Hey guys, new to the 3d printer scene and was hoping I could get some clarification on the capabilities of the printerbot simple. I saw there are some tower upgrades as well as a heated bed upgrade available for the model. I’m trying to figure out if upgrading to the heated bed would allow the use of abs? I’m wondering if the limiting factor in using abs is the heated bed or a combination of things like an incapable extruder head ect… I was also curious as to the opinions here with the use of pla vs abs in prototyping simple moving mechanical parts? Thanks in advance, I look forward to hearing from you guys!
It’s not the hot end you have to worry about, the UBIs hot end can reach much higher temps than is required by ABS typically. ABS needs a heated build plate, that’s the only upgrade you would need in order to use it.
There are certain things I’ve found ABS is superior for, one of those is printing any object that requires support material. ABS will snap apart from itself, PLA on the other hand – every tiny little bit tends to want to cling to itself.
Here is the low down.
Abs expands when heated and shrinks when cooled, by using a heated bed you prevent the part from warping and peeling of the bed. So it would make it possible to print abs, the extruder needs to safely operate at 240C.
I like pla, I have not used abs. The opinions are quite polar in my opinion
A hot bed allows you to try other materials aswell. Nylon is a difficult material to print, but people like it firm mechanical parts.
@Camerin_hahn 230C, typically.
@ThantiK I would like my hot end to work slightly above the temp that i want to use it at 
To add to the previous comments, PLA is more brittle than ABS. That may or may not be a good thing for certain applications. I’ve got a Simple with the build volume upgrade, but haven’t gone to a heated bed yet, so I can’t tell you how well it works. Personally I’m a little leery of going that route, since the Simple has a moving bed and that’d be just one more connection to worry about. I’m leaning toward building a new printer with a fixed bed (but keeping the Simple as well) - the GUS Simpson seems like it would be a lot of fun, and I can print all the plastic parts with the Simple, which appeals to me immensely.
Not sure what you mean by “simple mechanical parts”, but if it involves moving plastic ring plastic joints, PLA will have a lot more friction than ABS. Nylon would be even lower friction.
Differences between PLA/ABS
ABS: better bridging, requires HBP, more temp resistent, more flexible, welds/melts well with acetone (and can be steamed smooth with it), & prone to curling on long/large prints.
PLA: bridging droops, no HBP required (but 60° on black PLA helps), no print size limit due to little curling, can be melted at lower temps (thin print in a hot car during the summer may wilt), & prone to jamming at low temps with fast speeds (100mm/mm+)
I’ve had tons use the Printrbot Simple to print nylon parts. The hotend is stellar. Some use hairspray or gaffers tape for abs, but ymmv. The official heated bed is not out yet, Carl Ubis is designing it to be ultra efficient. The one upgrade out there is power hungry and requires an atx power supply. Good luck!
You have been more than helpful guys. Thank you so much. I’m putting my order in next paycheck and I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions. Hopefully with some tinkering around I’ll be able to contribute to the group in the near future.