When making new filaments, packaging and colours many issues arise and we want to be transparent with our customers.
We spent 9 months getting the spool and box ready and even with all the testing, factories change processes or issues arise later when we test with a lot more users.
Below is some issues with some of our batches that we are aware of, with notes of whats coming in future batches of how we have fixed it. Working with chinese factories where we have no control over QC gives varying issues over different batches and although we strive to keep getting it better and better, issues still arise and we will document them here.
The Batch number can be found on the spool and on front of the box.
TPU 2.0
B221231 - Issue 1, Issue 6
B230406 - Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 6
PETG 2.0
B230406 - Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6
PLA 2.0
B230406 - Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 6
Issue 1 - TPU can't print as fast in Orbiter v2
It appears the previous 0.8kg sainsmart was extruder at 1.67-1.7mm diameter but our new TPU 2.0 is 1.75-1.78mm - This causes more pressure build up in the thin orbiter shaft and therefore it gets stuck if printed to fast. We recommend printing at a max speed of 60mm/s - previously we could print at 100mm/s with the 1.7mm diameter.
Issue 2 - Filament is getting caught in glue near the end of the rolls.
It appears the factory did not use the correct glue on the cardboard spool and about 20% of rolls have been to be found to get stuck at the end of the spool and cardboard is stuck to the filament. Filament jams, filament sensors will have issues. In future batches we are using a new glue rated to 150 degrees which will prevent this.
Example photos:
Issue 3 - Cardboard spools are breaking apart
It appears B230406 did not have glue appropriately applied to the outer spools and around 5% are breaking in half. In future more glue will be applied as well as a stronger, more higher temperature rated glue.
Example photos:
Issue 4 - Diameter of PETG 2.0 black is varing between 1.7mm and 1.9mm
It appears the extrusion temperature of the Black PETG was to low causing a matte finish and also causing the diameter to be inconsistent on around 10% of rolls.
Issue 5 - Pellets were extruded at wrong temperature.
This was also a cause of issue 4, but we have found in some cases around 10% of rolls will not extrude and are jamming
Issue 6 - The filament increment cutout was wrong.
The spacing is even but this does not make sense as the spool winding distance changes as the roll is used up. We will be rectifying this in future batches.