MakerGeek Conductive Filament

[jordiLucero]

I am trying to 3D print using the MakerGeek Conductive filament on a MakerBot Replicator, and I'm having a lot of trouble. Has anyone successfully done this?

[DonaldJ]

Have you tried the Makerbot Users Google Group (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/makerbot-users)?

They know quite a bit more about Makerbot issues than most folks on this forum.

[Rocketrey]

I am also trying to use makergeek conductive filament on rep2x with no luck (yet). Our biggest challenge (after we learned to cool the extruders to 190C) is achieving continuous filament extrusion when printing. We measured our filament diameter at 1.6mm (vs standard 1.75) and made the necessary correction in a custom profile. We also tightened the feed screw in the extruder assembly as tight as it will go and still we cannot seem to get continuous flow.

Does anyone have further suggestions on how to characterize a new filament on a new machine? I think the principles are the same no matter what type of machine being used.

Thanks!!!

[Mooselake]

Both of these userIDs come from Vscaler VPN IPs (which means they're hiding where they originate, and it's a strange coincidence they're both using the same VPN company; maybe they're just getting around the firewall at work...), and while applicable to this Other printers subforum aren't all that relevant to Printrbots. This doesn't guarantee they're spammers, and it is an interesting topic, but it does raise some flags. Hope I'm wrong...

Taken from another source I couldn't (re)find quickly, the best way I've found to determine the correct print temperature is to use a single perimeter object (I like this scaled up 2 or 3 times. It's got both 90 degree corners and a large radius curve) that's big enough to not have any small=print cooling problems, slice it with the lowest temperature you think might print, then hand edit the gcode to increase the temperature 5 degrees every 5 mm (or some other consistent layer thickness, but 5's easy to measure). Print, then take a close look at how the different temps look for both bonding and finish quality, and how well the straights, corners, and curve printed. The best looking section is your best print temp. You might need to play around with cooling fan settings depending on the material, although I doubt you'll need a fan for this abs based filament.

Why is cooling the extruder an issue? Is that a Makerbot thing? 190's not an unusual print temp. Flow issues might mean you're printing at too low a temperature and requiring too much feed pressure (for those who don't know MB uses a screw pressing against the filament to to adjust tension). Makergeek recommends 200 to 230 so 190s a bit low. What are you going to use the stuff for? While it's conductive it's not real conductive - they say 10K ohms/cm (wonder if that's really 10K ohms/square?) so you'd be hard pressed to even light an LED through it. Just curious; at first glance it didn't seem all that useful, but I'm often wrong...

Good Luck!

Kirk

[Rocketrey]

HA! It turns out that a co-worker also posted here on the exact same thing we are working on together! We are not spammers!

Anyway, the filament is black and "dirty"- you can actually draw with it (probably from carbon black impregnated in the ABS). We are working on printing fixturing (amongst other things) for electronic circuit boards. The conductivity we need is to control static electricity so we don't cause ESD damage to our product.

Thanks for the tips and lets keep the conversation in general going as there are plenty of other filaments we want to use in the future as well. This topic applies to all of us!

Thanks,

Trey

[Mooselake]

[jordiLucero]

[mitchejt]

Proto-Pasta makes a 1.75mm PLA conductive filament.. Nice stuff check it out

[Mooselake]

[Mooselake]