Ultimaker PETG

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi! 

 

We’re proud to announce that we’re adding PETG to our list of materials, along with the print profiles for optimal print results. PETG is not just any material, we think it has the capabilities and specifications to become the new go-to material. An honor that belonged to (Tough) PLA for a long time. 

 

Available in a variety of colors, including transparent, translucent and fluorescent, it’s perfectly suited for a wide range of applications, thanks it’s properties like good printablility, toughness, chemical resistance, wear resistance and temperature resistance. 

 

 

Why would you use Ultimaker PETG?
 

• It’s for anyone – novice or expert. Ultimaker PETG is one of the easiest-to-use 3D printing materials on the market. With good adhesion and print profiles – including engineering intent profiles – anyone can quickly and easily start 3D printing with Ultimaker PETG 
• It enables you to unlock the widest range of technical applications. Compared to PLA and Tough PLA, Ultimaker PETG unlocks the widest range of technical applications, offering the printability of PLA, but with the industrial properties you need. This enables you to create a wide range of industrial parts, tools, and prototypes. Ultimaker PETG offers the ideal balance of properties for Ultimaker users in industrial environments, with good all-around visual, functional, and mechanical properties that can withstand environmental influences such as wear, chemicals, and warmer temperatures 
• It sets the standard for enterprise-grade, industrial use. Ultimaker PETG is one of the most affordable technical 3D printing materials. It is also perfectly suited for different industrial environments – versatile, safe, easy to print, and available in many colors. Together, this makes Ultimaker PETG easy to deploy across your organization – meaning fewer changeovers and increased standardization

 

Curious about the Ultimaker PETG?

Read more about it in our blog
Download the PETG spec sheet here
 

[Gero 54]

Great presentation.

But I have to ask this question: What is the main difference between PETG and CPE from Ultimaker?

What are the differences that I should keep in mind to make the decision on what material to choose?

 

From what I can see PETG can handle a slightly higher temperature (70°C for CPE, 76°C for PETG; based on the data sheets), has some more colours to offer and is just a couple of euros cheaper.

 

I often read that CPE is Ultimakers PETG. That's why I have to ask 🙂

 

[Gigi 43]

UM3 will not print with PETG ?

[AndersK 59]

11 hours ago, Gigi said:

UM3 will not print with PETG ?

Yes it will, no problems at all but I reccomend you print on PEI sheet, and on a flex plate, or order lots of spare glassplates. The adhesion of PETG is so strong it easily chips glass when cooling down.

 

What Ultimaker is announcing is ready optimised profiles for their PETG, you simply have to make your own for your printer.

[SandervG 1,521]

17 hours ago, Gero said:

Great presentation.

But I have to ask this question: What is the main difference between PETG and CPE from Ultimaker?

What are the differences that I should keep in mind to make the decision on what material to choose?

 

From what I can see PETG can handle a slightly higher temperature (70°C for CPE, 76°C for PETG; based on the data sheets), has some more colours to offer and is just a couple of euros cheaper.

 

I often read that CPE is Ultimakers PETG. That's why I have to ask 🙂

 

 

Hi @Gero, great question! So great, we actually covered it in a support article 🙂  The article might be best summarised using the last paragraph:

 

"Unless you require the specific chemical resistance of CPE, it is very likely that you would prefer to use PETG instead. You will benefit from improved printability, while retaining or exceeding the mechanical properties of the printed part." 

 

Make sure to read the article if you want to know more! 

[geert_2 557]

Hoi Sander,

 

I would be interested, but I have a few questions:

- Can this PETG be smoothed with dichloromethane too? How well does that work?

- How transparent can you get parts, with which optimised settings?

- How is UV-resistance, when sitting outside in the sunlight?

- Over time, does printing with this PETG accumulate dirt in the printer-nozzle? The brand of PET that I use now, does leave a sort of glossy varnish coating in the nozzle, which is hard to remove. Contrary to PLA that rather leaves powder-like ashes that easily come off.

- When parts fracture at overload, how does that go? Following layer lines, or going diagonally through all lines; and with or without warning (whitening, microcracks, permanent deformation)? The brand I have now, fractures without any warning, no whitening, no permanent deformation prior to the failure.

 

Could you post a few photos of these aspects? See these pics below for comparison.

 

Transparency tests with another brand of PET: top row printed at 50mm/s, bottom row at 10mm/s; layer thickness from left to right (mm): 0.4; 0.3; 0.2; 0.1; 0.06. At 10mm/s and thin layers, browning begins to occur, due to sitting long in the nozzle, even at reduced temperature. These blocks are 20mm x 10mm x 10mm, with my hollow watermark sitting halfway.

 

Other PET-brand: snaps diagonally through layers at overload. See the radial pattern. No warning, no whitening, no deformation prior to failure.

 

Other PET-brand: one item smoothed with dichloromethane, the other is as-printed.

 

 

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi @geert_2, thanks. Great questions! Unfortunately I don't know the answers by heart but I've shared them with our product experts and will let you know when I hear back. 

[rchitwood 0]

On 5/19/2021 at 2:18 PM, Gigi said:

UM3 will not print with PETG ?

Did you ever get any help with this or figure out a solution?  Thank you. 

 

23 hours ago, Smithy said:

Yes, firmware 6.4 or higher is needed for the UM PETG material.

 

[rchitwood 0]

but firmware version 5.2.16 is the latest for the UM3... am I out of luck?

[Smithy 1,144]

1 minute ago, rchitwood said:

but firmware version 5.2.16 is the latest for the UM3... am I out of luck?

As already answered in the other thread, yes and no 🙂 

You can just wait until a new FW is released, in the meantime use the Generic CPE profile.

