What material recommendation for a garden hose nozzle? It must be strong enough to hold its shape under modest water pressure, say up to 50 psi. And not leak! I’m trying PLA and it literally leaks water through every seam and corner!
At the moment, I’m exploring sealants to apply after printing.
If you’re using an FDM printer sealants seem to be the way to go. I have never heard of a waterproof FDM part, although I have to admit I have never specifically researched the topic. If you want to avoid sealants I suggest you try printing it with a resin printer, such as the Form1. I think those should produce watertight parts.
Good luck and please let us know what the outcome is!
Sorry no clue, but I’d also be interested in finding what works. Please keep us updated!
How many shells are you using? for water tight i would do 4 or possibly even more. Are you printing the part solid? You should be. Also, make sure your prints are done at the highest temp the material can handle to ensure the absolute best layer adhesion. And lastly, slow down your printer.
This is not a definitie list, just some stuff that has worked for me in the past with pressurized liquids and 3D printing.
Hi @richalt2, I have used ABS for a pressurised coke bottle (no idea what pressure it was at) and the leaks I was getting were from the seal between the bottle and the printed part or between 2 printed parts. I didn’t get any leaks from the actual part itself, I used 2 shells and just 10% infill. I also found it depended on the design and how it was sliced, the pressure holding walls needed to be one continuous face so that the layers adhered well to those around them. On the attached photo the red nozzle is 2 parts and the leak was between them and the bottle.
Cheers
Andrew
If you use ABS you can seal it using acetone
and considering that ABS is quite durable,
I think is suited for your intended porpose.
My own experence with acetone sealed ABS Parts is that they are extremely waterthight
i dont know is this works with PLA but with ABS plastics if you give it an acetone vapor bath after printing what it does is melts the outer surface players and blends them into a solid whole sealing any crack in the material making in non porous. .
I’ve used Taulman nylon to replace couplers for copper piping with great success. The bonus being that if you design the tolerances properly, the nylon part will actually be self-tapping and you can actually screw on the nozzle for a secure and leak-free fit.
I would print in ABS then either coat it with acetone with a brush or vapour smooth it for a better finish.
Isn’t PLA technically water soluble? It is corn starch when you get right down to it. But I’m wondering if anything would work. I’ve got a waterPic filter housing here that is molded in poly and after a very short time, standard water pressure from the tap manages to bore small pin holes all over it. It makes a great water feature, but at the loss of structural integrity.
PLA will slowly hydrolyse under the inluence of water. It will do so in moist are if you take long enough.
