Advice for printing with Colorfabb XT

[Nicolinux 288]

Hm, I don't have the impression that XT is that super strong as advertised either. Prints feel filmsy and weak. When I print the same object with pla (same amount of infill) it feels way more durable. I need to perform some proper tests though.

 

[pm_dude 27]

Nylon would be ideal IF you can control moisture

 

[Nicolinux 288]

Yeah, I am using Taulman 618 to perform the atomic method and when this thing is heated to 230°-240° it fizzles like crazy.

I find XT interesting because of its highish glass transition temperature (75°). But other than that, I don't see myself printing "pretty" things with it. Or at least not until I've got the settings dialed it.

 

[daniel-schinsky 0]

Dear lord.. I have been back and forth with this stuff... a couple of things I have noticed...

TEMP is #1 priority.. but I cant seem to dial it in.. If you have it too high.. which I tried because I had no sucess with lower temps 235.. too high 261+ and the print come out really brittle.. the colored stuff is usually brittle if it comes out matte .. if it comes out shinyish it is usually done right and can be quite strong.. but it is a battle getting the right ammount of cooling at the right times

I have had terrible luck with most types of infill it just wont lay down properly.

 

[daniel-schinsky 0]

the way this stuff prints.. I wonder if it might be better to just use large shells and no infill ... the infill is always garbage and brittle.. but my outer layer area always strong and ready to go.. they tend to bend before they break.. but my infilled parts crack like an egg..

 

[pm_dude 27]

With Clear XT I almost always print 100% infill for small parts. The infill grid looks like s*** from the outside anyways. Maybe th's why I dont have that much problems with delamination.

Thicker shell can work but I find that the top shell looks a bit weird and sometimes misses some spot compared to normal top shell.

[rigs 735]

Good topic

[chrisr 18]

In folks experience, is the transparent version of the new XT generally easier to print with (for small detailed parts with overhangs) than the coloured versions?

 

[pm_dude 27]

I didn't try the colored one but I've seen post saying layer adhesion was less than the clear XT

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

I didn't try the colored one but I've seen post saying layer adhesion was less than the clear XT

 

I wrote Colorfabb an email about this topic yesterday. Let's see what they going to tell me...

 

[chrisr 18]

I'm subscribing to this topic. I'm having real bother getting white XT to print out neatly.

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/2679-using-new-colorfabb-xt-transparent-pla/page-5

 

[daniel-schinsky 0]

SO... here I am printing.. and I get the most amazing results from printing Colorfabb PLA/PHA NOT XT at 250c.

I accidentally had it set at the higher temp but it printed amazingly.. Fan cranked on full of course.. but wow?

 

[korneel 176]

the only risk you have ais that you might burn PLA in your nozzle causing clogging. 250 degrees will work well as long as there is enough material flow. you are probably printing at 50mm/s or faster with 100 percent material flow right?

should you be printing at 30mm/s i'm almost sure it'll burn in the head and cause clogging.

 

[pm_dude 27]

Funny you say that Daniel.

I finished a spool of Ultimaker White. The last 15 parts have been a success but for the need I was printing at 30mm/s and 220C. Now I switch to Colorfabb White PLA with a new spool with the same settings and have huge under extrusion. Even at 230C still underextrusion.

What the hell!? I don't understand why I cant print that PLA/PHA without issues at 30mm/s. Is it more viscus on the nozzle than normal PLA? Even when I run the change filament operation the feeder is clicking backward on that type of material!

but still no problem with XT at 235C :/

 

[amedee 349]

I finished a spool of Ultimaker White. The last 15 parts have been a success but for the need I was printing at 30mm/s and 220C. Now I switch to Colorfabb White PLA with a new spool with the same settings and have huge under extrusion. Even at 230C still underextrusion.

 

We are completely off topic now, but fwtiw, white PLA gives me headaches...

On these towers, I start printing at 225°C, lowering temperature by 5°C every centimeter. Colored PLA/PHA are going down to 195°C without problem, while the white gives under extrusion and eventually get stuck at 215°

 

[daniel-schinsky 0]

Amedee....

To get back on topic... can you do the same test for XT? in the higher ranges.. then at the end a report on what layers had the best adheasion?>

 

[rigs 735]

Speed : 50 mm/s

Layer : 0.2 mm

t° : 260 °

Flow : 105 %

[amedee 349]

Amedee....

To get back on topic... can you do the same test for XT? in the higher ranges.. then at the end a report on what layers had the best adheasion?>

 

No picture, but I actually did:

Starting from 255°C, it is good until 240°C.

