MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Has anyone tried it ? Has anyone had success with it?
I had their subscription service for a few months. Their PLA recommended temp is 235C which is quite high. I never had any issues with the filament before the MMU. I've successfully completed 2 MMU prints. The rest has been filled with disappointment and jams. The Raptor PLA is the worst.
At this point, I'm about ready to toss out all the spools I have and start over. I'm not sure with what though. I used Hatchbox before and liked that since it was available on Amazon. Not sure what other people have had success using.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Filaments I use:
Prusa / Plasty Mladec: http://www.filament-pm.cz/
Fillamentum: https://fillamentum.com/collections
Trcek: http://www.plastikatrcek.si/en/trgovina/filaments/
All the above PLA work fine with MM and with temps of 195 to 205.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Has anyone tried it ? Has anyone had success with it?
Nothing but jams when I use MakerGeeks PLA on MM prints.
I have successfully used:
Zyltech
HatchBox
Coex
3D Solutech
Inland
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
So the only success I've really had with MakerGeeks so far is either small prints or no retraction. Clownfish worked but needed a bigger waste tower between black and white.
But everything has had a jam at some point. Even on the "successful" prints, there is a jam when trying to unload filaments after the print. MakerGeeks' Raptor PLA has been a greater disappointment. I can't even get single color prints out of that.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
is stringing just a fact of life with the mmu?
Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
is stringing just a fact of life with the mmu?
Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
is stringing just a fact of life with the mmu?
Some small stringing is to be expected. The amount in the pictures above is not normal and is due to the settings required to make that particular brand of PLA work. MakerGeeks PLA requires higher temps and less retraction to make it work. Really not suited for MMU printing.
I'll be honest, I will never purchase MakerGeeks PLA again. Not only does it require higher temps but I also have 3 rolls with terrible quality control on the diameter. All 3 have diameter ranges of 1.65 - 1.88 mm. You cannot get good prints from this filament with QC like that.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
is stringing just a fact of life with the mmu?
No, it doesn't have to be.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
is stringing just a fact of life with the mmu?
It shouldn't be. The pictures I posted above were troubleshooting images. I bought some extra spools of Hatchbox and I currently have a Hatchbox only 4 color Benchy going on. I'm monitoring remotely, but so far it looks good.
Some small stringing is to be expected. The amount in the pictures above is not normal and is due to the settings required to make that particular brand of PLA work. MakerGeeks PLA requires higher temps and less retraction to make it work. Really not suited for MMU printing.
I'll be honest, I will never purchase MakerGeeks PLA again. Not only does it require higher temps but I also have 3 rolls with terrible quality control on the diameter. All 3 have diameter ranges of 1.65 - 1.88 mm. You cannot get good prints from this filament with QC like that.
Prior to MMU, I never had an issue with MakerGeeks. I liked the idea of their subscription service because I wanted to try out new things. Sadly there wasn't as much variety I had hoped for (8 spools and they were all PLA, 2 being Raptor PLA) and 2 kgs a month was too much for me. Because it has been such a hassle to use them with the MMU, there's no reason to continue buying them. It would just be nice if I didn't have to waste all the rolls that I have.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
It would just be nice if I didn't have to waste all the rolls that I have.
I don't think you will have to waste the filament. I think it's just a matter of getting the settings correct, however that may not be currently possible with the existing Slic3r and 3.0.12 firmware.
There is a feature within Slic3r which nobody is currently using and that is "Pressure Advance". It should not be used at present because it may not work properly. There is also a firmware fork here: https://github.com/Sebastianv650/Prusa-Firmware/tree/MK2-LIN_ADV-PR which also deals with pressure advance. Again this is currently experimental.
KISSlicer also has it's version of pressure advance - "PreloadVE" - which does work and allows you to set different values on a per filament basis (it also requires information regarding extruder hardware). Problem is it's very complex to set up and requires a lot of testing.
