2 Color Test Results: New Filament Success

For the first time since I received the new Cube 3, I can report that I have been able to successfully print in PLA using the new filament.  I am VERY happy.

Here is an image of the new design for testing Filament, Gap, Level and Temperature Control.

And, here is the printed results.  Click on the image to examine it in full size.  

The "R" shows some close wall anomalies; but, other than that, the test was a resounding success.

As soon as I get some white filament, I think I will throw a little party and have some home made icecream!  It was easy to whip up using Moment of Inspiration.

Moment of Inspiration Icecream Sundae

Now, none of this would be possible without paying close attention to ensuring proper gap and level before printing.  New filament is not going to fix a poor gap or level condition.  But, I think we are now off and running!!!

I plan to upload the test file to Cubify.com. 

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Dual Jet: Filament, Gap, Level & Jet Consistency Test Object

The problem we have when we try to determine what is causing clogging in our printers is that there are so many factors that can contribute to the problem.  In designing a test object to print, all of these factors need to be considered.

I have come up with a design that I think addresses all of these issues.  It looks like this.

Filament, gap, level & Temperature Print Test Object

Filament

It turned out that the new filament delivery system required an equally new level of quality control in the PLA manufacturing process.  That has now been accomplished.  I am told that the current ABS should work equally well in a well calibrated printer.  But, to accurately test whether or not the new filament is up to the task there are other factors to consider as we design a test object to attempt to print

In the above design, the objects for both left and right printing are identical and relatively simple to rule out STL design issues.  If one color prints correctly we can assume the other print jet should be able to handle the design also.  I will only use a cartridge in the right side of my machine that has been tested successfully in the left side.

GAP

Clogs in Cube 1 and Cube 2 were almost always caused by a gap issue.  Either the user put the plate on without properly seating it or the gap was so small that the print jet touched the glass plate.

While the Auto Gp on the Cube 3 is nice to have, in my particular machine it always leaves the print jet touching the table.  I have to manually adjust the gap.

Gap issues are compounded in a two print jet machine and that is especially true for the earliest runs of the 3rd Gen Cube,  We have to ensure that both print jets have the proper gap, not just one.  Recently delivered Cube 3 printers should no longer have this issue.

The best way to determine if the gap is correct is to print an object that is no more than a few layers thick so that we can analyze how smoothly the layers are printed.  In this case, the square areas are .70mm thick and large enough to give us an accurate picture of our gap situation.

Level

In all three Cubes, one can set a perfect gap at the center of the table only to find that the print jet is too close on one corner or the other.  The Cube 3 is INFINITELY easier to set the level of the print plate.  And, I am testing a new firmware (V1.09A), which may be already be released by the time you read this, that refines the auto leveling process even more precisely.

The reason why the large, thin pads are arranged in the corners of the print table is to allow us to assess the level of the print plate.  If we get a nice smooth result in one corner; but, an irregular result in another corner it should help us decide if we need to pay closer attention to our print table leveling.

Print Jet Consistency


In my machine the new filament works flawlessly on the left side.  But, I have managed to clog one of the cartridges that worked worked perfectly on the left side when I moved it to the right side. That would lead us to believe that it is either a filament issue or a print jet temperature control issue.  But, unfortunately, the two color design I was trying to print was very complex and actually was a poor choice for my first two color test of the new filament.

One of the Cube 2 machines used in our YouthQuest 3DThinkLink classes had a print jet heating failure.  From the earliest RepRap days heating failures have been common.  So it is not out of the question that the right print jet has a temperature control issue causing it to behave differently than the left.  But, to actually prove that I need a simple print task being performed by both left and right print jets. 

There is a related scenario where instead of the temperature dropping too low, the melted filament backs up to a point beyond the heated area and cools.  If this should happen we would, most likely, see a separation where the extension enter the print jet tip housing.  I haven't seen that as yet.

The simple circular towers are 20mm high.  They provide the best test for finding most print jet temperature issues.  Since both print jets are performing the same task on two different areas of the print plate we can assume that a failure of one color is an indicator that temperature control should not be discounted as a clog causation.  If a color fails before completing a tower, I will return the printer for evaluation.

If this test completes; but, I still experience print failures, I will extend the tower

Current Observations as the Objects are Printing.