[rchitwood 0]

thank you for your help!  have a great day

[Smithy 1,144]

You are welcome, I am glad I could help!

[knutselsmurf 1]

On 5/21/2021 at 2:49 PM, geert_2 said:

Hoi Sander,

 

I would be interested, but I have a few questions:

- Can this PETG be smoothed with dichloromethane too? How well does that work?

- How transparent can you get parts, with which optimised settings?

- How is UV-resistance, when sitting outside in the sunlight?

- Over time, does printing with this PETG accumulate dirt in the printer-nozzle? The brand of PET that I use now, does leave a sort of glossy varnish coating in the nozzle, which is hard to remove. Contrary to PLA that rather leaves powder-like ashes that easily come off.

- When parts fracture at overload, how does that go? Following layer lines, or going diagonally through all lines; and with or without warning (whitening, microcracks, permanent deformation)? The brand I have now, fractures without any warning, no whitening, no permanent deformation prior to the failure.

 

Could you post a few photos of these aspects? See these pics below for comparison.

 

Transparency tests with another brand of PET: top row printed at 50mm/s, bottom row at 10mm/s; layer thickness from left to right (mm): 0.4; 0.3; 0.2; 0.1; 0.06. At 10mm/s and thin layers, browning begins to occur, due to sitting long in the nozzle, even at reduced temperature. These blocks are 20mm x 10mm x 10mm, with my hollow watermark sitting halfway.

 

Other PET-brand: snaps diagonally through layers at overload. See the radial pattern. No warning, no whitening, no deformation prior to failure.

 

Other PET-brand: one item smoothed with dichloromethane, the other is as-printed.

 

 

 

just a warning, “dichloromethane” is carcinogenic !!

I think Geert is working at a Chemical Laboratory like me, but to you all: don’t use it!

[geert_2 557]

On 7/20/2021 at 9:28 AM, knutselsmurf said:

just a warning, “dichloromethane” is carcinogenic !!

I think Geert is working at a Chemical Laboratory like me, but to you all: don’t use it!

 

Yes indeed, I have a lab, and a professional fume extraction cabinet for chemical and biochemical fumes. So I use it in this cabinet. In addition I use extra safety glasses (swimwear style googles that fully cover the eyes). And I don't touch the liquid, I use brushes or dipping instead, and chemically resistant gloves when there is risk of touching.

 

However, I do think you can use it at home, but outdoors only, upwards of the wind, with good safety glasses of course, and gloves. No spectators, unless well educated on the subject and well protected. Definitely no babies, no toddlers, and no animals around.

 

Indoor use can only if you have good fume-extraction. Some hobbyists do have an extraction cabinet, as they use it for soldering, welding, spray painting, sanding, etc... Or use a gas mask that covers the eyes too (like in horror films), with a *fresh and correct filter cartridge for this chemical*, analog to what you should do for spray painting. Make sure you don't breathe the fumes, and can't get spats in your eyes.

 

I believe the health risks are similar to those of acetone, but less than chloroforme (at least, it requires no special permissions here, contrary to chloroforme). But don't believe me, everyone should study the risks and safety measures for himself.

 

But that said, dichloromethane can really improve the quality of PET-prints (and PLA, and maybe ABS too), especially when making moulds for casting silicones. Then smoothing is really required, otherwise you can't get the casts out, as each layer-line acts as an undercut, firmly gripping onto the mould. Chemical smoothing is way easier and faster than endless sanding and polishing in areas that you can't reach. See the photos above.

 

@ Sander: do you already have feedback from the engineering department on my questions above?

 

[TimonR 21]

On 5/21/2021 at 2:49 PM, geert_2 said:

Hoi Sander,

 

I would be interested, but I have a few questions:

- Can this PETG be smoothed with dichloromethane too? How well does that work?

- How transparent can you get parts, with which optimised settings?

- How is UV-resistance, when sitting outside in the sunlight?

- Over time, does printing with this PETG accumulate dirt in the printer-nozzle? The brand of PET that I use now, does leave a sort of glossy varnish coating in the nozzle, which is hard to remove. Contrary to PLA that rather leaves powder-like ashes that easily come off.

- When parts fracture at overload, how does that go? Following layer lines, or going diagonally through all lines; and with or without warning (whitening, microcracks, permanent deformation)? The brand I have now, fractures without any warning, no whitening, no permanent deformation prior to the failure.

 

Hi Geert,

I'll try to answer as much as I can.
- Ultimaker PETG is mostly PETG polymer as well, I guess it can be therefore smoothed with dichloromethane (but we haven't tried that out).
- Transparant printing is difficult with FDM in any case, but the material itself is rather transparent. Indeed tuning the material flow around 100%, adjusting the temperature to avoid degradation and playing with line directions can help in getting your printed parts clear. Coating with an epoxy can also greatly help.

- UV resistance of PETG is typically good, combined with its thermal and chemical resistance you shouldn't experience much issues outdoor. Colors have different reactions to UV though, as the pigments in the filament can shield the polymer itself from the UV light (but I'm not sure which ones work best).

- We did not experience 'dirt' in the printer nozzle, but we do experience degraded PETG on the outside of the nozzle. Keeping the nozzle clean really helps in getting high quality prints.

- This PETG is actually rather tough, meaning that it actually yields before breaking (plastic deformation before it breaks). So the material yields at about 6% elongation and breaks at 7% (not in Z). See https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021702539-Ultimaker-PETG-TDS for more details. You can also if you can expect this behavior in the charpy impact strength (if this is low 2-5 kJ/m² like PLA you can expect brittle failure, but at >6 kJ/m² you can expect behavior like ABS and Nylon where the materials yields before breaking).

Hope this helps ;).
 

[geert_2 557]

Thanks!