235°C is still nice, but I have the impression it is more brittle (can separate the layers rather easily)

Clogging at 230°C.

(All my tests at 40mm/s)

 

[ultiarjan 1,223]

And it also depends on your nozzle size and layer hight.

I'm doing at lot of XT tests with spizalized and overhang on a 0.8 nozzle atm, will publish the foto's later when I find some time...

But one thing is allready clear, you need to print at much lower temps when your nozzle gets bigger...

 

[pm_dude 27]

Now I switch to Colorfabb White PLA with a new spool with the same settings and have huge under extrusion. Even at 230C still underextrusion.

What the hell!? I don't understand why I cant print that PLA/PHA without issues at 30mm/s. Is it more viscus on the nozzle than normal PLA? Even when I run the change filament operation the feeder is clicking backward on that type of material! :/

 

I know its unrelated to XT but just wanted to sort my previous comment. I changed the nozzle and now print PLA/PHA at 200C like a charm.

[tsagos 8]

pm_dude what nozzle did you put?

 

[pm_dude 27]

Just a new regular UM2 nozzle

[abstract 3]

Hi Folks.

I have just tried using ColorFabb XT White. Total Fail.

I have had a reel here since March, waiting to upgrade my UM2 with Stainless Steel nozzle.

Finally today I installed my Olsson Block, with 0.4mm Stainless Steel nozzle, for the XT.

Tried the 10mm3 cylinder test with XT. First test taught me that I can't print XT onto clean hot glass - it left the bed within a few cycles. So I used glue stick. This time it stuck OK, but even at 3mm/s I got a feeder skip and immediately the print was over. Unlike PLA where under extrusion will droop or wrap but still basically stick - I found the XT stopped sticking to the print and started flailing in mid-air or sticking to the nozzle.

I was printing with ColorFabbs recommended settings - 240c / 70c. Standard 10mm3 Cylinder test.

With PLA and the Brass 0.4mm nozzle this machine did 10mm3 pretty nicely, before and after the XT test.

I have happily printed thousands of hours of PLA on hot clean glass, but this XT stuff just seems like too much trouble to bother with.

So, what am I doing wrong, or is this material just impractical ?

[webliya 2]

Well,

After trying a couple of prints. My settings for Colorfabb XT are as follows. I get perfect results with it. Very strong material. I used RED which is very eye catching.

Layers: 300 micron (0.3 mm)

First layer: 96% and 30% speed with 200% width

Speed: 60 mm/sec ( I also tried up to 120 mm/sec and result is not bad). For transparency use 20-30 mm/sec with NO FAN.

Top & Bottom solid layers: 6

Outline/parameter shells: 3

Always use skirt

Infill: Rectilinear or honeycomb

Infill percentage: Depends on usage of the piece 50% to 100% (100% gives rock solid pieces)

Temp Extruder: 250 degrees Celsius (I tried 240 to 260 by 5 increments 250 is the best)

Temp Bed: 70 degrees Celsius (sticks perfect on kapton band) and removes easily. No warping.

FAN: Always 100% on. Color changes depending on fan on or off and even with its speed. For transparency use NO FAN.

So go on try these. You will love Colorfabb XT. Rock solid, shinning, easy flow.

You can see some of the parts I printed with Colorfabb XT red here.

[PFTM 0]

Hello people,

This will be my first post on the forum! How yall doing?

I have tried the XT White for about 1 1/2 spools now and can say it works reasonably okay up till now.

UMO without HB

Using simple masking tape from Tesa.

(man that stuff either prevents warping or bends my acrylic printbed)

Layer Height : 0.1

Shell : 1.2

Top/bott : 1.2

fill: 20%

Speed 40mm/s

Temp 259C

I have been playing around with the fan alot. Though I have a custom aluminium coolblock for the intake of filament above the heatbreak that requires constant cooling due to heatcreep. (Usualy between 60 and 100 on the controller)

The perimeters bond very well to the point that it is more than suitable to cut threads in.

I just can't seem to get the infill to lay a stable layer. I have tried a layerheight of

0.2 mm, which with a few different settings, makes the infill okay. This does however make the perimeter bond poorly.

Is 50% infill " sort off" dependable?

Best regards,

PS

Sidenote on the XT White

The XT white spools seem te have a variety of quality. In the first spool the filament was slightly bonded to each other (but still workable) The second one was more stuck and has black dust/durt/idunno what rolled up between it, causing clogging. Maybe just an unlucky spool. Anyway I'll have to contact support for that.