Wow – I thought Taulman were OK for quality control? Just had no end of problems which turned out to be my new roll of Bridge Nylon. All became clear when the filament was binding in the feed tube to the hot end.
Measuring the piece that was in the feed tube, it’s 2.04mm diameter at one point! And only 1.66mm diameter half a meter later (should be 1.75mm). You don’t need to measure, it’s clear to the naked eye it’s so far out – see the picture of the length that was in my feed tube – spot the thin and the thick end.
I’m supposed to be doing some high priority prints for someone over the Bank Holiday Weekend, but that’s not going happen now, so I’m unimpressed.
I expect this of ultra-cheap filament, but not Taulman Nylon. Looks like they don’t check it with lasers as some others do nowadays?
Sure it was purchased through Amazon UK so I’ve just done an Amazon return. Trouble is the only supplier I could find that can get it to me quickly was the same supplier through Amazon FBA, so I hope it’s not a problem with a whole batch or I could end up with another the same.
How many times did you measure it? I am just asking because a micrometer that I bought kept giving me some slightly different readings when I measured the same thing multiple times. If nothing else, it is a good thing for the others in the community to watch out for.
I measured that small length quite a few times (maybe five?). It’s pretty consistently around 2mm diameter for much of its length which is a little surprising for 1.75mm filament. My calliper seems to work well, seems to be consistent.
I had something like six prints fail before I noticed that the Nylon was tight in what should be a loose-fit PTFE tube. Thought it might be moisture, thought it might be the extruder wasn’t gripping tight enough, and so on.
So there must have been something like 5 or 6 pathologically over-sized segments in the first, say, 20 metres of filament, as what I was seeing was a print going fine, then the filament stopped feeding and stripped in the extruder, and I had to unclog the nozzle each time as well. Should have figured it earlier but in the year or so I’ve been printing I’ve never met this before.
All’s fine with the remains of my previous roll of Bridge. Just unspooled it to measure, and I’ve got enough for one more print run, so that will help, then I must wait until Tuesday.
@Mark_Wheadon lucky you. I guess my micrometer may have been a bit on the cheap side. It also decided to stop working like the battery suddenly died, but a battery replacement did not work.
@Mark_Wheadon Please just contact us via the site and we’ll get a replacement out asap. Our Nylons are not extruded like other materials, but “drawn” underwater for almost 30 meters. While this process makes for a much stronger material, we have seen a few stretch’s get past the monitoring scanners. We do strive to make consistent line and always replace out-of-tol materials. We do know stopping a print in progress is frustrating!
Just measured my Nylon Bridge which has been sitting out for ~2 months and just printed fine. It’s pretty consistent, never straying more than 0.02mm from 1.75mm
@Tom_Martz Thanks for responding. I’ve done a return (through http://amazon.co.uk). Fingers crossed for the next reel, which may well be the next off the line given I’m buying it from the same supplier.
+Adam Stenmark You’re not the only one to say that which is odd to me, because being in South East England I’ve never thought of my environment as particularly humid, but I find I have to dry the Nylon every time before I use it (70C for a couple of hours or so) as otherwise the nozzle spits steam. Interestingly, it still prints when popping steam, but the prints look quite white, rather than the translucent look they have when the Nylon is dry, so I do wonder if many people are printing in a mixture of steam bubbles and Nylon…?
I had that problem with several rolls from Taulman, T-Glase as well as Nylon. The T-Glase was oval and more than 1.9mm thick in one direction. Since then i haven’t bought any more from them. Their materials might be good if they print, but it just wasn’t worth the trouble for me.
@Mark_Wheadon I live in NJ and it’s been extremely humid recently. My nylon is pretty translucent but there is some opacity. It doesn’t bubble and steam while printing but it does when the e motor is idle and there’s filament past the cold zone. I leave it in the sun though so it may be counteracting the humidity. Oddly enough when I tried to print it a couple months ago it was too dry and the layers were barely held together.
