I’ve been experimenting with three different brand of filament and I’m only able to get good results with one of them. I only print in PLA for now. Also, my printer is in an enclosure, so temperature swing should not be a problem.
AMZ3D is the one that is working for me, but the supply is not that great (On Amazon.ca). I usually print around 210 with 60 on the bed
I tried one spool of Hatchbox Pink and I cannot do anything with it. I tried different temp from 180 to 210, it keeps clogging, sticking to the nozzle and just making a mess. It seems like this is THE brand, but I can’t make it work…
I also have EconoFil filament. I’m able to print with it but it’s always bad quality.
What do you use? Any thoughts for the Hatchbox? I don’t mind paying a little more for that brand if it means consistent results
I’m interested to see what people say. From looking around the forums it seems a lot of people use Hatchbox. It’s what I have but I’m having issues as well. I think mine are build/gcode issues but could be the filament, I didn’t even think of that.
I use Ziro filament and have had no real issues as long as I’m not trying something weird like metal or wood infused. They often have really nice prices on Amazon.
Hatchbox is what I started with and I’ve had good results (my MPCNC was mostly HB pink).
I have been printing with makergeeks lately. I don’t mind the cost and I like the feel and finish of the Raptor (whether it’s stronger or not, IDK). It likes a lot more heat though.
Any filament will require tuning. Getting the temps and extrusion right, or measuring the diameter. Good filaments won’t vary much between spools. Bad filaments won’t have consistent thickness and properties for half a roll, or then next roll won’t have the same properties.
But there’s always a difference.
Francois, check that you’re extruding the right amount and the diameter is what you expect. While you’re extruding 100mm, look and see that it’s coming straight out smoothly. You might have a clog, from changing filaments.
The bed temperature should be high enough it sticks, and doesn’t warp, too high and it’s a waste.
Nozzle temperature should be 5-10C higher than the temp where it has any trouble extruding smoothly. I like the technique where you print a large cube and watch the infill. You start pretty hot and reduce the temp by 5 degrees at a time until it starts getting less than smooth. Then you increase it by 10C.
Jeff, I’m not sure I would blame the filament just yet. Even bad filaments can print just fine.
That’s my thought as well Jeffe. Check the other stuff first and then go after the filament. I also just thought that maybe my bed isn’t getting hit enough, at least not the glass on the bed. The bed I’m heating to 65 but I bet the glass isn’t getting that hot before the printer starts to print. I’m going to measure the temp of the glass when I get home when the printer starts to print and adjust from there. It seems that the first raft and 1 or 2 of my perimeters don’t stick but the 3rd one starts to. Could be heating issues. Something to start testing tonight.
I am very short on time. But to me hatchbox is great and consistent. Almost always the same thickness and same material melting points. Very consistent. That said I think the problem is your hot end extruder. It sounds like it is prone to heat creep. That is why it is jamming. Try to cool the extruder better.
Also PLA works better printed at room temperature. The enclosure might add to your heat problems.
Edit: sorry for the rushed tone. I have found that Hatchbox PLA is more prone to heat creep but it prints so nicely on printers that cool well
I can say the only time I’ve had a problem with Hatchbox was bootleg Hatchbox. I mistakenly ordered from a 3rd party Amazon vendor and it wasn’t real Hatchbox. The spool was different and even the label on the spool looked like a 4th generation photocopy of a picture taken that was taken with an old cheap point-and-shoot digital camera. Otherwise, Hatchbox is my go-to filament. I’ve also had generally good results with Inland, Sunlu, and TactInk. I’ve only tried a couple rolls of Amazon Basics so far, but it seems to be just as good and reliable as Hatchbox.
Like @jeffeb3, I’ve been using makergeeks (crystal PLA, not raptor) with lots of success at temperatures of 200-205.
I received an email last month informing me that they had been having issues and now their website no longer exists. The email did refer me to a sister site (filamentgeeks.com) and while I haven’t tried them yet it looks like they sell the same filament.
I’ve had good luck with Inland PLA, which is great because it’s only US$15/kilo and I can pick it up at my local MicroCenter.
I’ve tried a handful of colors with good results, until the last color, gray. For some reason it needs to be printed 10-15*C hotter to get good adhesion. I had a few bad prints with layer separations before I got it dialed in. I did not expect color to matter, and it may be just the batch, but everything else on the label is the same except the color. It doesn’t help that it has a slight lavender tint, either.
They kept offering discounts and I think sales got out of hand for them. I logged in to check my order status only to find I no longer had an account. The BBB was the second site to come up when you googled their name.
It does seem things are improving and i think Filamentgeeks is Makergeeks rebranded. I really like their filament but will proceed with caution in the future. I print maker PLA at 232 with no problems.
I have also found baking my pla at 125deg for 4 hours really improves print quality
My first filament order ever, when I got my printer over 3 years ago, was from MakerGeeks. It wasn’t a good experience. I’ve heard many other stories of bad experiences with them since then, each one answered by 3 or 4 more people saying they never had a problem with them. So I’ve kept my distance.
Our own Jason (jhitesma) has had pretty extensive dealings with the MakerGeeks folks and their product. Heart-breaking circumstances have curtailed Jason’s forum activities of late but he did write up a pretty detailed posting(s) over on a FliteTest thread recently, that details the MakerGeeks “story”…
Wow. It sounds like they were short on capital and used the users to get some emergency funding, only to find out that selling $200 worth of filament for $30 wasn’t a good idea, and then changed their store name to get rid of the gift card debt. What a shame. I guess I’ll stop recommending them too.
I’ve started with Hatchbox and had really good experience with them except for (1) roll of black PLA which they replaced. I switched to Inland when Hatchbox had supply issues and had really good luck until they changed their supplier (I read they changed from eSun to Polymaker for their standard PLA). I have had a lot of issues with their new filament and have had to run the rolls through my dehydrator to get it usable. After that I’ve been really pleased with Solutech filament. Quite cheap, on Amazon and after 5+ rolls I have had no issues.
