How to print almost almost any filament on Makerbot Replicator 2X

thingiverse

OK this is a HUGE Discovery for me! With two simple fixes, I can now print PLA on a Makerbot replicator 2X with Great detail for hours at a time! This same fix seems to work with every filament I have tested!!! So far printing 40 hours with no issues. UPDATE 6-6-21 - Now at 230 hours since I replace the thermal Barrier tube. And I am delighted to report absolutely no issues, and printing all materials quite well on the 2X! if you have a replicator 2x and this works or does not work please comment. Not sure if this is a permanent fix but so far WOW! I bought a Makerbot Replicator 2X in 2014 and I love it. Last year I put together a raspberry pi and loaded the Octoprint with the GPX plugin, and now my 2x can be monitored, and controlled from any pc or phone in my home, I can watch the print make progress through a webcam and get notified when the print job is done. And lots more!! Great Upgrade! For More info see https://octoprint.org/download/ For the past 6 years, I have been trying to print filaments besides ABS, and had limited success. Some times it worked and sometimes it didn't. But after all my studies, I have focused on printing PLA. (and the solution seems to work for all filaments) I even contacted Makerbot support (yes, they are still responding), and asked for a guide on how to use filaments other than ABS. Their response was that this was an experimental printer and it only prints ABS. Well I discovered that with a couple of inexpensive fixes, they may be wrong! When Printing PLA, I use the standard recommended settings default in the Makerbot desktop slicer, with 210 c. extruder and 50c heated bed. But below are the two main issues that I struggled with. Issue #1 ------ PLA prints sloppy because it does not cool fast enough in the closed chamber. Fix -- Solution (cool the extruded PLA) Open the lid and door, and place a small fan blowing down into the box when printing with PLA. See photo #1 attached . Some folks have added special cooling fans, but for me it was just easier to add a fan and open the doors. I can get perfect prints now. See the photos with various filaments. See the baby yoda as an example It even printed with his mouth open and no support. I was able to print 6 of these (30 minute prints) back to back with no issues. NOTE update 2-13: I had an issue with my cheap fan vibrating to the edge of the small table and it fell into my makerbot while printing. (made quite a racket and messed up my print) So I had to make sure the fan is fastened down and cannot move. Issue #2 Heat Creep (This is the BIG One) - PLA (and many others as well) swells as it enters the makerbot extruder between the thermal barrier tube and the nozzle. Once it swells, (it jams or plugs just before the nozzle) and extrusion stops. Fix -- Solution - Replace the original Thermal Barrier tube with a teflon lined tube. I purchased 4 of these from Amazon. "BALITENSEN 4 pcs MK7/MK8 Extruder Thermal Barrier Throat with PTFE Tube - M6 x 30mm Heatbreak for 1.75mm CTC Wanhao 3D Printer Part". They were really low cost. 4 for $8.90. See the photos attached. The only issue I had is that the original OEM has a groove cut in the upperpart so you can use a wrench to remove the tube from the hot end when it comes time. I was able to make the groove with a file in about 1 minute, so not a issue. Note in order to remove the nozzle, I had to remove the entire hot end then take it apart and remove the heating element. so I could put a rod through the aluminum block (where the heating rod was) and get torque to remove the nozzle without hurting the ceramic cover. See the photo showing the socket, and screw driver. I actually put the screw driver handle into my vice, then I could easily and safely put as much torque as needed on the ratchet wrench to remove the old nozzle. There is a great video on you tube that shows information on how to take apart the hot end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok6J8FnCsaw Results: See photos attached: I was able to print the benchy torture test in ABS, PLA, PETG, and TPU, with no issues!! I also printed some PVA (water soluble support) to make a molding form to cast a Silicone insulator to replace the delicate Ceramic ones on the Makerbot OEM. FYI, I had to attach a thing file so I attached the PVA mold file that I used to print the silicone rubber Hot end insulation. I used it to mold RTV into the cover. This is based on a remix from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2580945 by invent3d. in the remix, I just made thinner walls on the outside so the PVA would dissolve quicker. Note this silicone rubber hotend cover has no impact on the ability to print PLA, etc., I just added it so I could post this as a thing.