Can we use 1.75mm ABS in a U3 or U5?

[wbauman 0]

We have a cabinet full of misc. 1.75/1.8 filament, and would like to use them in one of our U3s or U5. I can't seem to customize cura3.4 to process to that.  Is it possible?

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

[P3D 46]

AFAIK you'll need a different extruder, print cores etc. to do this, plus of course the software tweaks. I would not do this with either a UM 3 or a S5. Maybe with a UM 2+, but you've got to ask yourself if it wouldn't be better to just buy a cheap chinese 3D printer built for 1,75mm filaments, plus a plexiglas box for enclosing it against warping ABS, for the money you would otherwise spend on modding the printer...

 

So: technically possible, but not worth the effort IMHO.

[wbauman 0]

Thanks.  That's kind of what we thought.  Figured someone might have hacked their way to it, but not worth it for us.  Maybe donate it to a school or something. 

[gr5 2,210]

I don't recommend it but you have 2 choices:

1) Just change filament diameter to 1.75 and go for it.  Make sure to print extra slow so the melted ABS doesn't go upwards out the top of the core.  Probably 20mm/sec at 0.1 layers to be safe.  Or you can play with the speed on the tune menu until it starts underextruding.

 

2) There are some 1.75 conversion methods.  I sell one in my store for people in USA only.  It's a bit complicated but I have one customer who absolutely loves it.  They make their own custom filament and it breaks when they extrude it at 2.85 so they are forced to print 1.75.  I sell a "1.75" core and have special bowden techniques that are more complicated than normal but not too bad.

 

So if you have say $1000 worth of 1.75mm filament it might be worth it.  If it's just 2 spools it's probably not worth it.  Also I hate ABS so if it's all ABS I would just throw it out.  There are so many filaments that are so much easier to print and have better characteristics than ABS (heat, strength, quality).