Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.  

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

Posted by: @4x4dually

 

Posted by: @brian-12There's something else going on.  Did you reprint the parts I suggested? 

I literally have thousands of hours printing with regular PETG and I've never had a clog, just the issue with the idler door I mentioned earlier, and have not had an issue since.  A clog once a week is not even acceptable.

I have thousands of hours printing with Prusament PETG as well. I just completed a 42 hour print using Prusament PETG. When complete, I unloaded it, and loaded the ESD PETG and it clogged in less than 15 minutes. It's absurd. I did not print the parts you suggested, but I did find those parts that were provided to me by Prusa as the updated, higher temp, parts. I've changed hot ends, I've bought hardened nozzles, I've bumped the nozzle temps, I've replace with 3mm id tubing, I've built spool holders with bearings, I use a needle to clean nozzles, etc etc etc and still this POS won't print that material. 

Any chance you have an extra set of those parts printed I can pay you to send me? I don't remember what material you printed them out of and I doubt I'll have that anyway. Not sure if you are in the states or not. I'll have to look back and find the link to those parts and the material. I've tried so many thing at this point, all these post are running together. 

Thanks for your continued help. I greatly appreciate it. 

So I just had another thought.  I wonder if the stuff they add to the PETG to make it ESD safe is what's clogging the nozzle.  I looked around a bit and it looks like most manufacturers recommend a .6mm nozzle.  I assume you using a .4mm. 

Can you try a .6mm nozzle?

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

That's one of the only things I've thought about but haven't yet tried. I'm a assuming what they are adding is carbon and it's abrasive and it eats our the inside of the nozzle. Sometimes, when the nozzle purges after a filament load, the material comes out goofy and wads up and doesn't just flow straight down like it should. I'm assuming that is nozzle wear. Maybe I need to try the .6mm nozzles. 

Most of the time when it clogs, I unload it and I shove it right back into it and it takes back off like nothing happened. That's what frustrates me. If something was broke or bent or heat related, then it would stay messed up and not just take back off like nothing happened and print another 15 hours. I have leaned toward the sensor of the electronics or even the motor but Prusa refuses to send me complete replacement heads to try. In fact, they've refused to send me ANYTHING hard part wise to try thus far. 

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

I'd try the.6 nozzle, and yes I could print the parts and send them to you.  I'm in the US.

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

Posted by: @4x4dually

That's one of the only things I've thought about but haven't yet tried. I'm a assuming what they are adding is carbon and it's abrasive and it eats our the inside of the nozzle. Sometimes, when the nozzle purges after a filament load, the material comes out goofy and wads up and doesn't just flow straight down like it should. I'm assuming that is nozzle wear. Maybe I need to try the .6mm nozzles. 

I believe that that it has to do with the carbon ESD material in combination with the PETG.  I'm not so sure it is an abrasive problem.  I had it clog up with the sticky mess you described on a brand-new nozzle.   When I try to clear the nozzle by running nylon or PLA through it, I have to extrude feet of it to get it to run clean.  

I've just finished a 13-hour part using the 3DXTech ESD PLA material without any problems.  Same brand as the ESD PETG but PLA.  The carbon ESD material does not seem to get sticky/gummy like the PETG version.  It looks more normal.  

RE:

Interesting. We pretty much use PETG exclusively as we like its strength vs the PLA. I have not tried any ESD PLA, but I do have 4-2kg spools and 4-1kg spool of PETG that I can't use now, so that's about a $1380 worth. 😉

I just loaded some Prusament PETG in the machine and will watch it print something perfectly now. So frustrating. It HAS to be something in the nozzle design.

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

We also like PETG for the strength and nice finish.  Like you, I need to get parts made for our fixture department.  The parts I've made so far out of the ESD PLA look really nice and feel rigid.  I will have to wait and see how our gorillas, (our workers who like to break things), treat these parts. 

I did find other ESD PETG materials.  One is Raise3D Industrial PETG ESD Filament sold by Rasie3D.  Another is Fiberon™ PETG-ESD (Formerly PolyMax™ PETG-ESD). I have not tried either of these.  Perhaps after I get my other 4 spools used up somehow. 😒

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

Ordering  the .6mm nozzles. Going to give them a try as a last ditch effort. Looking at an Ultimaker S6 with the Material Control Enclosure as a back-up plan. Sure is nice and sure is $12K. 

Let's get down the root cause of the clog. Is the passing filament down the nozzle tube leaving a carbon buildup inside the tube? Is the heat on the tube causing the carbon to burn and stick to the tube? I can run a 5/32 drill bit down the brass nozzle tubes, remove the filament that's stuck, and they will take right back off printing. The issue is, there is no telling how long it will actually keep printing until it clogs. If Ultimaker is printing this same filament with zero issues, how are their nozzle/nozzle tubes and hot ends so different that they don't clog? Does anyone have any insight into this? Is it a geometry of the design issue or temp or ??????

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

Another thought, at any point have you disassembled and cleaned the gearbox in the printhead?  I had one filament that kept jamming (a shiny PLA) and it turned out it was shedding debris that was getting into the gearbox.  Took about an hour to clean as it was packed into all the gear teeth.  Threw that particular spool of filament into the trash.  Smooth sailing from then on.

(I haven't tried ESD-safe filament, much as I'd like to.  Too expensive for what I'd be using it for.)

RE: Trouble Printing ESD Filament on XL Nextruder.

Posted by: @kenryan

Another thought, at any point have you disassembled and cleaned the gearbox in the printhead?  I had one filament that kept jamming (a shiny PLA) and it turned out it was shedding debris that was getting into the gearbox.  Took about an hour to clean as it was packed into all the gear teeth.  Threw that particular spool of filament into the trash.  Smooth sailing from then on.

(I haven't tried ESD-safe filament, much as I'd like to.  Too expensive for what I'd be using it for.)

Yes, I've blew air into it to remove debris as well as disassembled it completely to make sure it was clean. It's all in the fact that the nozzles won't pass the carbonized filament. I've printed Prusament PETG for several days now with zero issues. I have .6mm hardened nozzles on order. Maybe they will help. Not much printing that I need to do that isn't ESD. That's kind of our business. Might have picked the wrong printer.