Anybody have a source for an Aluminum Extruder Block upgrade for a Rep 2X (I need left and right)? The place on eBay where I got them for my Rep 2 seems to have gone offline. If you have a better suggestion for the 2X I would love to hear your experiences.
This is the one I had wanted (scroll down on the listing)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111566069212 29
Thanks!
For the past year I’ve been sticking prints well with Kapton tape from ebay and wiping the build plate every build with denatured alcohol. I’ve tried acetone without any benefit beyond alcohol, and acetone stinks anyway. the first couple tape application were stressful but now I have fine system that works great by having two pencils at two edges that I hold taunt during the process.
Two points:
1. The spring loaded mod is a must, but I had to go another step further for exotic filaments. This knob adjust makes it easy to apply just the right amount of force on the filament. Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects 18
2. I’ve found that the NEW large rolls of PLA from MakerBot reguire ABS temps to avoid jamming. That and reduced print speed.
Acrylic warps over time with heat and is impossible to keep flat. I’ve gone another way with build platform issues… 2 items solved this for me. Buildtak http://www.buildtak.com/ 8 for the surface… I’ve not had to replace it after hundreds of hours of jobs… and an alum platform (because i upgraded to a heated platform ). Glass could do the same. I also enclosed the chamber and put an enviromental control on it for better temperature control.
Even with Buildtak you still need a heated bed right? I’ve got access to an Ultimaker 2 and a Makerbot Replicator 2. The U2 is supposed to be ABS capable, but so far it was not delivered. Buildtak would solve the adhesion and warping issues on it right? As for the Rep2, I’d love to find a cheap way to make it ABS capable.
Could you expand a bit more on what you did for the larger rolls? My school just bought a few of them, and I was the first one to test them out. My jobs, ranging from 3-5 hours, will start out great, and have even worked for hours, but always get some kind of jam before completion. It’s not the printer, as its in good condition, and has printed jobs well with other, smaller spools. However, its a 4th gen Rep2, and the set temp for PLA is already 230 C, so should I try to push up to 240 C for the larger spool? I’m already printing at sluggish speeds of 40 or 30 mm/s trying to keep the jobs good quality at low resolution.
To be honest, I barely get good results with anything I try and I’ve since been avoiding them unless the color is just too perfect to not use. My suggestion is to try and obtain some non MB PLA and see if it helps.
ok, well it’s my schools printers and materials, and I’m too broke to get my own right now, so I guess ill just have to make do. I think I’ll raise the temp, as the issue isnt on the spool, or on the print, so hopefully a bit of an increase in temp will make enough of a difference. Will the PLA be ok at 240 C? How high do you think I could go? Thanks, -L
I would suggest a few small test prints and trying hotter temps a couple degrees at a time.
A heated bed and climate controlled chamber are good for ABS. PLA is much more human friendly so I use PLA when I can. May I suggest to make a portable, contained heated bed using a piece of glass from an old scanner tray or a FLAT piece of 1/8" spring steel (stays straight, but flexes) and Buildtak . Go to Ultibots and buy some supplies like the heater trace stickers from 3M then get a controller… etc…
Make sure those big rolls are spinning freely in the holder and try adding a filament cleaner (cloth). It is possible that the filament has dust on it. Dust can accumulate and end up jamming the nozzle. I print at 215C for MB PLA with good results but I switched to 9 euro / kg rolls at microcenter in the USA. The plastic comes from Toner Plastics in Pennsylvania. Makerbot, Lulzbot, Stratasys all use the exact same supplier and formulation for the ABS so maybe its the same for PLA.
Cheers
