Oh drat! PLA parts all failing at once. PLA clamps last a few months then just give up without much fanfare. Suspect they started ‘ripping’ and gently but quickly let go. PETG replacements are all printed, in the process of installing them. PETG likely will fail as well but take much longer, and maybe send little bits flying when tension leads to failure. I need to redesign with a better concept of loading these clamps, or more material and surface area and less tension to stay in place. Maybe design them to have rubber sleeves inside to make less force work better.
PLA creeps to rupture when highly stressed, which is a weeeiiird behavior for a polymer. PETG shouldn’t ever do that. It’s not just a tougher material, it’s a much more stable material at the molecular level.
Know the feeling in that I primarily print with PLA because I hate the smell of ABS and its need for print area temp management. But I tried printing a replacement proximity sensor mount in PLA that I just knew wouldn’t hold up to the stress and temperature so had to reprint in ABS.
In the end it wasn’t that bad, and I think it’s just a matter of getting used to the modified workflow when printing with this other material.
IMHO we are far behind PLA vs. ABS dilemma on personal desktop printers. (PLA degrades under every stress, ABS is smelly for home users.) Try to use quality CPE (or PETG), it’s not difficult to print with.
Well casting a critical eye over the pic I glean that where it has failed is an obvious stress point I wondered why these areas hadn’t been reinforced so it wouldn’t maybe fail in those areas?
@Tomas_Vit there are some durable PLAs and lower-smell / lower-warp ABSs now. Lots of sharp people working on filament chemistry these days.
@Ryan_Carlyle I know, I meet some of them on regular basis. 
Still do not see many reasons why not to use very well printable CPE, PETG etc. instead of PLA for parts under stress. Modified ABS (like my favourite ASA for exterior) are fine, but still there is lower printability on open machines.
Note: I like quality PLAs and use them for non-structural parts very, very often. (http://www.instagram.com/tomulinek/)
http://www.instagram.com/tomulinek/
@Tomas_Vit agreed. Honestly, I still like ABS (in a hot enclosure) over PETG simply because ABS is an absurdly well-behaved plastic for extrusion. It melts easily so it can be printed extremely fast, it retracts cleanly, it solidifies fast to lock in detail. It’s just extremely picky about chamber temp and airflow…
Nice quality photos
There was a post/article recently somewhere of students printing with low infill and then filling the part with resin or epoxy. Once cured the epoxy gives the required strength.
@Nelis_Willers gotta be careful with epoxy fill because it can generate enough heat as it cures to destroy the part.
OMG