After I succeeded in printing PLA I wanted to create stronger, robust, durable parts out of ABS. It failed whatever setting I tried. It didn’t stick to the platform or the part came off after 1mm height, warped. Then I consulted an experienced 3D printing guy:
Higher temperature of the bed
Higher temperature of the heater
Keep the ambient temperature at about 80C
Switch off the fan! Only stagnant air around the printing head.
Use 3D LAC instead off glue, hairspray or ABS juice.
So, I should have bought the Snapmaker enclosure. I went to a shop and bought a€5 storage box and placed the Snapmaker in it.
To please the guy I bought the 3D LAC from him for €12,95. (It says “no warping” on the label.)
Switching off the fan is not possible. (I tried code M107 “Fan Off” in vain.) So I used the idea from ock10 for a fan deflector: a simple piece of paper taped with scotch.
To heat the ambient air I used a 1200W hair dryer: I put it into the box, closed the lid/doors and ran it for 10 minutes. After that I took it out again and started the print job with 250C for the first layer and 90C for the bed. The heater was already preheated by the hair dryer to about 50C and the bed about 70C, assuming the air temperature inside the box is around 60C.
It worked! (In my enthusiasm I opened the doors to look at it and the product jumped off! See keep the doors closed during printing.)
After the print is finished the product is stick to the bed very well but after cooling down it comes of quite easily, thanks to the 3D LAC.
Concluding:
The Snapmaker has not been optimised for printing ABS, but it is very well possible with some precautions: inside a preheated enclosure, without air turbulence around the nozzle, increased heater and bed temperatures.
I am still trying to test it and I may be able to modify the design to point the fan towards the extruder for better PETG and PLA printing
I did get inspired by the card fan deflector in this post, however, I wanted a more permanent, easier solution that could be easily installed and removed. So I started designing
My first design worked, however, it was too large at the bottom and would touch the print bed before the nozzle.
Version 2 is lower profile and should not touch the nozzle, however, I am still printing it (as I just finished designing the iteration) and haven’t tested if it actually deflects the air decently enough.
I’ll upload the final version to Thingiverse and share it with you guys in a different thread in the future
And to give credit where credit is due, I am using the Snapmaker DIY Laser Module case model to design the deflector around.
I made another version of the card deflector with a window towards the nozzle to try improving PETG printing, but it didn’t really help. All my PETG test prints have shown a need for better part cooling. A deflector can only protrude about 6mm from the bottom of the module or else it will hit the print, and I’m not sure this style of fan can push enough air around a corner into a 6mm gap to help. An externally powered/controlled blower style fan may be needed for better part cooling.
Did you try making like a nozzle or something for the air to flow out of? This is something you could be able to do with a print, but maybe not with card. It should be able to create a positive pressure inside of the deflector.
So the deflector design works, but ABS still won’t print. Quite a strong stream of air is coming out of the nozzle of the deflector, but the prints just won’t stick.
I’m feeling a bit ripped off as they said you can print ABS with the Snapmaker, but the build plate cannot even reach 100 C.
If there any chance we can purchase a build plate that can reach higher temperatures? The community can make the other adaptions that are required, however, the build plate temps really need to be higher.
The big fan on the side is trying to push air over the heater and I’m sure some of that air is exhausting out around the nozzle because there isn’t much room for air to exhaust out the opposite end. It may be that some of that opening needs to be restricted.
ABS is a co-polymer! It doesn’t smell.
BPA is used in the production of PC. But PC you can’t print on Snapmaker because it requires higher temperatures. So BPA free.
So, there is a difference between ABS and ABS and there is difference in perception of smell; I called the shop where I bought the ABS: “yes, ABS smells, and it is dangerous”. dangerous??, I 'm not sure he is an expert about plastics so I asked for the MSDS (material safety data sheet) of his ABS. He will send it.
Hi,
I’m very new to this.
my Snapmaker arrived a few days ago. I printed a lot this PLA with different filaments nearly without problems.
But my ABS prints are very very unstable. They break so easy. This cant be normal.
I think the prints looks “ok”. I have no problems become loose of the bed. The prints stick very good. I only clean the bed with Isopropanol.
I got “best results” with ABS with 245/80 °C.
If the temperature is too low the new layer does not meld properly to the previous layer. Then it breaks easily. To meld two layers together the minimum temperature must have the so-called glas-temperature. For ABS this is 110C. So, increase the temperature of the nozzle and increase the temperature of the environment. An enclosure with hot, stagnant air is advised.
245ºC are Ok for the print, I’m amazed by the fact it doesn’t go off the bed like everyone else, maybe the very clean surface does the trick, about the resistance on the material I found that letting it cool off for a good time makes it stronger. Try a print and let it for a good couple hours, then try again and tell me how it went.
