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Solved Brittle Filament

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by Allelujah, Dec 26, 2016.

  1. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    Hello everyone, another question that I got on the mind. So I been cursed with the brittle filament issue with Robo 3D's filament, or at least the small 300g Blue PLA filament that came with the printer that is. I havent tried out the gold and black PLA filament from Robo3D yet out of fear that I will have the same brittle filament issue.

    I Tried looking on the forums and people say humidity is a big factor, and due to living in Wisconsin, the humidity is always around 60-90%. I have tried storing it in a plastic bag with Silica gel packs and that seemed to help, although I dont feel like waiting another month to do prints. (Not sure how long it takes for silica gel packs to work on removing moisture from filament)

    So my Question is, is Robo3D filament a bad choice to go with due to being brittle? Or did I just get unlucky with this roll?

    Never had this issue before with brittle filament with my old printer from M3D (the only thing they had going for them). Their filament went on 2 years without breaking ever, So I was pretty shocked when my Robo 3D filament broke and didnt know why.
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The sample bit of blue they send has always been junk (soaking wet with moisture) but the spools they sell are fine normally

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
     
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  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    For normal filament (abs, pla) I have never had issues even with the cheapest stuff I could find. Always get a decent brand name for the specialty stuff.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
     
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  4. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    Ah alrighty. Thanks for the super speedy reply XD For the first couple months i just let my printer sit with the blue sample spool in a bag with silica gel packs trying to dry it out lol. Should i just not even bother with the sample spool and just switch to my Black or Gold filaments?
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I would suggest tossing the sample and go with a real spool.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
     
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  6. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    What are good brand names for filament. Im still fairly new even though I been at this for about 2-3 years XD
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well... IMHO the brand name stuff only matters for specialty stuff as I mentioned (wood, brass or other metal style, nylons, etc) . ColorFab, ProtoPasta, Taulman these are all good brands. I usually get my PLA from whomever has it on the best deal :)

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
     
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  8. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    Alrighty :D Well I will keep those brand names in the back of my mind for later when I want to experiment with other types of filament. Thanks again for the help and quick replies XD
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Keeping your filament stored sealed with desicant is a good idea when it is not in use. Once it gets wet it is difficult to get it back to "dry". Good luck.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
     
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  10. cosber

    cosber Active Member

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    I've had problems with brittle filament but discovered it's usually only the first foot or so. I just bend the filament until it stops breaking.
     
  11. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    yes, typically the end of the filament is the most brittle unless its been left out. I've noticed on some random partial spools that its bad, so into a bag with a bunch of desicant, seal it up and wait it out :D
     
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  12. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    How long do you usually have to wait it out for @Geof
     
  13. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Thats a good question. I normally have a few of each tyle and color so i just throw it in the bag and forget about it lol. Then a week or two later i run a job in that color /type and i go oh yea!!!! And get the partial spool instead of opening another new one
     
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  14. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    Yeah, for the blue sample spool i had sitting in a a plastic bag with like 5 packets of silica gel/desiccant for a month and that seemed to help it for about 3 days of printing and then it snapped again. Then I posted this post asking about it lol Didnt feel like waiting another month for it to dry out enough to print XD
     
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    New spools should come sealed with desicant and dry. That sample junk is wet when you get it.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
     
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  16. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Yea so.... that blue stuff...i ran through the sample they sent after a year. Its horrible. Save it for a long time then run toys and junk with it if you want or just throw it away.

    It is can worthy in my opinion lol. Can you make it work...yes...should you waste your time with it ? Up to you
     
  17. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    Yeah I plan on trashing it, or recycle it not sure which to do with it just yet. But this morning i just put on my Clear gold filament that i got with the bundle of the Matercontrol Tablet and the Robo R1+ and plan on doing some prints with that. Hopefully that didnt come sealed wet XD
     
  18. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Ive never used the robo stuff, but i assume its decent
     
  19. Allelujah

    Allelujah Member

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    Well like I always say, Only one way to find out.
     
  20. Rigmarol

    Rigmarol Well-Known Member

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    I moved to a nice top mount for my spools so that the "bending" is reduced as it feeds off the roll into the print head. Still breaks sometimes towards the end but with less bending I seem to be able to print more of the end of the rolls.
     
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