Using BVOH soluble material

[Alzibiff 8]

I have purchased a sample of BVOH for use as a dissolvable support material with my S5 printer. I would appreciate help in determining the right settings when it comes to nozzle temperature as well as nozzle type. Specifically, do I need a BB nozzle or will I "get away" with my regular AA nozzles? Would telling CURA that I am using PVA be a quick and easy way of using this material as it seems to have a similar print temperature? (Saying that, I suspect that CURA would want me to use a BB nozzle).

Any advice / help would be very much appreciated.

[Torgeir 228]

Hi @Alzibiff,

 

I'll think this is best answered by UM, cause this is not a genetic PVA (poly vinyl alcohol-based) filament -but

BVOH (Butenediol Vinyl Alcohol Co-polymer) based filament.

 

I know that RScomponent discontinued this product, not knowing why.

 

Maybe someone else, @Mari_Makes_Stuff, @gr5 knows or anyone?

 

Thanks

Torgeir

[mbhsict 4]

We have been running BVOH after a rather large investment and failure of the Ultimaker PVA.

 

I was able to print with the generic PVA profile without too much hassle, until we were able to load in the specific settings from the material manufacturer. Yes you will need a BB print head for soluble material.

 

We have now been testing the Ultimaker Breakaway support which has been performing very well, as we have students printing for school work, having them to deal with water and the time taken to dissolve the supports was not really feasible.

[gr5 2,071]

PVA is a pain because it absorbs water in just hours.  I'm sure BVOH absorbs just as much but I've heard that BVOH is much easier to use than PVA.

 

Store your BVOH in a sealed zip lock with a cup (1/4 litre) of desiccant.  Not one of those stupid tiny desiccant packets.  And use color changing desiccant and recharge the desiccant every few months (when it starts to change color or when the humidity gets above around 20%).  If you have trouble printing when things were fine earlier, then redry the PVA.  Desiccant alone will keep the filament dry but I haven't been able to use it to recover partly-ruined PVA even after a week at 16% humidity (I keep a humidity sensor in the bag with the desiccant and filament).

[gr5 2,071]

By the way, Nylon is just as bad and I love Nylon.  But both PVA and Nylon need extra care keeping dry.

 

PLA you can store in a tub of water if you want, lol.  Well maybe not but I have 7 year old ABS and PLA that print fine.  PETG I need to keep dry but it's not as big a deal as PVA/Nylon.

 

I've never printed BVOH but I assume that since it is water soluble it probably absorbs lots of water from the air just like PVA.  And people say BVOH dissolves much faster in water than PVA.  I think that's one of the reasons people love it over PVA.

[Alzibiff 8]

8 hours ago, mbhsict said:

We have now been testing the Ultimaker Breakaway support which has been performing very well, as we have students printing for school work, having them to deal with water and the time taken to dissolve the supports was not really feasible.

Thank you for your reply which answered all of my questions.

I have also used UM Breakaway with good results although from time to time depending on the model being printed, I can get bits of breakaway material trapped inside the model it is supporting.

On the downside, UM Breakaway is rather expensive compared to the BVOH which I have found at a very attractive price from a reseller who has it in their "sale" section. (BVOH marked as manufactured by Mitsubishi).