Go to homepage
3D Printing
3D Printing Service
FDM SLA/DLP SLS MJF DMLS/SLM Material Jetting
CNC Machining
CNC Machining Service
CNC Milling CNC Turning Surface Finishing Part Marking
Injection Molding
Sheet Metal Fabrication
Resources
3D Printing Guide CNC Machining Guide Injection Molding Guide Metal 3D Printing Guide Knowledge Base Webinars Help Center
Get instant quote
Oct 2015
29 / 42
Oct 2015
May 2016
MasterFX
Oct '15

You need a PTEFE Tube with 3mm Outer diameter and 2mm inner diameter. About 3€ on Ebay/m

wickwire
Oct '15

Hey, I’m also waiting for an order on PTFE tube from Ebay, just to have around as spare. I’ll only know for sure if it’s the right size once it arrives which should be still this week, but for reference, this one is the one I ordered:

PTFE Teflon 2 x 3mm

The inner diameter is 2mm (to handle the 1.75mm filament) and the outer diameter is 3mm, in order to fit the nozzle (I hope). Previously I got another PTFE tube which was for 1.75mm filament and it didn’t fit - inner diameter 2mm / outer diameter 4mm.

First listing which didn’t fit (chose 1.75mm) > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111513375750?\_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=410506092329&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Second listing, still to arrive, hoping it will fit > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151280480493?\_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I’ll let you know how it goes once the later one arrives.

EDIT - I own a CTC-3D printer, in spite of having bought from an Ebay listing mentioning RepRap etc.

dazmatic
Oct '15

You can’t run without the PTFE tube. It acts as a guide down into the nozzle. If you run without it, the filament will just flex in the heat break, twist and jam.

The only way to get rid of it completely is to replace the heat break with to a version with a 2mm hole down the centre and nozzle with a 2mm hole and make sure when you assemble that you tighten the heat break and the nozzle very tightly against each other to stop molten filament from spilling out between them.

This happened on my E3D Clone and it was a sod to clean all the cold filament from the hot end.

MidWestMade
Oct '15

Agreed, the entire extruder is built differently than the cheap plastic ones that are stock with CTC. The upgrade was about $190, and there was some retro fitting, but I have a reprap style of feeder now, no more tubing. Hasn’t clogged yet, and that’s with 350+ hrs on mine!

dazmatic
Oct '15

To be fair, the default extruder with a fixed bearing and no pre-load is terrible. I bought a moulded abs spring loaded replacement pair of extruder on ebay, best upgrade so far. I plan on getting some stainless bar and making my own barrier tubes on my lathe so that I have an all metal hot end.

wickwire
Oct '15

Hi, the new tube arrived yesterday and it fits nicely, matches all the comments and suggestions from the other posters in this thread > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151280480493?\_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I also bought a few spare nozzles that seem to work with this PTFE Teflon 2 x 3mm:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321796094101?\_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The shape of the new nozzles isn’t exactly the same as the originally installed ones - the new ones seem narrower/slightly longer - but the specs seem to match.

I will do some maintenance on the printer later this week and try out the new nozzles+PTFE tube and post the results here as well.

iCloud
Oct '15

If you have an address send me over a message on here and I’ll post you replacment ones free cut to size all you need to do is remove the nozzle and slide this tube in and out the nozzle back on

Thomas_Donnelly
Oct '15

Hi Dan,

Is it possible to purchase some of this tube of you as I have 3 printers down at the moment and am waiting for some from china which seems to be taking forever or do you know of a supplier in the UK?

Thanks for your time

Tommy

Aceadam
Oct '15

i have bought the tube, seems to fit well and i havent put it all back as im using the left extruder for now lol

MakeCoolThings
Oct '15

I wrecked one of my teflon tubes, too. I bought a 5-pack of replacement hot-end barrels off Amazon but they had 4mm OD PTFE linings in them, and a lot of stuff just printed too differently for my taste. (PLA and ABS seemed to print fine, but PETG-- my bread and butter material --didn’t print right anymore.) Either due to the different barrel design, or additional thickness of teflon…

I finally just bought a meter of 3mm OD PTFE tubing and waited like a bloody month for it to arrive from Malaysia via slowboat while I used the lining from the left extruder to get the right one back up and running. Taught me an important lesson though; stock up on replacements of anything that can take down your printer!!!

Also, stay away from PFA. It’s supposed to be rated for the same temps as Teflon and it was easier to source in the right diameter, but if you take it up to 240°C to print PETG or something…it’ll LIQUIFY. Not melt or deform, LIQUIFY. (Invented some new curses for that one, I did.)

Fayaz_Choudhary
Oct '15

at first CTC dual extruder 3d printers are not recommended to buy it have lot of problems.

dazmatic
Oct '15

I whole heartedly agree.

