Lower print temperature for E3D Plated Copper Nozzle?
Hey everyone,
so I unable to find any information on this, which is why am asking here.
Ever since I switched to an E3D Plated Copper Nozzle (from the standard brass ones) I seem to have more stringing in my prints, especially with PETG (even with Prusament on the Prusament stock profile).
My question is: Do I generally need to lower the print temperatures for every filament type? If so, by how much (as a rule of thumb).
My thinking is that copper conducts heat way better than brass, so at stock printing temperatures and speeds the filament might get "too liquid" since more heat is transfered into the filament in the same amount of time, thus making it runnier.
I just noticed: Of course, following the above reasoning, increasing printing speeds should work as well...
Does anyone of you have any experience with this?
Thank you very much for your answers
Alex
RE: Lower print temperature for E3D Plated Copper Nozzle?
I went the other way with a nozzle x which is steel. Generally I print 5-10 degrees hotter to counteract the reduced thermal transfer. So I’d start with a temperature tower and expect it to be 5-10 lower.
Faster printing only works if you can cool it faster too 🙂. That’s what experimenting and seeing what works is for lol. That’s half the fun sometimes.
RE: Lower print temperature for E3D Plated Copper Nozzle?
E3D's nickel-plated copper and P3-D's plated aluminum both advertise higher thermal efficiency than brass. Nozzle-X and other hardened steel variants much less. This is one of those things you just need to test with your particular nozzle size, filament and settings. I don't usually have to make a lot of adjustments when switching between types.
- I stay at the lower end of temps for detail. This usually goes along with lower layer heights and slower speeds.
- For part strength and functional parts, I go with the higher end of temps with lower cooling for part strength. This usually goes along with higher layer heights and higher speeds. I'll be more inclined to use a hardened nozzle (P3-D Hercules or E3D Nozzle-X) for these types of prints.
While doing some testing, I was surprised to learn that the nozzle material doesn't have much of an impact on flow rates. Temperature and nozzle size made the biggest impact on maximum flow rates. I believe nozzle material will impact how quickly the nozzle heats or cools if you're changing temps mid-print, but that's not something I do. My greater concern is nozzle coating (for printing sticky filament) and abrasion resistance (for filled materials). After a few incidents, I'm a firm believer in using a silicone sock for hotend protection with the added benefit of more stable nozzle temps.
I keep a P3-D Apollo nozzle mounted most of the time. I will make minor temp adjustments before slicing or at print time. I don't see a huge amount of difference with stringing when simply swapping nozzles up to 0.4mm. I have found that calibrating the filament diameter and extrusion multiplier has the greatest impact on stringing.
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RE: Lower print temperature for E3D Plated Copper Nozzle?
Thank you @neopyhl und @bobstro for your answers.
I might have found my problem in the meantime:
While changing the nozzle, I seem to have not tightened the nozzle enough into the heater block. There was filament leaking around the thread of the nozzle, over the nozzle itself and getting onto the print which caused blobs and excessive stringing.
I removed the old nozzle, cleaned the threads as best as I could and put in a new nozzle, this time tightening it way more. I hope this holds up now. Otherwise I will have to disassamble the extruder and the hot end or maybe even get a new one.
Any tips on the "changing the nozzle" topic while were at it? The methods suggested by Prusa, some YouTubers, in forums etc. seem to differ quite a lot.