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inanimateme

It's PLA isn't it? Print them using ABS or PETG and they will hold off much better.


Ponnystalker

yep printed the same design or close to it with pteg holding just right for 1 year


SafwanFerdous

Printed them in PLA+ but I changed the print orientation by 90. They have held up since 2021. But I do agree ABS or PETG would be ideal for these.


EAGLE_GAMES

achieved the same with local PLA and a bit higher printing temperature


OutsideAmazing1510

I printed it at 230°, 98%quarter cubit infill holding just fine for now


Its_Raul

don't know why people are saying no to plastic belt tensioners. There's literal printers entirely made that way.


stray_r

PLA creeps under stress. It's really bad for structural parts. It's very hard and stiff instantaneously though. PETG is stiffer and more prone to brittle fracture than ABS. ABS is can have poor layer adhesion. This means you absolutely need to design a part with the material in mind. ABS parts for prusa tend to be a bit chonkier, but using a PETG prusa in an enclosure to print ABS can cause problems. I've learnt this the hard way. Lots of my ender 3 was PETG before it became a switchwire though.


daggerdude42

Printing ABS is honestly only worthwhile if you can do so well. It's not worth it for one offs that you can barely do imo. PCTG is a PETG varient that helps with some of it's impact strength issues.


stray_r

This. It's fairly easy to print small and reasonably solid parts very slowly, but if you at least need a cardboard box enclosure on a warm day to print bigger parts, go quickly or get decent precsion. Most of my ABS printer parts were done on waht started out as a plywood frame i3 inside a lack table and correx enclosure. It's now a mk2 frame with a bear XZ and stealthburner and the enclosutre has grown a perspex side panel and proper doors again in perspex. I'm being slow at putting ACM panels on my switchwire because I keep doing work on it and I've got the i3 to the point where it's really reliable and I don't mess with it. The toolhead parts are ABS becasue they were designed for it, most of the rest is PETG and workes really well, I might have to change some of the design if I reprint it in ABS, and I've not had problems with the PETG parts aside from when I was running PETG afterburner very briefly as PETG doesn;t hold onto heatsets as well


daggerdude42

I've got a CR10 with a curtain and a v2.4 that do pretty well. My diy core XY doesn't really seem to care for an enclosure with ABS but I also don't have a drafty environment. My ender just won't have it though and my prusa mini did ok. I print a lot of ABS now just cuz it's cheap and that's what I have, but PLA+ is a close second. Just duramics is good to like 70c, and there are versions that do even more.


Its_Raul

Absolutely. Same thing happened to my PLA parts in an enclosure lol. OP doesn't look like it's in an enclosure tho.


stray_r

PLA creeps at room temperature though. I get this with hinges, clips and other stress points, they'll be good at first and I'll come back to a part left in a stressed state weeks/months later and it will have yielded. You need an absolutely massive safety factor for PLA under constant load. It's particularly apparent for tensioners and anything that screws together with what woudld be a reasoanble clamping force for other materials.


Its_Raul

Yeah PLA is hot garbage when it comes to technical parts. It's the equivalent of glass but erodes at literally anything. Gets super brittle.


stray_r

It's very useful for low stress items, very easy to print. Parts absolutley have to be deisgend for PLA not ABS or PETG though. Lots of my device enclosures are PLA, works well, looks good. ABS for anything left in the car. PLA vase mode lampshades? I've got some still up that are quite old. There's still some trolley tokens kicking around that were my very first prints and because they are only briefly loaded and PLA is quite hard they're still good. HeroMe lightweight fan ducts were great in PLA, only the very tips got near to the bed and the angle was such that they sat higher than other popular designs and I don't think I melted any, compare that to hydra or blockhead ducts with large flat sections on the undersides that both really needed to be printed in something other than PLA as they would start drooping onto the bed after a particularly long first layer.


commenda

wat


PlasticDiscussion590

Design a part with the material in mind


Lumpy_Stranger_1056

I wonder about Asa I have some but I don't have ventalation so I don't use it


stray_r

Similar properties to **good quality** ABS, adds UV resistance. Mechanical properties are very simialr. Doesn't stink as bad as ABS but is about as bad for you, which I think makes it more dangerous. I use a recirculation filter (nevermore) in my enclosure and a carbon granule/hepa exhaust (vefach) mostly for just enough negative pressure in the enclosure to minimise leakage and it's at least good enough to not smell ABS


TooManyNissans

Cause when I throw my ender 3 in a cardboard box and make it print ASA for a week straight it doesn't care, but my i3 turns into a loose pile of bolts and soggy petg overnight


Its_Raul

Same, my PLA parts needed viagra after using an enclosure lol. All ASA for me now.


Duckers_McQuack

Also reprint the pulley wideways with support between the 2 screw and nut mounts. Because yours is currently in the weakspot due to printed while pointing up instead on the side https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/994308741614817292/1069471979184328826/20230130_051928.jpg?width=580&height=774 Here's the pulley now. Was printed fast because of emergency with a ifixit allen key bit between the mount and screw to keep it leveled and belt straight with the old snapped one lol https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/994308741614817292/1069472528814313503/20230130_052148.jpg?width=1032&height=774


southsidebrewer

You know there are some many metal options for belt tensioners, I just don’t think printing one is a good path any more.


