Black ABS

[curious aardvark]

so basically print the black at lower temp then, say 225 or 220 maybe ?

Got a new roll of black from a new supplier (to me) off ebay yesterday - haven't tried it yet . But the transparent filament I bought is great (again, different supplier).
Prices are really coming down - the three rolls I bought were all under £14 each including postage (can't remmber excatly but somewhere around £13.60 ish)

The transparent is really good stuff, nice sharp, clean prints.

I'll try the silver and black later.

For the record the filament that came with the printer was a roll of blue - that was printing great, but something in it blocked the print nozzle - and I haven't touched it since.

The FF white, on the other hand is really excellent. Again, very clean sharp prints even at .3 & .4 I went through about 3/4 of the roll in 2 days with zero issues and zero stringing even on large multipart prints.

[Geoff]

so basically print the black at lower temp then, say 225 or 220 maybe ?

Got a new roll of black from a new supplier (to me) off ebay yesterday - haven't tried it yet . But the transparent filament I bought is great (again, different supplier).
Prices are really coming down - the three rolls I bought were all under £14 each including postage (can't remmber excatly but somewhere around £13.60 ish)

The transparent is really good stuff, nice sharp, clean prints.

I'll try the silver and black later.

For the record the filament that came with the printer was a roll of blue - that was printing great, but something in it blocked the print nozzle - and I haven't touched it since.

The FF white, on the other hand is really excellent. Again, very clean sharp prints even at .3 & .4 I went through about 3/4 of the roll in 2 days with zero issues and zero stringing even on large multipart prints.

While I may have had issues with their black, I will never forget the roll of White ABS that came with my printer... I haven't been able to buy as good as a white since, off anyone, INLCUDING Flashforge. The next white batch they sent me was an off white, and the batch after that was white, but more glossy white off colour. Their original white that came with the machine, printed Dry and perfectly.

The White I got with my machine was this amazing snow white, it was really really bright white.. the best white ABS I have still ever seen printed. I have bought dozens of whites now, and still can't find one as white!!
Every white I buy now is a little off, or bone colour.. man I just want pure white, like cocaine white!

[curious aardvark]

well that definitely sounds like the white I got with the printer. Maybe they keep the old stuff to ship with new printers :-)

Have't bought any white from anyone else yet.

Hell, still haven't tried the silver (actually grey - not at all what I was expecting) or black yet.

IT;'s such a pain to change filament I tend to just run the roll down.
It reverses the filament for a few cms and then just stops - the motor is still making running noises, but I have to pull the filament out with pliers.

I've had the extruder apart and I can't see why it needs so much force to remove it. Even with the springy tension lever open the filament does not just pull out without massive force.

That said - it feeds it in no problem and works great once loaded - it's just I'm concerned about how hard I Have to pullt it to remove it - don't want to break anything.

[Geoff]

well that definitely sounds like the white I got with the printer. Maybe they keep the old stuff to ship with new printers :-)

Have't bought any white from anyone else yet.

Hell, still haven't tried the silver (actually grey - not at all what I was expecting) or black yet.

IT;'s such a pain to change filament I tend to just run the roll down.
It reverses the filament for a few cms and then just stops - the motor is still making running noises, but I have to pull the filament out with pliers.

I've had the extruder apart and I can't see why it needs so much force to remove it. Even with the springy tension lever open the filament does not just pull out without massive force.

That said - it feeds it in no problem and works great once loaded - it's just I'm concerned about how hard I Have to pullt it to remove it - don't want to break anything.

I change filament on the hour.

The Number 1 Rule...

When changing filament, LOAD for a few seconds and then UNLOAD.

It is trying to retract the filament that is causing you headaches. Inside that tube is is not 1.75mm, it's a bit bigger generally and it expands to fill the hole, not enough to lose pressure but wider than the original diameter. Feeding flushes this, and then you can unfeed and it comes right out - never ever jam again. As long as you push the spring you are OK.

[curious aardvark]

that's what i do (i think). but i pretty much always end up having to snap the filament with pliers.
what you say makes sense though. I'll try it again later, cheers

Maybe I'm not feeding enough through before reversing it.

[34Ford]

, I will never forget the roll of White ABS that came with my printer... I haven't been able to buy as good as a white since, off anyone, INLCUDING Flashforge. The next white batch they sent me was an off white, and the batch after that was white, but more glossy white off colour. Their original white that came with the machine, printed Dry and perfectly.

The White I got with my machine was this amazing snow white, it was really really bright white.. the best white ABS I have still ever seen printed. I have bought dozens of whites now, and still can't find one as white!!
Every white I buy now is a little off, or bone colour.. man I just want pure white, like cocaine white!

You must have gotten some that is gone now, although I am new to these printers, the white that come with my Pro today is not a bright white.

[Geoff]

You must have gotten some that is gone now, although I am new to these printers, the white that come with my Pro today is not a bright white.

I order one or 2 white rolls every fortnight, and I change suppliers every single time just in the hope I will find it again. It is the closest thing to a 'white plaster' print I have found, for someone like me that loves to paint, it's sorta like my favourite abs to print and paint.

[curious aardvark]

just a quickie - filament change advice works perfectly !

Thanks mate :-)

[RobH2]

just a quickie - filament change advice works perfectly !

Thanks mate :-)

Couldn't find the "change advice" post you talk about but I'll tell you what I've been doing lately. I either added to or started a thread about cleaning clogged nozzles. That talked about heating up nylon in the extruder, then cooling it "some" and then extracting it. The semi-cooled nylon would drag out a perfectly shaped model of the inside of the nozzle, and anything left inside, would come with it. It works fantastically for me.

So, I now have applied that workflow to all my filament even when I'm not clearing a jam. Before I remove or swap a filament, say ABS, I set the head to about 110C and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I slowly pull that filament out with some needle nosed pliers. I grab the filament near the hinge and rest the tip on the top of my extruder body's surface. I then lift the pliers very, very slowly, by the handles. It's sort of like a lever with the pliers tip resting on the extruder and my hand lifting the handles. I lift the filament out mm by mm until it comes free. And, it's shaped like the nozzle's inside with a little tip that was left from the nozzles .4mm opening (or whatever diameter the nozzle is). I then know I got ALL of say, the Black, filament out. So if I put White in now, I have virtually no contamination of color and I know it's clean inside.

This is a shot of the nylon cleaning but it shows what the extracted filament should look like:
CleanHead.jpg

[curious aardvark]

@robh - here you go - not sure where you were looking it was a couple posts above my last one :-)
No blockage just routine filament change. Push a few cms of old filament through, immediately back up and it comes out easy as you like :-)
I can move my pliers back tot he other end of the workshop where they belong.

I change filament on the hour.

The Number 1 Rule...

When changing filament, LOAD for a few seconds and then UNLOAD.

It is trying to retract the filament that is causing you headaches. Inside that tube is is not 1.75mm, it's a bit bigger generally and it expands to fill the hole, not enough to lose pressure but wider than the original diameter. Feeding flushes this, and then you can unfeed and it comes right out - never ever jam again. As long as you push the spring you are OK.