Flexible Vase Mode Segmented 2.5in Hose

prusaprinters

<p>Flexible 2.5in (63.5mm ID) segmented/modular hose system designed in such a way that all parts can be printed in vase mode for faster prints and to ensure a good seal between each component.</p><p>The hose is capable of 90° bends with 6 segments and has a minimum bend radius of approx 5in (125mm). Each segment adds approx 1.5in (35mm) to the hose length. Included adapters connect the segmented hose up to 6in exhaust fans or standard 2.5in vacuum hoses. The ends were also designed such that air flows from the wider (female) end to the narrower (male) end of each segment to reduce the amount of dust getting trapped between the segments.</p><p>Hose segments were modeled with dimensions taken from the CAD model of the <a href="https://www.loc-line.com/products/system/212-vacuum/">Loc-Line 2.5in Vacuum Hose System</a>, so this design <i>should </i>be compatible with the Loc-Line one. I don't own any of products in the Loc-Line 2.5in system though, so no guarantees there.</p><p>Vase mode results <i>will</i> vary from printer to printer. YMMV, but my print settings for Prusament PC blend with a 0.4mm nozzle are:</p><ul><li>Vase mode turned on with 0 top/bottom layers</li><li>Recommended layer height of 0.15 with 0.4mm nozzle</li><li>External parameter width of <strong>1mm</strong> (important!)</li><li>First layer width of 0.8mm with elephant foot compensation of 0.1mm</li><li>External parameter print speed of up to 60mm/s</li></ul><p>Each individual segment weighs 13g and takes ~23 minutes to print. Around 15 unsupported segments (~50cm) can be chained before it starts sagging. Tweaking print settings for a tighter fit will allow for longer unsupported lengths.</p><p>Alternatively, you can print up to 6 segments in parallel by disabling vase mode, turning off top/bottom layers and infill, and setting a parameter extrusion width of 0.5-0.6mm. This will double the print time (est. 4h 40m) and result in a seam on the walls though.</p><p>Tolerances can be adjusted by tweaking the extrusion width. Increase the width if you feel like there is too much slop between the joints. Decrease the width if parts fit together too tightly.&nbsp;</p><p>Layer height also has a small impact on tolerances, as two segments printed with different layer heights of 0.1mm and 0.15mm will have a looser fit than one printed with layer heights of 0.15mm and 0.2mm. I recommend not mixing layer heights or else you will find some joints to be stiffer than others.</p><p>The original design files can be easily tweaked if you want more control over the dimensions.</p><p>Note for those who use Octoprint: I would <i>highly</i> recommend printing vase prints from an SD card if you have the option to. From my experience, there is a significant loss of quality when printing high bandwidth prints directly from Octoprint due to the serial baud rate and limited internal buffering on the Einsy board.</p><p>Update 5/15/2021: added hose clamp design and moved location of design files.</p><p>Design files can be found in the original blog post at <a href="https://0x7d.com/2021/modular-segmented-hose/">https://0x7d.com/2021/modular-segmented-hose/</a></p>