I have been using PLA and tried PETG on my ender 3 V2 stock printer. And I am trying to decide what filiment would suit what I print best it doesn’t have to be petg or PLA but it can be. So I tend to print mechanical parts which the petg accomplishes pretty well and it’s temperature zone is good for what I am printing. I don’t like shrinkage or very little. I like the strength of petg vs PLA but I prefer the better print quality I achieve with PLA vs petg I like that there is no vapours and smell like abs has. I print things like puzzle boxes and models of structures and such so I am looking for both detail and strength. Any recommendations? Also I don’t like PLA since it warps in the heat from the sun which I sometimes have the prints in the outdoors or need to hold liquid like water. I’m currently using a .4 nozzle. Maybe I should get a different size nozzle.
I’ve never used ASA but I am concidering it. Another option is PLA or PETG. Any recommendations and options you all have?
To be honest, i would just reccommend tuning a filament profile to a particular brand and colour of petg. It takes time and there can be small variations between colours and brands, but if you get your settings just right you can almost completely avoid the stringing from petg.
Though have you looked into HIPS or ASA. Personally i havent tried them but they could be other filaments to look into.
As for nozzles, id reccommend useing differrnt sizes if your printing small objects or if your printing large objects. Though 0.6mm isnt much of a change from your 0.4mm detail wise, its advantage would be in the print time.
Creality says the stock Ender 3V2 can print PLA, PETG and TPU. Can it print anything else, can’t say but if it is just stringing that is the problem then get a heat gun and burn them off. Easy peasy.
PLA is brittle but in many ways stronger than PETg. If you need the flexibility of Petg and heat resistance. ASA it is stiffer than ABS doesn’t smell as strongly (Still needs ventilation however) heck it out performs ABS in all respects and petg in all but flexibility it is a bit more gummy in my experience.
It is at the top of your printers ability it your printer may not print it well just because it can’t reach the temps needed.
HIPS is gummier than ASA it is not hydroscopic so moisture isn’t as big an issue. I have printed some but not a lot personally. It like all the styrenes needs ventilation. Both ASA and HIPS (and ABS) really do best with an enclosure. It is cooler than the others so it might be worth a try, it warps in my experience. It is sounding like you might consider a more capable machine running the printer maxed or nearly is hard on them.
I print ASA at 265ºC and 110ºC on the bed. ABS @ 255ºC and 110ºC bed temp, HIPS I was using 240ºC and 110ºF
Those settings for ASA are out of range for a stock Ender and ABS is right at the edge (to hot for an extended print). Have you tried using a PLA+/PRO, not as brittle as regular PLA. It does have some flexibility, kind of half way between PLA and PETG. Easy to print like standard PLA.
@KOOLKOLE27 loosenut is correct, ASA will damage the printer so you are left with Petg and that might be pushing the limits if the tube isn’t top quality.
You could upgrade to an all metal hot end or just put a metal heatbreak in your stock hotend. Something like this. It will take the higher temps. but I’m not sure how the motherboard would take it. Settings would have to be changed to allow higher printing temps. A stock 3V2 is limited to 260 on the hotend which might be enough. More knowledgeable members might know this.
Heres a nest table from prusa about differrnt materials. Be mindful your limits are thermal output of your printer aswell as being safe with the fumes from some of the filaments.
If color doesn’t matter much for your prints, maybe the Carbon Fiber PETG would be a good choice for the mechanical parts! I have been printing it on my V1 Ender 3 with a Microswiss direct drive and have found it much stiffer than the regular PETG due to the added carbon. However you would need to swap to a hardened nozzle as the abrasiveness of the carbon will ruin a brass nozzle very quickly.
Besides that, if specific colors are needed, I would also recommend tuning your profile for a specific color and brand of PETG and tune for temperature, fan speed and stringing to get the strongest layer adhesion and cleanest prints possible.
but if it is just stringing that is the problem then get a heat gun and burn them off. Easy peasy.