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Filament FAQ

Discussion in 'Filament' started by tkoco, Apr 8, 2020.

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  1. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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    This thread will be updated as new information comes to light.

    All plastics absorb water. The degree with which they absorb water will vary depending on the chemistry. Some filaments can absorb very readily like nylon. Other absorb water at such a slow rate that you could safely leave them out for while - dependent on the relative humidity of the room. Most PLA filaments are like that.

    Things to do to help mitigate the water absorption issue:
    1) Baking the filament in an oven at a certain temperature
    2) Store the filament in a large container with plenty of desiccant and a humidity indicator
    3) For really high relative humidity, store filament in a plastic bag with desiccant and then store that bag in a large container with desiccant.​

    More information can be found on the Internet.
     
  2. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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    Filaments stored for more than a year without being used will tend to conform to the spool. These filaments can break when attempting to straighten them out.

    When purchasing new filament, it is best that you stick with name brands of filament and avoid no-name generic filaments

    When printing with specialty filaments, like "Glow in the dark" or carbon fiber as an example, I recommend using a hardened nozzle on your printer.
     
  3. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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    Problems which you can find in no-name generic filaments: filament which is not round ( elliptical instead ), filament which has absorbed too much water ( water becomes steam in the hot-end ) and/or filament which is out of spec ( smaller or larger than the specified diameter - like 1.9 mm instead of the 1.75 mm )
     
  4. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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    For those of you using Cura, here is a GitHub site with some material files for Cura:
    https://github.com/Robo3D/fdm_materials

    If you wish to use a 2.85 mm diameter filament material file, open the file with a text editor, look for <properties> and then <diameter>, change the diameter to 1.75 mm and save it out.
     
  5. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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  6. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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    If you are thinking about printing with one of the silky labeled filaments, you will need to print it on the high side of their temperature range. Example: range 190-210, print at 205. Printing with this type of filament will lead to clogging if the temperature is too low.
     
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  7. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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    Having difficulty with a known good filament brand? Slicer software will assign a generic density value to filaments when you add the filament to the slicer software. That generic density is not necessarily the correct density of your filament. Having the correct density assigned to the filament makes for better prints. Try the attached procedure.
     

    Attached Files:

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