Unable to print nylon at all  

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Are you sure it's not just floating off the bed? Nylon, including Bridge, won't stick to PEI at all without help. A layer of glue stick usually is enough, but you need complete coverage. 

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Forgot to mention I have glue stick down. On a 10minute print maybe 1-2 layers worth of material will have come out. 

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Sound like you are having similar problems to what I am having, though perhaps a bit more severe.

Nylon frustrations...

You mentioned you have tried different temperatures, how high have you gone?  Taulman Bridge has a listed print temp of 250-255 and, at least for me, printing at the high end of the range for the filament seemed to work best.  Despite the 250-255 range, you might try going to 260 or even 265 and see if you get better flow.  Before you try printing, just load the filament, set the extruder about halfway up the Z axis and extrude into air.  Don't worry about the pile on the print bed.  It will cool enough during the drop that it won't stick to anything.  You should be able to get a clean, smooth filament stream when extruding into the air.  If you get to that point, then move on to trying a print. 

If you can unload the nylon filament, put in PLA and print without doing anything else, you aren't clogging the extruder in any meaningful way.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

I've done that exact thing I get nice clean extrusion when loading filament at higher temperatures but when it comes down to an actual print nearly no filament will come out. I can keep loading it through and it comes out fine but once I try to print it just wont right. I'm really stumped on whats happening. I've printed the exact part in PLA and it comes out fine I reslice the file for nylon and it just wont work. Since my post I've tried enclosing the entire printer in large box at 260 and still no luck. I really dont understand. when loading filament it will come out fine even at 240c.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

What nozzle size and layer height are you using? 

Based on my observations, it seems that nylon is a lot "stickier" when melted than PLA.  Perhaps "more viscous" is a better description.  A first layer that was "miscalibrated" such that is was thinner than expected could cause issues.  Once you get the slightest problem with extrusion, it seems that all bets are off.  I don't know about Taulman Bridge, but the nylon I'm using is way more flexible than one would expect.  It's easily a flexible as some of the stiffer TPU formulations and the extruder has no problem shoving it out the side. 

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

The stock prusa nozzle .4 . .2 layer height. Here is the print I was getting earlier and my best print so far. The best was just completed at 275c nozzle 100c bed at 50% speed and 80 flow in the printers settings. The print is supposed to be 100% solid but as you can see its nowhere near solid.

https://imgur.com/a/P0Ixu35

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

I'm successful with Taulman Nylon 910 at 270C/90C 30mm/s 0.4 nozzle/0.2 layer height. Full enclosed (~40C), glue stick and no fan.

It's also important that your roll is dry! Nylon is getting wet pretty fast (couple days is enough).

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Posted by: nikolai.r

I'm successful with Taulman Nylon 910 at 270C/90C 30mm/s 0.4 nozzle/0.2 layer height. Full enclosed (~40C), glue stick and no fan.

It's also important that your roll is dry! Nylon is getting wet pretty fast (couple days is enough).

Any ideas https://imgur.com/a/P0Ixu35 this is what my last i'd call slightly successful print looks like. Supposed to be 100% infill .2 layer height.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Printer settings meaning on the LCD display on the printer?

The settings  nikolai-r posted are very close to what I am using.  As for print speed, in Slic3R, go to the printer tab, and the speed menu.  In the upper "Speed for print moves" area, set everything to 30mm/s or less.  That will control your overall print speeds and keep them down.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Posted by: nikolai.r

I'm successful with Taulman Nylon 910 at 270C/90C 30mm/s 0.4 nozzle/0.2 layer height. Full enclosed (~40C), glue stick and no fan.

It's also important that your roll is dry! Nylon is getting wet pretty fast (couple days is enough).

My filament prints like it is dry, when it prints.  I suppose I'll toss some in the oven for a while and see if it makes a difference.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

I've got some filament drying in the over this afternoon and will try printing again this evening with it.  I ran a test print this morning, with no retraction, and the first part came out quite nice.  The second printed the first few layers and then stopped extruding.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Mine have all started coming out like your second picture. Which is much better than before at 275c nozzle 100c bed. with all speed at 25mms. What did you do to get the tall part in your picture coming out so well?

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Posted by: jerry.g4

Mine have all started coming out like your second picture. Which is much better than before at 275c nozzle 100c bed. with all speed at 25mms. What did you do to get the tall part in your picture coming out so well?

That's just it, they were part of the exact same print.  They are supposed to be the same part, just printed sequentially, instead of in parallel.  So it printed the complete one first, then started on the second and failed.  No pause, straight from one to the next.

I've just  started a print with filament that spent 8 hours drying at 80c.  It's three of the same part I printed this morning with all the same settings.  Same filament, just dried.  We shall see what happens.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Posted by: jerry.g4

Any ideas https://imgur.com/a/P0Ixu35 this is what my last i'd call slightly successful print looks like. Supposed to be 100% infill .2 layer height.

In general I can only tell you rule of thumb which works for me. Why your nozzle clogs is hard to tell as there are too many factors involved. 

Do 20% infill first. 100% infill is sometimes tricky to print and try to use same settings with dry filament. The nozzle shouldn't clog.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Dry your filament, even if its straight out of the manufacturers packaging, even if print quality does show signs of moisture.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

The lowest my oven can do is 70c. How long should I dry it?

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

I dried mine at 80C for about 8 hours.  I was originally aiming for 6 to 7 hours, but ended up being gone for a bit longer.  Longer than necessary is certainly better than cutting it short.

RE: Unable to print nylon at all

Posted by: william.m51

I dried mine at 80C for about 8 hours.  I was originally aiming for 6 to 7 hours, but ended up being gone for a bit longer.  Longer than necessary is certainly better than cutting it short.

FWIW: PrintDry suggests nylon be dried at 70C for 12+ hours. I just think "overnight" and not worry about it.