I felt the need to redesign my test to reduce the time.  The new print job is reported to be about  4 hours vs. 12 hours for my first design.  This is an image of the earlier design that I aborted to start running the more efficient test.  It was NOT stopped due to a failure.  It was stopped to allow me to run version 2 of the test file.

Even so, it tells me what I needed to know.

Aborted Test using version 1 STL

The thin pads printed completely and the towers printed to about 7mm tall before I stopped it.

Essentially everything looks  positive.  I am printing with Red in the left side and Blue in the right.  Previously, the Blue has been used to create several mid-sized objects and the results were beautiful.

Because the thin pads extend outward, to the corners, I am able to observe the quality of the print.  Based on the pads in the above image, I thought my gap was probably a bit too large for both print jets.  But, it turned out that the STL had issues that cause the pad to look a bit rough.  The new version, while not yet finished, has printed the pads perfectly.  So I think the gap is actually OK.

So gap and level can already be eliminated as the cause of a clog.  All that is left is the potential for temperature control or filament issues should it clog.  And, while I didn't let it run to completion there was no clog at the 7mm height.  All towers were of equal height.

That probably means that my earlier clog, with the untested complex object, was caused by an STL design issue, 

Complex two color print - right jet failure

Perhaps the design was too flat to be supported well enough.  Here is the bottom of the piece that exhibits drooping from being too horizontally to shallow.  Note how rough it is.  THAT is a DESIGN issue.

Complex two color print - bottom view

I have no idea if this condition alone could cause clogs.  But, it's certainly possible.

In any case,  I'm running now version 2 and it looks better than the first version.  The great news is that I should be able to see a problem shortly after it happens because all towers should be equal in height for each layer's print cycle.  When I see a difference of more than 2-3 mm I can abort the print job.

NOTE:  Great News!!!!  No more little fragments falling on the print table from the parking and purging operations!  The print table is absolutely perfectly clean!   Be sure to update both your client and the firmware to the latest versions.

Be sure to check back to this same article later to see the results. 

UPDATE:  TOTAL SUCCESS

 I declaring the new PLA works!  This is the finished print. No Clogs!!!!
 

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New Filament - So Far, So Good!

This past Friday, I picked up 3 cartridges loaded with the new filament.  The colors are Yellow, Red and Blue.

The factory receives spools of filament that they then must load into cartridges, seal them in packaging and load them into boxes.  They were at the cartridge building stage at the time I went by and they weren't even boxed as yet.  I only mention this because it would be unrealistic to expect some on your doorstep tomorrow.  They only released these to me for testing for a report on this blog.

They know that you are anxious to know if the new filament is the answer to our PLA clogs.

While I haven't been able to really give the new materials a thorough workout, so far, with the Yellow and Blue, I have not had a single clog running small and medium jobs of moderate stress.  I have not tried the red as yet.

Both the Yellow and Blue performed flawlessly from my left print jet, which I am certain, is perfectly gapped.  In trying a two color print with the Blue on the left and the yellow at the right, the yellow came loose from the plate after about 15 minutes.  This was NOT a clog problem.  It simply means that I have not yet achieved perfect print jet leveling.  The print from both colors was flowing nicely until the yellow piece broke loose because of a poor first layer.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the new filament does look like it is going to do the trick! 

And, I might add that the latest Cubify Client software has also fixed the droppings issue with two color prints!  There are absolutely NO little random bits of color filament to mar the print..

The bottom line is this:

1.  I'm confident the new filament solves the clog issues with PLA
2. I need to go back to the drawing board and make sure my print jets are even.

For me to declare absolute success it means being able to print colors from both print jets successfully.  So, I'll work on leveling my print jets to give both sides perfect gap and get back to you.  :)

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PLA_GAP.CUBE3 should be PLA_GAP.cube3

Thank Dave Touretzky of Carnegie Mellon for this find....

If you were sent a test print file by support, called PLA_GA_.CUBE3 or ABS_GAP.CUBE3 and neither the Cubify Client nor the Cube 3 would recognize it as a valid file. all you have to do is rename the file to change the upper case "CUBE" to a lower case 'cube'.

Go figure....

