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Review on SUNLU PETG Filament for 3D Printing: High-quality Additive Manufacturing Solution by Juan Wilson

Revainrating 2 out of 5

Made me better at 3D printing - dry before use!

Purchasing this product has helped me to become better at 3D printing. With this product I cleaned my first clogged atomizer, replaced a new atomizer, swapped out the heater block and had a blast diving into the Cura settings. I never existed in my innocent pure PLA world prior to my experience with PETG. First, I tried several temperatures, all of which caused a lot of tension, even after carefully investigating and adjusting my cut settings, including adjusting the retract settings, which, I found most PETG articles said "how to". None of this worked so I finally reconciled myself to heat treating everything I printed and queuing a large print job that was supposed to take a little over 24 hours. The first nozzle clogging occurred 4 hours after printing. I had never dealt with a clog before, so I learned how to unclog and then restarted the print. It then clogged again, so I replaced the nozzle, thinking whatever had clogged it wasn't going to get through. It clogged a third time, and in my frustration I managed to spin the nozzle, resulting in a funny pop, and then the sock was spat onto the print bed mid-print, covered in overheated, gooey PETG. Fun fact, baked PETG smells like burning car antifreeze. Then I learned how to replace the heater block. My fault of course, but people do stupid things when they get upset. After swapping out the heater block and cross-threaded nozzle, I put the PETG in a zip-lock gallon bag with a couple of desiccant bags (that's how I keep all my filament) and put it on a shelf in the back where it wouldn't cause any PTSD on my 3D printer. About a month later I needed to print something small that again required PETG properties so I pulled it out as I clearly have masochistic tendencies. I thought the pressure was small enough that I could clean it before the nozzle clogged again and this product prompted me to buy a large pack of replacement nozzles and 5 packs of heater blocks. This time it printed well and the tension was much less. I finished the fine print and decided to try the big print again (again - a masochist) and magically it printed and the print quality was much better and also didn't have that huge tension problem. I suspect the coil was so full of water that even though it arrived in an undamaged, sealed pouch with desiccant, it was still full of water when I received it. When I placed my printer in a relatively dry environment and then put it in a sealed bag with a few new packs of desiccant, it drew enough moisture from the coil to resolve the tension issue. I also suspect that in the first quarter or so there was some sort of contamination on the spool that was clogging the nozzle on a regular basis. It also taught me one last important lesson - as with most things, you get what you pay for, and it was the cheapest PETG I could find at the time. I ended up paying more for it and for replacement parts for my printer than the few dollars I saved for a more expensive and better product.

Pros
  • 3D printing consumables
Cons
  • Cable is shorter than others