DSM Arnitel ID 2045 on UM3E Issues

[zwirni 0]

Dear all,

 

I've been trying to print with DSM Arnitel 2045 on my UM3E however I've not had any success. I'm using dual extrusion with the other material being PLA. After a couple of layers the Arnitel under-extrudes because the material which is pretty soft (Shore hardness D34) is coiling and being ground in the feeder. Has anyone of you had success printing it, and if so, do you have any recommendations regarding the settings?

 

Stuff that I've tried:

• Using the material profile from the Ultimaker marketplace as-is
• Using the material profile from the Ultimaker marketplace and changing some of the options, e.g. reducing the print speed from 25 mm/s to 20 mm/s, switching off retraction, or changing temperatures
• Printing a test cube just with Arnitel, i.e. without dual extrusion (no success either)
• Drying the material for 12h at 55°C before printing

 

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

Best wishes

Henning

[gr5 2,167]

I haven't printed this exact filament but I've printed Ninjaflex which I think is even softer.  Try two things:

1) Print at 10mm/sec

2) Add oil

 

So the oil - people think it's crazy.  People think it will affect the material (it doesn't).  People think it will create holes in the print (it doesn't).  It just works.  Try it.

 

So I put the UM3 on the edge of a table and unspool as much as possible so it hangs down almost to the floor.  Add one drop of light oil (sewing machine oil or 3-in-1 oil or any light oil - probably baby oil will work - don't use food oils as they will go rancid - only use petroleum oil).  Ad the drop to the filament before you insert so it gets in the bowden.  Then add a second drop once the filament is inside the bowden - add the drop just below the feeder.  The drop will slide down the filament.  Every hour or so (really every meter which is probably every 2 or 3 hours) unspool some more filament until it is almost touching the floor again and add another drop of oil.

[gr5 2,167]

Note also that you can play with speed and temperature live - while it's printing - from the tune menu.  If it's printing well you can try speeding it up by 50% (to 15mm/sec) and watch it for a bit.  Or try raising the temp by 5C.  Or both.

[zwirni 0]

Great, thanks a lot!

 

I added some oil and down-regulated printing speed as you described and it worked now indeed. I cannot say which of the two measures was the main contributor but the result looks just as I hoped it would.

 

Just out of curiosity: Did you also make it work for even softer materials, or is this as good as it gets? If I see it correctly Ninjaflex and Arnitel have around the same hardness (85 A/34 D).

[gr5 2,167]

Oh.  Okay.  I didn't look at the chart that compares hardness so I just saw the "D" and assumed it was harder.

 

No I think this is about the limit for any Ultimaker or any bowden printer.  Ideally you want a "3mm" filament printer like an ultimaker but with the feeder on the print head and with no spaces for the filament to escape the normal path.

 

There is a foaming filament - I've never tried it.  You can control the hardness with the temperature so you can have variable flexibility throughout different locations of the print.  When it foams it also expands so you have to lower the flow rate quite a bit when you raise the temp.  I've never tried it.  I don't know if it ends up more flexible than 85A.