MM - consumption increase?
Basically I'm thinking about getting the MM upgrade at a later point. What I didn't find explicitly stated anywhere (maybe I just used the wrong keywords in my search?) was how much additional material will be consumed by the wipe tower.
I know that it will most likely be variable, based on the number of colour changes in your model. But what, in your experiences, are some upper and lower (maybe even median?) boundaries of increased consumption percentages one might expect?
Re: MM - consumption increase?
For small/medium objects my purge tower often weighs many times more than the part. For example the 4 color Demon girl weighed 30 grams but the tower weighed 94 grams. And to compound the issue I has a lot of color bleeding which means the tower wasn't big enough!.
Dual color marvin weighs 5 grams but the tower weighs 19 grams.
Re: MM - consumption increase?
Phr0ze is absolutely correct. And that is only part of the story.
If you have four colors on each layer, and a small item, the purge tower is even worse than was quoted.
If you have fewer colors per layer, or only color changes near the bottom, or very large items (or repeat prints of a smaller item) the purge tower is a much lower ratio. You can design around some of these things, but not all.
But here is the rub that I did not anticipate when I upgraded to the MMU. I figured I would do multi-color prints <15% of the time - only when needed - and I would mostly use it single color at which point there is no purge tower. I figured I would use soluble supports <5% of the time. Boy was I wrong. After seeing multi-color prints, I can barely tolerate single color ones which just seem cheap to me now. I print multi-color ~95% of the time (often just two colors, but still). It makes a MUCH bigger impact on the print that I thought it would. I still don't do much with soluble supports, as expected, but I sure do print a LOT of multi-color prints. I have grown to accept the purge tower as a necessary evil for the extra print "value". I am pleased that PLA is relatively inexpensive and biodegradable to easy my guilt. I am guessing that my purge tower collection (I have yet to throw them out) is near 1.5kg. Or about $35. Which given the number of amazing things printed is definitely worth it. (Printer has been running nearly continuously since I upgraded.)
So yes, you should budget for the extra filament usage. And if you end up like me, you will print multi-color much more than you expect, and be very happy with the results. If you design with the tower in mind, and "batch" print things, you can keep it tolerable. But I still just love seeing a multi-colored thing come off the print bed.
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 or loss. If you solve your problem, please post the solution…
Re: MM - consumption increase?
Additionally multicolour/material prints take longer than the same print in monocolour.
regards 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: MM - consumption increase?
Thank you all. That was the information I needed. Bears thinking upon 🙂