UM3 family handles other filaments quite well and a few brands outside of the UM family are among my faves.

 

Edit: I just noticed the weight. I have purchased the Polybox as a drybox/feeder to keep my filament dry. You can also make one. This will alliviate the need for spool adjustments as the standard spool holder would not hold this well. It struggles with KG of weight spool.....may be the extra weight would make it too deep to hold properly.

Edited January 23, 2018 by kmanstudios

[Bossler 8]

Well, I just can compare BVOH with a "no name" PVA.

The later was terrible to print, it did not really stick well to any build surface (incl. BuildTak) and the bonding even to PLA was weak as well.

 

Actually I do have the Polymaker Polybox on my list as well.

I was thinking of building such thing myself but when looking at the BOM

that would just be some building fun added but not necessarily cheaper.

 

Plus one could leave the Filament in it over night - especially nice for prints with PVA.

 

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I have had good success with Matterhackers PVA and UM PVA. And, yeah, some reason I bought a poly box. Once you add the cost of the hygrometer, it got out of range BOM to match.

[Bossler 8]

Well, I initially planned to print Spannerheads-Boxes (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2119644).

But after slicing all needed parts & calculating I recognized one box will be >60hrs in print time in total
plus required about 500gr of material... Adding that up and doing a "real cost" calculation they'd be way more 
expensive than the polymaker box.

 

Back to support material.

 

I still need to find a good support material that works with ABS.

I've seen that UM PVA & UM ABS is "experimental". BVOH did not really work well with ABS, too.

Do you have something working well with ABS?

[geert_2 557]

Ultimaker has the new hard "breakaway" support material, maybe that could work? Also, another option is to use ABS itself as support for ABS, by designing the supports as part of the model, in the old way like for single nozzle printers.

 

Concerning boxes: if you like to design one yourself just for the fun of it, or for a limited space, you could look for food boxes or freezer boxes to start from. They do exist in a lot of different sizes. Although I think the real cost is going to be more than the Polymaker box, with less functionality probably.

 

[Bossler 8]

Hi Geert,

the break away support may works, as per what I have read so far.

It's definitely on my shopping card & I'll give it a try.

 

Guess I just go for the polybox - even if yes, one could build something cheaper from food boxes etc.

It is quite compact and seems to be a simple construction.

Which is good - since complex constructions tend to behave complex;-)

[Bossler 8]

Reg. PolyBox:

Kman, how did you position your PolyBox behind the printer?

Seems a bit of a hassle?

Maybe I'll try whether the UM3 works without the NFC-sensor as well
because that spool holder is in the way...

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I have Polybox under the printer on a shelf below. I hung the NFC sensor down along it to see if it would work....it does not.

 

The Polybox has holes in the top that allow for it to feed very well. I use the bowder tube that come with it to do extra shielding on the PVA so that it minimizes air contact until it reaches the feeder.

 

If feeds very naturally and you only need on Polybox for regular use since it holds two spools quite well.

[Bossler 8]

So did you try to run the UM3 without the spool holder attached as well?

[kmanstudios 1,120]

The NFC wire is attached. I did not want to disconnect a piece that the system would search for. But the spool holder is not on the back insert.

[Bossler 8]

I've just tried it.

You can just disconnect & take off the whole thing, no problem.

When loading filament, the UM3 just tells you that he did not recognize the spool,

so you have to choose manually regardless of the spool you use.

Works fine for me so far.

Except that there is no "load" profile for PETG...

Edited January 27, 2018 by Bossler

[kmanstudios 1,120]

That is good to know I can remove a hanging piece of equipment. Also, for PETG I just use a modified Nylon or CPE profile. Just make sure you remember the type you use to fake the system out so that it does the proper pre-heat and such.

 

Thanks for the info!

[Bossler 8]

No reason, your wellcome!

That's what a forum is for - sharing knowledge;-)

 

[SteveCox3D 85]

I ran product testing on Verbatim's BVOH and created a product review video which can be found below. All the testing was completed on an Ultimaker 3 using the same print core as used for PVA. It prints well and it's dissolve performance is much better than PVA as is demonstrated in the video. It's also a support material that is compatible with a wide range of filaments

 

 

[Bossler 8]

I always encounter problems with BVOH - it dissolves fast, yes.

But not completely.

There are always some remains that are hard to remove.

Even with a powerful Ultrasonic-Cleaner.

I must say that as of current the Ultimaker PVA works better for me.

 

Also, BVOH works nice with PLA and the like but does not work good with ABS.