Prototype Supply PLA brittle?

[brett-bellmore 1]

Anybody else have experience with Prototype Supply's PLA? We got a roll of black PLA off of them, and while the prints come out as crisp as you could ask, the filament is horribly brittle. We've had to take the boden tube off several times already to clear filament that broke after the feeder on retract, and one time we even had it snap between the roll and the feeder.

A pity, too, because the prints did come out really nice.

 

[gornnr 2]

I have found this to be the case as well. In some sections you could fully visible cracks along one side of the filament.

The Ultimaker supplied PLA wasnt much more pliable than the Prototype Supply (supplied by eSun), so I believed thats the natural state of PLA.

I just got a spool in from Reprapper and it is MUCH more pliable. While the material looks matte in color its printing with nearly that same nice gloss finish I was getting from the PS/eSun.

 

[Daid 306]

Natural PLA, without any additives, is very brittle. So usually some tiny amount of additives are added to remove this property, but every supplier is using a different formula.

 

[brett-bellmore 1]

They are the only supplier we've had this particular problem with. Maybe not enough additive.

We're shortly going to be moving to a new building, with a dedicated area for the 3d printer(s), rather than the corner of my desk. This is going to include moving the fillament storage to underneath the printer, in a dehumidified cabinent. (With tubes leading up from the cabinet, to keep the fillament dry). I think this will help somewhat, as the current fillament path stresses the fillament unnecessarily.

Might be worth experiementing with rewinding the fillament onto much larger cores, and annealing out the stress. I wish they sold it that way to begin with, it's just too tightly coiled for a brittle material.

 

[fuh 1]

Same problem here with PLA (white) from GermanRepRap.com .

 

[nallath 1,120]

Fillament (PLA) can also get brittle if it gets too cold.

 

[nick-foley 5]

Yeah, I had a few rolls of the Prototype Supply PLA, all with issues. The owner of the company was very proactive and sent me new rolls to try to solve the problem, but ultimately all of the rolls (Grey) printed about the same. The layer bonding was very poor at cool temperatures, and the printed parts were very brittle at high temperatures. We've gone through dozens of spools from almost all of the big manufacturers and never had a problem to this degree.

My go to now is Gizmo Dorks for PLA. The name is dumb but the PLA is crazy cheap ($26/Kg), available on Amazon Prime, and the print quality & filament strength are the best I've ever used. We've gone through almost half of their colors at this point and I prefer it to Diamond Age, Ultimachine, Colorfabb, etc. The fact that it's cheaper is just a plus.

 

[cozmogeek 0]

That is unfortunate. I just got several rolls of the prototype supply filament. Fortunately most of it is ABS. I guess I'll find out what I'm in for when my UM2 arrives. If I didn't already have a huge pile of filament I'd order some of the Gizmo Dorks to try as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[nailcannon 0]

I have a roll of their gold PLA and while it's not brittle at all it is a bit soft. it tends to get ground up by the feeder a bit easier than other filaments but not enough for me to consider it lesser filament.

I did, however, just get a roll of Matter Hackers blue PLA and jesus this stuff is the most brittle material i've ever seen. i cant even get a good print out of it because the bending force caused by the filament guide is enough to snap it. as is the force from the feeder itself. the only way i've been able to change it out is to let the feeder snap it on the way out and push it through the disconnected bowden tube with another piece of filament.

anyone have strategies for reducing brittleness? would subjecting it to humidity or water for a while soften it up?

 

[tinydancer 0]

Personally I wouldn't buy anything other than ColorFabb for PLA.

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Personally I wouldn't buy anything other than ColorFabb for PLA.

You never tried Diamond Age PLA in this case...

 

[tinydancer 0]

You never tried Diamond Age PLA in this case...

 

Way too expensive to buy from Canada.

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Maybe find some other Ultimaker users to order together? I do this in Switzerland.

[fuh 1]

Same problem here with PLA (white) from GermanRepRap.com .

 

Update: I have a suspicion that it becomes (more) brittle while staying in the bowden tube for a longer time. No idea why. Now I unload the filament whenever I won't print for, say, one day, and I think it's better now.

Maybe an idea for you, too.

 

[cloakfiend 995]

colorfabb all the way. i have the best quality prints i can imagine, besides, the additives make it reactable to acetone, so you can make it smooth. you dont want pure PLA. its useless.

[jameshs 42]

while I agree and generally love colorfabb it is not immune from the cracking.

If I have a colour on the shelf (all nicely in its box) for over a year then it gets brittle and if I leave it in the machine overnight then the next day I come and the bit in the bowden tube and leading up to it is in 2-3cm pieces all along the tube.

I have to cut it and re-insert and it works ok - but next day all in bits again.

So I have designed a few things around the home to just print with a .6mm nozzle and use up older filament that I don't seem to be shifting to keep everything in a kind of date order.

has happened with white, green, yellow and red

I made the mistake of stocking lots of colours and so now try and keep stocks reduced and order just in time if I need it.

James