Problems with PVA support material with S5

[danmiles01 0]

Seems like a semi common issue but I am having problems with the UM PVA support material printing correctly on a S5.  I have tried a couple different spools with one brand new just ordered that is dry out of the bag which works much better in the tube and doesn't break before the print core which is good.  But using the standard material and print core settings the material / extruder doesn't seems to stick or gets hung up on the nozzle and never prints correctly.  Does anyone have any tips they could share as this seems to be a common issue from reviewing other posts.  Sounds like the FormFutura BVOH material is an option to try it seems.   Thank you just starting to work with a support material like this for a project that requires it.  Thanks

[Carla_Birch 116]

PVA is a tricky filament to get printing, it really can take in water fast. So even a brand new spool might not be as dry as you think, so it's best to always dry it out first and then print it from a dry box, something like the polybox.

 

You can dry the PVA folllowing this guide: https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012057799-How-to-dry-Ultimaker-PVA

Or better yet get a Food Dehydrator, so you can be drying filament out why still being able to print with your printer.

 

It's also worth cleaning the BB core out just incase you got a part blockage of the print core.

[RudydG 62]

I only unwind the length pva needed for the print. The rest goes back in the silica gel protected bag. Cost me some extra length, but i can use almost the whole roll. And the S5 stops when it detects end of the piece i cut.

Btw, i use Polymaker PVA S1, never any problems since i use this method with this material.

And, breaking pva is to dry, to flexible pva is probably to wet...

Edited February 7, 2021 by RudydG

[Jman15x 4]

On 2/7/2021 at 4:54 PM, RudydG said:

I only unwind the length pva needed for the print. The rest goes back in the silica gel protected bag. Cost me some extra length, but i can use almost the whole roll. And the S5 stops when it detects end of the piece i cut.

Btw, i use Polymaker PVA S1, never any problems since i use this method with this material.

And, breaking pva is to dry, to flexible pva is probably to wet...

I'm wondering how I can do this with the s5 material station. I don't want to keep wasting away my valuable PVA rolls. 

 

On 2/6/2021 at 5:20 AM, Carla_Birch said:

PVA is a tricky filament to get printing, it really can take in water fast. So even a brand new spool might not be as dry as you think, so it's best to always dry it out first and then print it from a dry box, something like the polybox.

 

You can dry the PVA folllowing this guide: https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012057799-How-to-dry-Ultimaker-PVA

Or better yet get a Food Dehydrator, so you can be drying filament out why still being able to print with your printer.

 

It's also worth cleaning the BB core out just incase you got a part blockage of the print core.

Do you have a link for how to clean out a print core?

[RudydG 62]

Sorry, I have no material station, don’t know how it would work? Maybe wind the length you need on an empty spool and load that in the material station?

Edited February 10, 2021 by RudydG

[Carla_Birch 116]

On 2/10/2021 at 5:37 PM, Jman15x said:

I'm wondering how I can do this with the s5 material station. I don't want to keep wasting away my valuable PVA rolls. 

 

Do you have a link for how to clean out a print core?

 

It's on the printers menu:

Settings - Maintenance - Print Head - Print Core Cleaning, then follow what it says on the screen 🙂

 

I always clean mine from time to time because dirt and burnt filament gets stuck on the inside from time to time, when i used PVA i would personally dry the filament first before using it, i would still do this even if i had the material station, as its my understand it does not dry filament out thats already wet, it just helps to keep it from getting wet and it has to be on 24/7.