Does Zortrax ABS smell as bad as normal ABS?

Jason_Manning · 2016-05-16T13:11:34.000Z

Hi everyone, i am planning purchasing a Zortrax m200, but as it will be used in a small room im concerned about the smell. I orginally was going to get the ultimaker 2+ because i heard good things, its exotic filament ability and also, it looks cool! but the Zortrax m200 has caught my eye, the print quality seems to be the best Iv seen though my research and at the end of the day i think quality trumps everything else. But does its own brand of abs smell? also, how bad is the smell of ABS anyway? is it that bad or are people just being overdramatic?

Thanks!

Jason

Josh_Raples · 2016-05-16T13:54:33.000Z

I personally think it has the least smell out of any ABS I’ve used. There is some smell but I print in a smaller room too and there isn’t that much of a smell. I can certainly tell when I am printing other brands of ABS though.

PrintAWorld · 2016-05-16T13:54:38.000Z

I have 4 zortrax running at the same time. It smells like as bad as the other ABS and I think I am not supposed to smell this since it is bad for health.

joshuah_torres · 2016-05-16T13:57:35.000Z

No it doesn’t smell nearly as bad as normal

3DPP · 2016-05-16T14:01:39.000Z

ABS smells very bad but without any modification you are able to print Z-Ultrat. This is nearly PLA. But if you use a z-temp and a zt-he hotend you are able to print nearly everything what you want and in my opinion, the printquality of zortrax is better than from ultimaker 2+.

Rasmussen · 2016-05-16T14:08:12.000Z

Hi Jason,

I just bought a Zortrax M200 a week ago and have only tried a couple of prints with the standard Z-ABS in blue color. I don’t think that it smells much at all. I would actually have expected a worse smell, since I have tried ABS on a Cubex Duo printer earlier, which really stank :o).

I also have it in a small 2.5mx2.5m room. The ventilator noise though is something to take into account though, if you are supposed to work right beside it while printing. The sounds from the stepmotors and printhead moving around while printing is not noisy at all, and I was positively surprised.

So far I’m very satisfied with my M200.

Sten

Zortrax_it · 2016-05-16T14:17:07.000Z

I have (2) two Zortrax M200’s. I have had them for two years and never think about the smell. The only time it gathers my attention is when there becomes a little build up on the nozzle. I clean it off and don’t think about it anymore. Kind of like gasoline at the gas pump. If someone spills it …you deal with it and move on to more important things. I designed a dynamic “Top Cover” that travels with the extruder head and keeps the top closed to drafts and temperature change. so, basically my machines operate in a closed environment. This allows my machines to run with a ceiling fan on full blast and not have any warpage issues. Before I made this modification I might have noticed a smell. Hope that helps.

Cicio · 2016-05-16T14:49:11.000Z

This si my solution

IMG_5333.jpg2010×2913 1.29 MB

3dseshadhri · 2016-05-16T16:25:54.000Z

i have one Zortrax M200’s ,It smells like as common as the other ABS

Cameron_Olsen · 2016-05-16T17:00:14.000Z

I run 2-3 zortrax m200s for our prototyping business and don’t notice the smell. I think that the Z-abs smells less than other abs for what it’s worth.

If you’re in the us and want a great warranty, check out www.protoripe3d.com

3DMuse · 2016-05-16T18:00:57.000Z

Hi Jason,

I own a Zortrax M200 and it has been running in my living room for the past few months. I do notice a smell in the morning when I let it run overnight with the windows closed. The smell is not that bad, but I still open the windows anyways and let some fresh air in.

Zortrax is the best of its class while printing ABS, the quality is really the best (for most geometries… no printer is perfect). But of course you are limited to their filaments… Unlike the Ultimaker 2+ which allows you to vary its temperature and feed settings. I still haven’t seen parts printed on the Ultimaker with 20 micron settings, perhaps they have improved with time. Zortrax’s highest resolution is 90 microns, which is already very impressive.

You could of course buy the Z-Temp “hack” for your Zortrax, but it requires a little tinkering. Would suggest you to do more research if you haven’t had much experience in FDM 3D printing.

There are pros and cons for both… I would buy both if I could lol.

yarvix · 2016-05-16T19:57:22.000Z

Right now I am printing in my M200 and the smell of the Zultrat material is nearly imperceptive. Just if put your nose close to the top part of the printer notice something. Obviously is not despicable a little air flow in the room, also in a small ones. Is not a good idea to maintain the abs smell trapped in the place.

BTW the quality is excellent vs the price; have low maintenance; low setting up to print and no interruptions in large prints, believe me. Probably the bad think is that the materials need to be only of zortrax brand to keep the promise of warranty and quality. Hope this could be helpful.

Regards!!!

Jason_Manning · 2016-05-17T07:14:49.000Z

Thanks everyone, I am really torn between the Zortrax and ultimaker 2+, I am inexperienced and the Zortrax looks like it will get the job done with excellent quality without much tinkering… but I am dazzled by the exotic filament options on the ultimaker! I think maybe get a Zortrax and then go for an ultimaker down the line. I do hear Zortrax would be eventually upgrading their system to allow exotics anyway. Appreciate every ones input

torgeirgr · 2016-05-17T10:07:51.000Z

My experience with the Zortrax M200 so far is that it just works, and it works great. Simple as that.

Regarding smell, you should always use it in a well ventilated area due to the gasses and particles.

I have also printed with Formfutura Premium ABS on the printer with great results. I then used the Z-ultrat profile. The smell of the Formfutura is worse than Z-ABS and Z-ULTRAT.

Regards Torgeir

makelabnyc · 2016-12-05T04:25:16.000Z

Smells better than common ABS.