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Printing with supports, MMU2s and soluble filament  

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mph070770
(@mph070770)
New Member
Printing with supports, MMU2s and soluble filament

Hi all,

I'm only 2 weeks into owning my first 3D printer but loving the experience.  However,  I have much to learn and in the case of using supports, I can't seem to find the right query to find the answer on this forum. I'm trying to understand the following:

1. Should printing supports be avoided if at all possible?

2. Should supports be printed in a different material/colour to make them easier to identify and remove?

3. Would soluble filament be a bad investment for somelike like me, a relative notice at 3d printing?

4. Does the soluble filament need careful storage - and how much does keeping a reel mounted on the printer compromise the quality of the filament due to water absorption from the atmosphere?

5. If (4) is a problem, then does that mean an MMU2s with soluble filament mounted on it is a bad idea (I saw a youTube video of a MMU2 putting their filament spools in a dehumidifier and feeding them to the MMU2s/printer from there...).

Thanks for any support in answering these - or links to these answers if it's my search prowess that isn't very good!

Posted : 22/08/2020 12:01 pm
fuchsr
(@fuchsr)
Famed Member
RE: Printing with supports, MMU2s and soluble filament

The answer to whether supports should be avoided or not is of course "it depends". Sometimes it's just a necessity of the specific design. I guess, sure, if you can avoid supports, that's better. But I don't get worked up over it as much as I used to. PrusaSlicer creates an insane amount of supports but with the settings in https://forum.prusa3d.com/forum/prusaslicer/weird-support-generated/#post-248428 they're super easy to remove and for most of what I print leave next to no marks on the model. Just last week I printed several minis and saw no need for any post-processing once the supports came off. 

No need to print them in different colors/materials, they're pretty obvious. Occasionally, I have some small details inside of the supports (like a sword) and it would help to see those in a different color but that's not enough of a reason for me to switch to MMU. 

I haven't personally played with soluble supports, mostly because I rarely see a need for it.

Having said that I did buy a MMU2 just for that reason. Truth be told, it's been sitting on my workbench for months, unassembled. I am just too happy with the quality of prints I'm getting from the Mk3S that I don't want to go through the invasive process of installing the MMU. Just way too many stories of issues with it... I print a lot more stuff that doesn't require it so why take the risk. Maybe when I buy my next Mk3S... 🙂 I prefer to design and print, not disassemble and re-assemble gear.

For someone new to the game like you, I wouldn't recommend the MMU unless a) you love to tinker and love self-inflicted pain or b) you have a real need for it, i.e. for whatever reason have a pipeline of multi-color/multi-material projects or plan on printing models that absolutely require soluble supports.

Posted : 22/08/2020 9:01 pm
mph070770 liked
mph070770
(@mph070770)
New Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Printing with supports, MMU2s and soluble filament

@fuchsr, thanks for your comments.  It did look scary when I tried selecting "enable supports" with prusaslicer so I'll investigate your link and see if that works for me too.  Sounds like being happy with standard supports (not soluble) and printing them in the same material is the way to go for me.  I appreciate your time in giving me very helpful feedback.

 

Posted : 22/08/2020 10:17 pm
jsw
 jsw
(@jsw)
Famed Member
RE: Printing with supports, MMU2s and soluble filament

The big issue that people seem to have with doing supports with Prusaslicer is leaving the Z distance set at the default, which is .1, and generates supports which are almost impossible to break away without damaging the print.

Here's the 'recipe' which has been floating around here for the best break-away supports, which works quite well for me:

0.25mm z distance.
75% xy distance.
3mm support spacing.
4 interface layers.
0.2mm interface layer spacing.

Posted : 23/08/2020 1:48 am
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