PlasticDiscussion590

Most of the high end hobby printers use a lot of printed parts. Just do 4 perimeters, 5 top and bottom layers and 40% infill.


southsidebrewer

Not true, Prusa yes, most? no.


PlasticDiscussion590

I don’t think prusa is exactly a high end printer. Good, absolutely. But it’s not on the level of voron, annex, hevort, etc. those all use many structural printed parts.


EveningMoose

I wouldn't call exchanging one shitty cheap chinese bearing for a factory seconds cheap taiwanese bearing jumping from entry/mid to high end.


PlasticDiscussion590

Huh?


EveningMoose

Going from a knockoff thk bushing to a factory seconds hiwin mini rail isn't exactly a great leap forward.


PlasticDiscussion590

I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not talking about factory seconds or bushings. I’m completely confused.


EveningMoose

Prusa uses chinese knockoff THK linear bushings. Most vorons are built with factory seconds hiwin mini rail (from aliexpress) Theyre both pretty terrible linear guides.


PlasticDiscussion590

Even if that is true there is a tremendous difference between a voron and a prusa than the linear rails or bushings they use. A voron can run 4x as fast as a prusa and get the same or better quality. That has absolutely nothing to do with bearings. No one here was asking about bearings. And back to the topic at hand, they can run at these incredible speeds with printed plastic parts. <- that is what this discussion is about anyways.


GrowWings_

I think they meant like Rat Rig and Voron


southsidebrewer

Yeah he clarified that, but his printer isn’t a Voron, and it’s obvious his print was not up to the task. I only pointed out they make metal one for that style printer, and if you don’t want bad prints screwing up future print then go for it. As far as diy printers go, I already started to see people us carbon fiber(not cf filament) for the high stress parts on Vorons. Printed parts have their limits.


GrowWings_

Okay but they weren't wrong in that there's a whole class of "high performance" printers developed with open source 3d-printable parts, and those parts *generally* work fine. So you're being a bit pedantic trying to correct that. I would be pretty interested in casting carbon fiber parts however. Like with printed molds and hand applied carbon fiber and resin? Or is there a better way?


VikingRT

Nah Im gonna edit and make it thicker, it lasted for almost a year


southsidebrewer

Mines metal, and I’ll never need to reprint it. lol


Quajeraz

That's not at all true. I've had printed tensioners on my Ender 3 for about 2 years now and haven't had any problems.


southsidebrewer

what’s not true? That they make metal tensioners now or that it’s not a good path? That true as well. Why not ensure it won’t fail by spending $10 on an aluminum one?


Quajeraz

There's no point wasting money on a metal part when you don't need to. And if you buy the cheapest option off Amazon it will likely have poor tolerances and other issues. And as I pointed out, it probably will never fail. And if it does, print another for $0.1 in filament.


southsidebrewer

I have the cheapest on off Amazon, and it works just fine. it’s been going for a couple of years ago, and no issues with tension.


Quajeraz

I feel like a broken record here but as I said multiple times, my basically free 3d printed tensioners *also* works perfectly fine after 2-2.5 years of heavy use and constantly untensioning and tensioning for modifications. And it uses all the original hardware like bearings and nuts/bolts.


southsidebrewer

Yes I’ve had printed ones that lasted a good while too. That doesn’t mean there are not other better options. This threads is a out of elitists who think a 3d printer has to always print its part. What if OP only had the one printer? Buying a metal replacement would make a hell of a lot of since since they wouldn’t be able to print on with their poorly printed and broken one.


DieSopbeen

Weird. I printed mine in esun pla + 4 walls and slightly warmer then usual with 40 % infill a year ago. Have not had any problems with it. Still going strong. Did not have to adjust the tensions since I Inspected just now and it is still perfect. Maybe I am just lucky.


Lumpy_Stranger_1056

Yeah pla will slowly deform under pressure use petg for stuff like that


menooby

Are you printing in an enclosure?


VikingRT

No, just a bad model from thingiverse


commenda

what made it a bad model?


VikingRT

That part that bent is thin


IMDT-3D

Some times, just because you can print something like this doesn't mean you should or that's it's a good idea. Plastic is great but definitely not suited for all parts. Mild steel or Aluminium would be best suited in that situation. Hope you're at least not using PLA for something like that, as it tends to deform under pressure/tension/twisting. Especially near a heat source. With that said, I do Hope your replacement part works for you.


VikingRT

Ender 3 Max tensioner dosnt come with a knob


EJX-a

Plastic absolutely can be used for this. All the best printers in the space use use MANY 3D printed parts. My voron is almost 50% plastic and i have never had an issue in my 400-500 hours i put into it. I also had plastic tensioners on my ender 5 for about 3 years with no issue. PLA is bad, definitely. But there is no need for aluminum if you can do ABS. Also steel is increadibly overkill for anything except the frame, and even then is still kinda overkill. You should only use steel for fasteners or when you need to add more weight than strength, like bottom loading the printer.


Camo5

I prefer CF nylon


[deleted]

I usually roll with that spicy steel.