I ran into it right away.  But, I don't have a PhD like Dr. Touretzky.  So, I just shrugged my shoulders and abandoned trying to print it.  LOL!

This confirms the wisdom of one of the principles I have followed for years.. "Always hang around with people that are smarter than you!"

Trust me.  It pays.  Dr. Touretzky just proved it.  :)

Thanks, Dr. Touretzky.  But, one has to wonder how 3D Systems got it to work.... hmmmm.

SIDE NOTE:  

Now that I was able to print the gap test object, it confirms to me that the issues we are having with clogs are simply filament based.  I printed the test print in black PLA and the results were beautiful  This is the very same gap I was using when I clogged 3 different cartridges  That, in an odd way, is good news in two ways.  First, that my gap is now correctly set and secondly that I can expect the new filament to work just fine to put the clogging issues behind us.

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Suggestion Before First Print

I can only go on who my particular Cube 3 behaves.  But, Auto Gap, on my machine, seems to leave the print gap too small.  So, right after running print gap, I check the height with the included gapping tool.  If it's too low, I use the manual gapping option to ensure that my gap is not the cause of a clog.

So, whether you are starting with a new printer, or a newly released cartridge with the updated filament, it might be wise to check your gap before accepting that auto-gap was truly successful.

Remember, my machine was one of the early releases that uses a shim to align the print jet tips.  Later machines have a fixed print jet with no user adjustment.  It might be that while my print jets are even, they are evenly misplaced and that auto-gap assumes they protrude to a specification that I have altered too far in or out.

In any case, it doesn't hurt to check the gap when auto gap finishes just to be on the safe side.

I am trying to find whether the auto gap applies to the print housing or to a particular print jet tip.  Watching it work, it seems to me that it is setting the proper distance for the housing and assumes the tips are protruding a precise distance.  I suspect both print jet tips are even; but, may now protrude too low on my particular machine... requiring the manual refinement.

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3DFAN: Confirmed New Filament Begins Shipping in Week!

This news was posted as a comment today:

3dFan has left a new comment on your post "Thanksgiving Treat: Cubify Clent 2.14 - Cleaner 2...":

I just received an email from Cubify in response to my question about cartridge delays. They confirmed that cartridges back ordered will ship in one week!

 This is great news!   Thank you 3DFan!

Concerning the older filament compounds:

I will try to obtain some of the new filament for testing as soon as possible.  It's interesting that the most reliable filament that I have had is the black PLA.  It has never failed.

All the others, at some point, stripped at the center driver gear, indicating to me that many colors of the older compound filament had a softer surface and that for what ever reason the black color may have a harder surface. 

Wish List:

I do wish that the printer or Cubify software would report the temperature at the print jet as it is printing.  I also wish that we had a "purge" function that allowed us to control both temperature and feed speed from the printer's control display.  Hopefully, we will see these in future updates.

I know this run counter to the goal of everything being totally automated.  But, in truth, it would provide those who choose to use these features a level of control that ultimately makes life easier, not harder.

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Cube 3: A Stategy for Easier Printed Part Removal

Jim Ward, in a comment on an earlier blog post pointed out that using a raft might make it easier to remove printed items.  And, he is right.  The crisscross construction of rafts allows for water to penetrate under the piece which dissolves the water soluble CubeStick, making it easier to lift the piece off the print plate.

But, then we are faced with the challenge of removing the raft from the item.  And, I have had very little success cleaning the raft off an item completely.

In line with Jim's basic premise, that allowing water to dissolve some of the glue under a piece would facilitate removal, I've been using channels cut into the bottom of items to accomplish the same thing.

While he didn't mention it, the second benefit of Jim's observation is that having a raft makes it easier for us to get the palette knife under the item we are trying to remove.  To accomplish this without a raft, we can chamfer the bottom edges to give us leverage for a palette knife to pry the item off the plate.

Both systems work.  It's just a matter of preference as to which one you use in your own designs.  But, when printing downloaded designs, Jim's suggestion of using a raft is the best alternative.

In Moment of Inspiration, the process of creating channels is very easy.  Here is a short video that demonstrates an alternative to using a raft to facilitate easier removal. 

The ease with which these kinds of operations are done in Moment of Inspiration is just one of the reasons why we chose it for our cadets as they learn to design and print in 3D.

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