Jump to content
UltiMaker Community of 3D Printing Experts

Fragile poor quality parts


tojiero

Recommended Posts

Posted · Fragile poor quality parts

I have owned my Ultimaker 2 for a few years now and have become very frustrated and disappointed. The parts I print are always very fragile with appalling surface finish. I can only assume there is something fundamentally wrong somewhere. At the moment I am using a 0.4 nozzle and NGEN Co-Polyester. Parts are fibrous and seem to have very poor layer adhesion. They crack & split apart. Also the exterior surface, except where bonded to the build plate, is like velcro. any detail is impossible. 

Can somebody help me get something at least half decent from this machine?

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Fragile poor quality parts

    Hi tojero,

     

    Your printer must be a UM2+, right?

    Ok. First thing first, get read of this filament, use a good known or “recommended” brand of PLA!

    What you describe here is not a printer issue, -but more likely a filament issue!

    In fact all of your issues point to filament property deviation. (as high water content. etc)

    Make sure that there is no remains in the heat block or nozzle when using other type of thermoplastic.

     

    At this site you will find material types recommended for Ultimaker printers:

     

    https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/49799-material-compatibility

     

    I’m sure you will see that an UM2+ can really deliver good quality 3D prints.

     

    Good luck.

    Thanks

     

    Torgeir

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Fragile poor quality parts

    Thanks for your help. Unfortunately because I'm trying to create functional prototypes, it is important to me that I use a CPE material. Colorfab NGEN was recommended to me by the Ultimaker vender and has a good reputation. Howeve, following what you have said I have installed a brand new reel.

    I have improved the fragility and wall finish by running a finer layer height. I cannot get a decent part from a 0.4 nozzle and 0.15 layer height. Printing is slow but at least I'm not getting horribly fibrous parts that fall apart.

    Surface finish on a 'supported' face is still very poor and has to be heavily sanded. Any clues on how to improve this would be gratefully received.

    Thanks

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Fragile poor quality parts

    Hi Tojiero,

     

    To me it seems like the problem you are describing could be caused by a number of things. From my experience the main things causing fragile crumbly like parts are;

    • Under extrusion.
    • Old filament / Improper storage.

     

    Under extrusion itself could also be caused by a number of things;

    • Extruder jamming or skipping.
    • Incorrect material profile, or slicer settings.
    • Clogged or contaminated nozzle.

     

    To identify the root cause of the problem I need some more information. 

    1. Have you always had this problem printing this material?
    2. Do you have the same problem when printing other materials?
    3. Have you ever printed with any abrasive materials?
    4. How old are the materials you are printing? And how are they stored?
    5. What kind of slicer settings do you use?
    6. Did you experience any issues with the extruder while printing? Material grinding, or step skipping?

     

    Thanks,

     

    Jos

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • UltiMaker Cura 5.3 stable released
        In this stable release, Cura 5.3 achieves yet another huge leap forward in 3D printing thanks to material interlocking! As well as introducing an expanded recommended print settings menu and lots of print quality improvements. Not to mention, a whole bunch of new printer profiles for non-UltiMaker printers!
          • Thanks
          • Like
        • 21 replies
      • Here it is. The new UltiMaker S7
        The UltiMaker S7 is built on the success of the UltiMaker S5 and its design decisions were heavily based on feedback from customers.
         
         
        So what’s new?
        The obvious change is the S7’s height. It now includes an integrated Air Manager. This filters the exhaust air of every print and also improves build temperature stability. To further enclose the build chamber the S7 only has one magnetically latched door.
         
        The build stack has also been completely redesigned. A PEI-coated flexible steel build plate makes a big difference to productivity. Not only do you not need tools to pop a printed part off. But we also don’t recommend using or adhesion structures for UltiMaker materials (except PC, because...it’s PC). Along with that, 4 pins and 25 magnets make it easy to replace the flex plate perfectly – even with one hand.
         
        The re-engineered print head has an inductive sensor which reduces noise when probing the build plate. This effectively makes it much harder to not achieve a perfect first layer, improving overall print success. We also reversed the front fan direction (fewer plastic hairs, less maintenance), made the print core door magnets stronger, and add a sensor that helps avoid flooding.
         

         
        The UltiMaker S7 also includes quality of life improvements:
        Reliable bed tilt compensation (no more thumbscrews) 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi A 1080p camera (mounted higher for a better view) Compatibility with 280+ Marketplace materials Compatibility with S5 project files (no reslicing needed) And a whole lot more  
        Curious to see the S7 in action?
        We’re hosting a free tech demo on February 7.
        It will be live and you can ask any questions to our CTO, Miguel Calvo.
        Register here for the Webinar
          • Like
        • 18 replies
      • UltiMaker Cura Alpha 🎄 Tree Support Spotlight 🎄
        Are you a fan of tree support, but dislike the removal process and the amount of filament it uses? Then we would like to invite you to try this special release of UltiMaker Cura. Brought to you by our special community contributor @thomasrahm
         
        We generated a special version of Cura 5.2 called 5.3.0 Alpha + Xmas. The only changes we introduced compared to UltiMaker Cura 5.2.1 are those which are needed for the new supports. So keep in mind, this is not a sneak peek for Cura 5.3 (there are some really cool new features coming up) but a spotlight release highlighting this new version of tree supports.  
          • Like
        • 22 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...