3mm vs. 2.85mm Filament

[chrisp 10]

I am looking for a U.S. based company to buy filament from.

Is there going to be a problem extruding 3mm filament?

I tried searching these forums with no results.

Thanks

 

[IRobertI 516]

99.9% of the time "3mm" actually means "somewhere around 2.8-2.9mm" if you're looking at filament sold for use in 3d printers it will work just fine.

 

[valcrow 144]

I have some actual 3.0mm, +- .1 or so, and it gets a little tight in the bowden tube compared to the 2.85 stuff. But still works none the less. I usually measure with a caliper the diameter and plug the average into Cura because the actual diameter kinda varys wildly from manufacturers.

 

[chrisp 10]

Thank you for the quick replies!

Much Appreciated.

 

[gr5 2,004]

I strongly recommend you do not buy filament that is truly at 3mm.

Also I recommend printbl.com for filament in the USA.

Good luck.

 

[chrisp 10]

I strongly recommend you do not buy filament that is truly at 3mm.

 

Also I recommend printbl.com for filament in the USA.

 

I appreciate the info.

 

[kevin-osborn 9]

I have quite a bit of 3mm filament left over from my printrbot, and it is between 2.99 and 3.01

The loading procedure on my new UM2 often skips steps on this filament (doesn't grab).

It looks like the feeder has some kind of adjustment, (white buttons with tick marks beside them) but they don't move with a reasonable amount of force.. I haven't been able to find this documented anywhere. There's a reference to a "pressure screw" in the troubleshooting section of the manual, but no picture. Can anyone help with this?

 

[IRobertI 516]

The adjustment screw is just to the right of where the bowden tube goes in, on the top of the feeder. However, I wouldn't adjust it, I doubt you need to. Instead, try snipping the filament off at an angle so that the end is pointy and give it a good push.

I don't know the physical limit for the diameter but 3mm is starting to push it I think.

 

[gr5 2,004]

I don't care if 3mm filament is free - it's not worth it. Buy some 2.85mm filament.

 

[kevin-osborn 9]

Well, I have to say gr5, you are right. After a rather scary dis-assembly of the filament feed on my brand new UM2, I won't be using that filament again. It worked for a while but then got really really stuck. Had to disassemble the feeder, it's tricky getting the screws back in the motor. Fortunately there's a hole for the cables right under that I could use to hold up the motor with a finger.

I have to say I wish this part was a little friendlier for disassembly because I can imagine this happening again, as even the best filament suppliers are sometimes variable.

 

[gr5 2,004]

It has never happened to me fortunately. I have not yet disassembled the UM2 feeder.

Most of my wisdom regarding UM1 and UM2 comes from reading and remembering every problem other people have had and posted in this Forum. I merely restate what others have said.

 

[illuminarti 18]

printedsolid.com is the US reseller for ColorFabb's filament, which lots of people like. Matt from printedsolid is also a member of the UM community, so another good choice to try.

[nickwu 0]

Hi There

Has anyone used this filaments on UM2?

http://voltivo.com/

Thank you

 

[DidierKlein 729]

 

Diameter Accuracy

 

Nominal 3mm ±0.05mm

Nominal 1.75mm ±0.05mm

 

Found this on the website, i wouldn't recommend it, 3mm or more filaments will get stuck in the bowden tube and create more problems.

 

[nickwu 0]

Thanks for the advice.

I've also found that they has a product descriptions as below:

We in average spend 2 weeks to test and characterize each new PLA or ABS material, diameter and color combination in many different semi-automated print tests. Above and beyond the manufacturing quality control, we re-run these printing tests on different 3D printers like Makerbot Replicators (PLA 1.75), an Ultimaker 1 (PLA and ABS 3mm), an UP Plus (ABS 1.75) and 2 RepRap variants. They are run on a quarterly basis to ensure we always ship a product that provides reliable and repeatable print results when using ExcelFil high quality ABS and PLA plastic filaments.

It seems like they had tried the filaments on Ultimaker original.

Do I buy that? It looks like a bet :sad:

 

[zreed 0]

I strongly recommend you do not buy filament that is truly at 3mm.

Also I recommend printbl.com for filament in the USA.

Good luck.

 

From what I see, they only offer 3mm?

http://shop.printbl.com/

 

[gr5 2,004]

I have bought "3mm" filament from printbl. It's actually 2.85mm.

 

[tinydancer 0]

Does anyone have any recommendations on filament suppliers for the Ultimaker 2 in Canada? I just bought one and want to fill up on filament and obviously avoid any issues.

 

[valcrow 144]

I buy from http://www.voxelfactory.com/.http://www.voxelfactory.com/.%20Colorfabb%20stuff%20is%202.85mm

Colorfabb stuff is 2.85mm Their generic stuff is really good value, but they are 3.0mm +- 0.1mm so they 'can' get tight in the bowden, but still usually works. Buy at your own risk though! The colorfab stuff is better quality, more expensive.

 

[tinydancer 0]

Thanks for the reply. I am aware of voxel and the colorfabb filament working well in the Ultimaker 2, but I was wondering if that cheap ABS would work, so I appreciate your advice.

 

[eldrick 64]

Just for the record, printbl.com is basically going out of business, as they are no longer a distributor for DiamondAge filament. Their web site now says "Sold Out" for all but a handful of colors, and they are asking $48/kg. for those few.

I'd suggest trying Zeni Kinetic: http://zenikinetic.com/ Their ABS and PLA is not available in a lot of color choices, but it is US-made, and $30/kg.

 

[gr5 2,004]

Consider printedSolid.com. They have great filament and ship from USA. Not sure if they ship to Canada but the owner is on this list somewhere.

 

[InertialPrint 3]

I'm currently using 3mm filament mostly because I was under the impression that "3mm" was industry speak for 2.85mm but I now know that is incorrect. The UM2 can handle 3mm fine you just have to tweak a few settings. Some things to note are:

1. DO NOT EVER use the "change filament" option if you have the stock UM2 bowden tube. The inner diameter of the bowden tube leaves next to no wiggle room for this larger filament, this combined with heat-deformed filament almost guarantees the business end of the filament is going to get stuck in the tube which will result in the knurled wheel to have its way with the filament.

2. Install roberts feeder. This is almost mandatory, to remove filament use the "move option", back up the filament slowly until it's clear of the head, then open up the feeder and manually pull the filament out with your hand(it helps if you remove the tube from the feeder end and straighten it out). I know this is a pain in the ass but if you're stuck with the stock tube and 3mm filament this is now your work-around.

3. Get a new bowden tube. This one is still in the testing phase as I've ordered the new tube but haven't received it yet so I'm still unsure of its working. I believe the inside diameter of the stock tube is 1/8" and I ordered one that is 5/32", make sure you get the same outside diameter of 1/4" and that it is semi-hard, flexible, and can handle the high temperatures.

4. Print slower. No wiggle room in the tube means that printing at high speeds will cause obvious jams, settle down speed racer

5. Lube the inside of the bowden tube. I'm not sure which kinds of lubes are best and which ones should be avoided but I'm currently printing with my tube lubed with high temperature, non-corrosive, silicone o-ring lubricant. It seems to be doing the job but I've only got about ~5 hours printing since I've lubed it so we will see.

[Lofrank 1]

@InertialPrint

Have you test the new bowden tube now?

I really need your test result as it's hard for me to buy 2.85mm filament.

Only 1.75mm and 3.0mm filaments are sold in my country as I know.