I favour the pressure advance feature being a slicer function; that way it's relatively easy to have specific settings for each filament. I think that the firmware route currently has only one setting which can be used at any one time (but I may be wrong about that). I also think that the available processor power may cause issues with PA in the firmware - but again I may be wrong.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
There is a feature within Slic3r which nobody is currently using and that is "Pressure Advance". It should not be used at present because it may not work properly. There is also a firmware fork here: https://github.com/Sebastianv650/Prusa-Firmware/tree/MK2-LIN_ADV-PR which also deals with pressure advance. Again this is currently experimental.
KISSlicer also has it's version of pressure advance - "PreloadVE" - which does work and allows you to set different values on a per filament basis (it also requires information regarding extruder hardware). Problem is it's very complex to set up and requires a lot of testing.
I favour the pressure advance feature being a slicer function; that way it's relatively easy to have specific settings for each filament. I think that the firmware route currently has only one setting which can be used at any one time (but I may be wrong about that). I also think that the available processor power may cause issues with PA in the firmware - but again I may be wrong.
Peter
They removed the "Pressure Advance" from Slic3r in version 1.34.1.24. I'm not sure this would help much with the MakerGeeks filament anyway. It requires temps outside the norm for PLA. It may work fine for a single color print.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Richard
Did you have a look at either the firmware link or KISS (PreloadVE, latest beta)? In theory, this feature should allow even the softest flexibles to print nicely.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Did you have a look at either the firmware link or KISS (PreloadVE, latest beta)? In theory, this feature should allow even the softest flexibles to print nicely.
I looked at the firmware link. I'm not a big fan of Github. I don't have time to dig through the code to find out what was changed and what it does, that's even if it is documented in the code.
KISS isn't an option since I don't have a post processor for MM prints.
The MakerGeeks PLA isn't necessarily softer, I just think the additives they use require a much higher temp to print. This higher temp then results in it stringing in retraction and then causing the clog. I can make it happen every time I print with that filament. Easier to just avoid it since I have many other brands I can use.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Could slowing the retraction speed help at all?
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Could slowing the retraction speed help at all?
Theory with "Pressure Advance" is that you get rid of retraction. But in practice, it never quite works like that.
@Richard, latest KISS post-processor is on my FTP.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
There were some bad makergeeks batches after their move (specifically filament sizes). They will absolutely replace them if you let them know. Something I noticed, its really important to validate your extrusion ratio with the MG stuff. Also, I have been perfectly fine printing at lower temps with their PLA. You may want to try it. I have been using temp towers to dial in the MG filament.
In regards to Raptor, it is literally my go to filament for almost everything now. But... I think my extrusion ratio was something like 0.95 or something with that.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
I recently (June) got my prusa after having a MP Select Mini. I don't have a MMU, but I do print 95% MakerGeeks filaments (PLA, Raptor, PETG).
I can tell you from my experience, going from the select mini Bowden tube setup to the Prusa Direct setup has been night and day for me. I was excited to see the MMU until I realized I'd have to go back to a Bowden tube. Don't get me wrong, my select mini is a work horse that puts out fantastic quality prints, but that bowden setup led to more clogs, I had 2 spools of filament that I'd quit printing with (woodfill and a flex) because they were so much trouble on the bowden setup, but on my Prusa, I've used both spools up without any incident.
I suspect there could be some variables that simply come from a bowden tube setup that could be causing some headaches that you're not used to after having a standard prusa.? I've like the visual of pulling a noodle through a straw vs pushing a noodle through a straw 😀
Just my .02, don't throw out your troublesome filaments, give them to a friend with a direct drive extruder :geek:
Robert B.
Re: MakerGeeks Filament with MMU
Just my .02, don't throw out your troublesome filaments, give them to a friend with a direct drive extruder :geek:
I had no issues when it was a direct drive. It printed great. I've got one more print job I've got to get done. Once that is done, I'm back into experimentation mode. Since direct drive just worked out of the box, I don't have much experience on what to change. I'm looking for any help.
I will not be purchasing new MakerGeeks filament, but hopefully I can use what I have. If I do manage to get somewhere, I'll broadcast it for the world to see.