I have two different types of ABS (I have no info on manufacturer or content of the plastic) but I can only extrude one of them. The one I can extrude is excellent and barely even smells. I get great quality prints out of it, in black and white. The other? Stinks to high heaven when I extrude it, makes a lot of smoke/steam (can’t tell which), it comes out with what appear to be little chunks in it, it makes a lot of snapping noises, and eventually it causes a jam. Unfortunately, I have this stuff in 4 colours so I’m really annoyed. I’ve tried varying temperatures and the temp that works best with the good stuff seems to be the one that works longest with the cruddy stuff, except what comes out is awful. I’m wondering if anyone can suggest anything. I’m extruding at around 245C (anything higher tends to yellow my good white ABS). Obviously I won’t be buying the cruddy stuff again but I would like to at least try to use what I have. Maybe I can make crafts out of the filament.
On the off chance it’s a humidity problem, I will store it with a whole bunch of desiccant, but the good ABS works just fine without this special treatment.
The bad ABS was advertised as high quality 3D print ABS filament. At this point I’m giving up on it unless someone has a suggestion.
245C is about 15C too high for ABS in general. And the only cure for bad filament, is usually to get the manufacturer to replace it. Occasionally you can dry it out, but with as disastrous as you make it sound, it may not be worth your time.
Our ABS runs great at 245 on a MakerBot Mk7/Mk8. The Beijing TierTime (Up/Afinia) runs at 260. It depends on the grade of the plastic, and also on the specific hot-end being used.
Oh interesting. I took a picture of it with a little microscope and it really just looks like it is full of air bubbles. I’ll see if I can upload the pic.
And, oddly enough, looking at the filaments before being cooked, the “bad” one actually looks really good - almost perfectly round and smooth. The “good” stuff is actually less round!
@Vicky_Bilaniuk Next time get filament from this guy on eBay, I have had nothing but great ABS from
him. I found him on a reprap forum to be the best and the cheapest.
@Jeremy_G_WeisTek_Eng I found that out the hard way, when I bought the orange. I was so amazed at how good it printed I didn’t care at $13 free shipping. I just recently ordered black ABS and it prints like butter and the layer bonding is extremely strong at 230°c. I get some awesome looking parts with very little baby sitting.
from your other picture it sure looks like water bubbling off where those voids are. Dry it out in your oven if it will go low enough, a toaster oven will work if you have one, or the bucket thing that was shared from thingiverse.
Make sure you never cook again in what ever you decide if you decide to dry your filament. id say get a toat a small space heater (personal size) and seal it in for a while.
@Nuker_Bot_NukerBot_3 Not a huge bulk order i was thinking a 4 maybe 5 rolls. One of each 1.75mm color. (btw thats bulk to me lol) soon i think i will be getting a filastruder and modifyng it to take scrap prints, i allready have the parts for a grinder that will make the faild prints small enough chunks.
I’ve got one roll in a bag with desiccant for now, just to see if that does anything. I’m going to get a container for them as well. The one type of ABS I have that seems to handle humidity just fine is something I think I’ll keep buying as it doesn’t seem to require any special storage, which is nice, and it prints nicely. I have some PLA from the same supplier that seems equally ambivalent to the conditions. My NinjaFlex and the other ABS are pickier so they will get to live in the container. I have some nylons kicking around but they’re in a vacuum sealed bag. Haven’t tried them yet. Still new to this. My list of things to print is gigantic and it’s taking me forever to get through it all. I need to build more printers. I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing that as soon as the funding allows. It would be fantastic to devote one printer to one filament type - would save me hours of hot end cleaning every time I switch.
At this point I’m giving up on it unless someone has a suggestion.
