Wait… so you have successfully printed with PLA on your replicator 2x??? where are your settings for PLA? my Replicator 2X can’t! as soon as I start a print it might start good, but midway it just stops printing, or skips a layer or two…
Some insight would be awesome, since I haven’t been able to print anything other than ABS with my Replicator 2X… I upgraded the nozzles to a 360 brass base material and plated with TwinClad XT coating… or so the ebay product said… and still no successful print on PLA nor Carbon Fibre… your help would be greatly appreciated
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Oh yea. I had that problem the first day I got my
rep 2x haha. For some reason the rep 2x needs oil to print PLA. PLA is a lot more dry so therefore I printed these oil chambers from thingiverse that you slide the PLA into.
Also you would need extra fans to cool the PLA print.
let me find you the links.
Heres the dust filter.
Now from here I would take that sponge and dip it in olive oil. I Know it sounds crazy! I was so scared to do it too. But I gave it a shot and it worked. without it, PLA prints fine the first few prints and then it just starts clicking and jamming. I understand your problem.
The olive oil last a while. Just keep checking when you pull the filament through the filter, it should be slightly oily. You dont need to make it too oily.
For the extra fan,
Order yourself some 40mm fans from amazon.
I dont remember the length of the screws, its been a while. But it should say on thingiverse.
Let me know how things work out! And feel free to ask me anymore questions 
Hey Thanks for the amazingly fast response! I truly appreciate it!
I do have the extra cooling fan from thingiverse and I did print some oil filters but the filament kept cracking… so I removed that idea… have only been using Makerbot’s brand of filament so I don’t think it’s too bad quality (specially at that price! yikes!)
Oh I didn’t see your second quickest post!
Sweet! how did you hook the fans up? The one that I am using (on previous post) I hooked it up to an external supply… did you hook up yours to the mobo of the printer?
Thanks!
What do you mean it keeps cracking.
Its not worth paying 50 dollars for filament haha.
I have changed to 20 dollar rolls on Amazon. From hatchbox, inland, Esun and much more haha.
do you have oil in your chamber?
well the filament itself it keeps breaking at the top of the extruder when I leave the filament connected with the oil filters… do you remove the filament off the extruders after printing? maybe I should have removed them after every print…
Yeah I’ve not had the chance to get different rolls (I bought like 8 rolls off of makerbot) so when I’m done those 8, I’ll definitely look at those other ones you mentioned 
Thanks a lot
No I have not. That’s so strange! I have never heard of that issue.
And no problem!
Hi again!
So I’ve tried the suggestions you mentioned… and for some reason this time around it’s working so far… I hear no clicking noises coming from the extruder… granted I printed a calibration pyramid and in the middle of some dragon piece… but before, at any time it would just print the first few layers then it would start clicking…
So what I’m trying to figure out is, why does it work when you put it around oil, but not when it’s on its own? What is the science behind that? and since you’ve mentioned you’ve had successful prints with ninjaflex on the Rep2X… would I be able to print with carbon fibre??? I purchased colorfabb’s xt-cf20 and it would do the same as PLA… but I’m not sure I can pass the carbonfibre through the same oil filter as with this PLA filament…
If you’ve had any experience printing with carbon fibre in the rep2x it would be really really awesome to hear your experience and setup!
Thanks
Hey! Im so glad it worked out for you!!!
Yea it is really weird because Makerbot replicator 2 can print PLA fine but the 2X needs oil. I herd someone saying it is too dry. But that makes so sense that the rep 2 can print it and the 2x cannot when its basically the same machine.
I have in fact printed with carbon fiber from colorfab! I have yet to get a perfect print but I am REALLY really close. I think it also needs oil but the closest print I got had one line missing. I have not had time to print carbon fiber because of the orders I have but I am very close.
I print at 260 for the extruder and 60 for platform. I also have a steel nozel .6 hole.
Let me know ho it goes for you. I will try a carbon fiber print soon and let you know how it goes!
That’s awesome! my tries have come out terrible, either too gooey or just simply skips… I don’t have steel nozzles, I have the 360 brass base material and plated with twinclad xt coating… but they’re at .4mm… I have found that Colorfabb XT-CF20 melts at 210 just fine… you can easily push the filament through at 210… but when it prints I used to have the same issue as with PLA… I can see a major difference with the Replicator 2’s and Replicator 2X’s… the metallic feeder tube isn’t as long on the Rep 2 as in the Rep2X… I had a Rep 2 and gave it to my dad when I got the 2X thinking it was a better machine… was sourly disappointed…
But my mind is still boggled at the fact that it needs oil to print… Before I try printing with carbon fibre again, I will make a few more prints on PLA just to make sure it’s 100% now… but I will let you know how it all goes Thanks for the settings btw!
No problem! but I love the rep 2x just because it has a heated bed.
I use the rep 2 at school all the time and its just about the same.
I love my 2x over the 2 just because it has extra features. With a little bit of learning it can be a great machine.
true true… but there was no “proper” documentation, which was such a huge learning curve/gap
So I’ve been somewhat successful after adding the oil, but now it seems the prints are just warping… I never had that issue with PLA before… not on my Replicator 2, or even my reprap… so why now on the Replicator 2x?? I’ve leveled the plate so it’s a tight fit. I’m using blue painter’s tape, I’ve cleaned the surface with nail polish remover (aka low end of acetone)… and for long prints it just warps and unsticks from the tape… should I use the acetone slurry? I thought that was only for ABS… also I don’t heat the bed, since there’s no heated bed on the Replicator 2 and yet it’s successful at printing 5+ hour prints… your ideas on this would greatly be appreciated again
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No you don’t need slurry. There are different grades of blue tape.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DVCZ982/ref=mp\_s\_a\_1\_2?qid=1460159221&sr=8-2&pi=SX200\_QL40&keywords=blue+tape&dpPl=1&dpID=418-jT7fXiL&ref=plSrch
its like sand paper. You need to get blue tape with a rough surface. Also if you still get curling then I would turn on heated bed to 60. Prevents curles. And also it depends on how much moisture you have in the room. If it’s humid it might curl more.
Not sure how much oil you put but that might also be the problem. My oil chamber has two sections. The top layer is an oiled sponge and the bottom is dried. This way it goes through oil then drys off a bit before printing.
so you placed 2 oil filters just to have one run through a sponge with oil and the other one empty to dry out? that’s clever… but I think I found my problem… I increased my extruding temperature 10 degrees and it seems to be working so far… haven’t tried a more difficult piece but so far so good
Thanks again for the insights!
No problem. Yea there are so many tiny problems that would cause curling. It’s hard to say. What do you print it. I print at 220 with no problem.
Yeah that’s my temp now… I was printing at 210 before… I didn’t want to go all the way to 230 because it’s not makerbot’s filament (too expensive)…
Thanks for the tips. They seem to be working wonderfully. Very Helpful - Kyle
