Lifetime of a nozzle?
I was just wondering: If I print on my MK4 mainly PETG, and incidental PLA and Flex and I use the standard brass 0.4 mm nozzle, what sort of lifetime of the nozzle I can expect, typically, in terms of kilograms of filament? And how do I know it is time to renew the nozzle? Which are the signs?
I haven't worn out a Nextruder nozzle yet - with a 5h XL each is theoretically in use only 20% of the time - but experience with my Mk3 should be a reasonable guideline:
With non-abrasive filaments at a relatively high duty cycle - printing about half the time - I got about 9 months use from a brass nozzle. Lightly abrasive glow-in-the-dark filament greatly reduced this and a simple experiment wore over 0.07mm from a brass nozzle after printing just 150gm of copper-filled filament suggesting that under half a spool would destroy a new brass nozzle.
Cheerio,
RE:
Brass nozzles wear out, even with non-abrasive materials, and you would be surprised what's abrasive, like glitter, or any speckles. Just go with a hardened nozzle of some type and you will be fine for a long time. I'd stay away from hardened steel, only because thermal conductivity isn't great, but there are many good ones out there, like Obsedian, ruby, diamond, or even carbon steel with a copper insert.