There are indeed differing levels of 3D printers on the market. when I bought my CTC, I could have had a cheaper option like a Prusa I3 which required much much more assembly, set up and calibration.

OR I could have gone for the much higher end of the spectrum and got a stratasys or something like that (enter very expensive brand name here)

I’d never used a 3D printer before let alone knew anything about them, operations or materials. I opted for the CTC because it was already assembled taking out a lot of the work.

Straight away though I had issues, exactly as you’ve mentioned. The nozzles would clog, the prints wouldn’t stick, I couldn’t get replacement Kapton for the bed cheap, the extruders would skip on the filament.

Over all, it was a terrible machine which I couldn’t trust to run more than an hour without messing up.

It was from that I persevered with it, I replaced the stock fixed extruders with spring loaded ones which has solved the skipping on the filament. I replaced the PTFE tube with that which is 1mm longer so that it’s compressed in the thermal barrier tube, no more clogging or jamming.

I’ve since made a TON of other modifications and the print quality is fantastic but is still only as good as the settings I use.

My point being, no matter what level of user you are, no matter what level of machine you have, it’s still developing and there’s still a lot to learn.

I’ve recently built a Rostock legacy and had masses of issues with it, so much so I started to design MY OWN printer to repurpose the parts I bought for the Rostock. But I persevered with it and now it’s at a point where I’m happy with it. Just further reiterates my point above.

wickwire
Oct '15

… or maybe you’re just the kind of user who just wants a turnkey solution, something along the lines of a Nexpresso coffee machine.

If that’s the case, then perhaps it would be good to understand that 3D printing isn’t quite there yet, at that level.

While I disagree with your comments, I’ll back mine having owned one for a bit more than 6 months:

  • 3D printing on FDM for the average consumer still has its quirks, regardless of how expensive the printer is
    • clogging
    • calibrating
    • consumable parts replacement (overall maintenance)

… and whatever else I’m not thinking of right now

  • Buying a cheap 3D printer has enabled me to experiment with the technology and keep learning more about than I would otherwise
  • The printer is not without its limitations, but the prints are very, very acceptable in terms of detail and quality
  • It’s even accessible to hardware/software mods
MakeCoolThings
Oct '15

You’ve made 6 comments, and they’re all about how bad your CTC dual extruder is. You understand that it’s an exact copy of the MakerBot Replicator 1 dual, right? Just like the FlashForge and a half dozen other inexpensive Chinese-made printers.

Jams happen, that’s just how it goes with FDM printers. Doesn’t matter if it’s CTC or MakerBot. But I’ve had my printer for eight months now, and it’s only jammed once. If you wanted a maintenance-free printing experience, you should’ve spent a couple tens of thousands of bucks more.

As for all the problems you’re having with your CTC, have you tried checking to see if the #P38K4C register is set to 1?

MasterFX
Oct '15

I think so too.

My CTC has MK7 extruders (which are common) and after over 500 printing hours I didn’t had any problems. I had to exchange the PTFE tube only once (I bought 1m for 3€, so I can change it as often as I want) and two times the nozzle was jammed/blocked, but this happend when I change my Filament from ABS to PLA or TPU or vice versa. CTC is a pretty good printer! An you get it these days for < 400€ with dual extruder

Aceadam
Oct '15

I am so surprised at how many replies this topic has gained. This topic was made in order to fix this part which i have now done with plenty of ptfe tubing I can use for the future.

RobertPaul
Oct '15

The thermal barrier tube is held by a set screw. Unscrew that and take it out you’re done. Btw you shouldn’t mess with ptfe lined tubes…AT ALL… EVER. There’s no possible way to print reliably with this printer unless you get threaded thermal barrier tubes with no ptfe, and with thermal paste on the cold side of tyre tube ( not the side that screws into the heater block) , and thermal paste where the heatsinks touch the block. If you stick to ptfe lined barrels all I can say to that is good luck!

RobertPaul
Oct '15

With all due respect, although its a “clone”, makerbot released drawings to their replicator 1 that were wrong on purpose so all the Chinese clone makers got suckered. Original makerbot had threaded thermal barriers and worked.

2 months later
gaehl
Jan '16

Does anyone know how long the tube is supposed to bet cut to?

3 months later
craigunderhill
Apr '16

My new CTC (one week old) clogged last night. I just removed the tube completely. It still printed just fine. I had done the same thing to my Da Vinci 1.0 and it always seemed to work fine.

I guess I’m only risking clogs.

Eduardo_Garcia
Apr '16

Don’t remove the tube. Buy a new one and put it in there if not you will have nothing but clogs. Also a but of baby oil helps a ton. I usually have it on a lint free cloth piece and when the filament is being pulled it passes by the baby oil just enough to keep things lubed. Not really needed for oily filaments like abs, but pet, pla, XT and so on do need it and makes it print very smooth. Haven’t had a clog since I started doing this baby oil trick.