How strong is Carbon Fiber PETG? Extrudr PETG vs PCTG vs XPETG CF

[@FilamentStories]

This is so interesting to see the comparisons across the different filaments. I was particularly interested to see the results of the PCTG as I have started using it more lately Excellent video; thank you so much for such organized and detailed information! -Courtney

[@pavelperina7629]

What are your observations about PCTG? I tried black one from Extrudr, printed using theirs profile for Orca/Bambu, did some non-scientific test with rather heavy hammer and pincers. My conclusion is that when you hit part with hammer, PCTG is easier to break, but it forms cracks which do not propagate that far and it can irreversibly bend. Clear PETG from Bambulab survives much harder impact, but then it shatters. Test with pliers shows that PCTG is more ductile and layer adhesion is likely worse. I'm not convinced it's a better option, maybe it can be with tuned temperature above 270C, when printed very slow, using transparent one without additives or something. Considering it smells during print and it's like 30% more expensive, i likely won't use it as it seem to have only advantage in being less brittle.

[@uhu4677]

Can't wait for the TPU CF video!!! Thx for all your great work! Best source for Filament tests worldwide!

[@BluTrollPro]

Great to see an Extrudr video. I've been using their ASA for months & find it to be great.

[@tapirath]

could you also test extrudr greentec pro? I have 2 spools of it and extrudr claims it's a copolyester. What's interesting is, at least on my bambu lab machine, it prints as pretty and as easy as PLA. They also claim that you don't have to temper it to achieve high temp resistance and that the printed parts would crystlize on their own in couple weeks

[@haslish]

I also would like see a test of the greentec filament.

[@LordByronMacintosh]

thank you so much for all your hard work!! always enjoy the comparisons - very valuable!

[@markuskruse3796]

Hi, Small note to Layer adhesion. Serval KZbinrs and brands like Extrudr mention, that a layer high bigger than 50% of the Nozzle diameter is decreasing the layer adhesion drastically. Thats even mentioned in the Datasheet provided by Extrudr. So for Layer adhesion printing with an 0.4 Nozzle the layer should not be higher then 0.2 May be you should consider this in your testing. Greetings

[@MyTechFun]

Yes, good idea, since I am often using fast printing profiles in both, Cura and Prusa Slicer. I became curious about layer adhesion when printing with 0.3mm layer or similar.

[@markuskruse3796]

@My Tech Fun Data sheet from Ertrudr says, don't exceed 50% of Nozzle diameter. I am setting my own prints to 40%, that's where bigger Nozzle becomes relevant to speed things up and stay within setting range. My profiles are set to % for most parameters.

[@_..-.._..-.._]

@@markuskruse3796 so you use a .4mm nozzle at .16mm layer height?

[@samk2407]

You really shouldn't use white filament for strength testing. It's notably less strong due to the large size of the pigment needed to get the white color

[@noway8233]

If yuo cook yuor filaments (deshidratete) yuo will see the diference. Petg usually absorve humidity from air , even is came sealed , next time cook it , and print with cero cooling layer fan to get the strongest part , nice work Igor

[@harbingerofwarx995]

The hardened steel nozzle that you're using has poor thermal conductivity. You generally need to increase the temperature setting to have the same results as brass. Ideally what you should be using is a tungsten carbide nozzle which has slightly better thermal conductivity than brass.

[@berndsandner7]

Hello from Germany you must dry the XPETG CF before you print parts all CF Filaments must dry before printing

[@DaGaitaHBas]

Very nice your video brother....

[@kylelongstaff]

Extrudr is my favorite brand of filament, so easy to print with great mechanical qualities. Just a shame import tax is so great in Canada.

[@mihurek200]

I recommend testing Spectrum Filament materials. They offer PCTG and PCTG CF 10, ASA X CF 10 which can be printed with a 0.4 nozzle.

[@_..-.._..-.._]

The hardened steel nozzles are not great in my experience, i often print PETG CF at 270c to maintain 250mm/s print speeds, using an enclosure and 25% fan or less. Ruby nozzles and possibly diamond composite will be much better.

[@SeanCMonahan]

I've been super happy with my polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tipped nozzle from Diamondback. I am able to run higher speeds at slightly lower temps than I was with my brass nozzles, and I've had no clogging with my 0.4mm nozzle. Have put maybe 10 kg of filament through it so far. Most of that was PETG, a bit more than 800g of PETG-CF, and Inland PLA+. A bit of TPU in the mix as well.

[@hanslain9729]

What do you prefer now... 0.6 or 0.4 mm nozzle? I am looking to use 0.6mm default soon.

[@MyTechFun]

For mechanical parts almost always 0.6mm precision is enough. Only few times this was too big (for smaller gears and threads). But as I mentioned in the video, 0.6mm nozzle (and bigger layer height) results more tendency to warping.

[@Mobile_Dom]

regarding the loweradhesion with PCTG, where you printing with a fan? ve noticed that with PCTG, at least the fiberlogy stuff than any fan over 30% just killed any strength

[@MyTechFun]

I forgot to mention that in the video, fan was 20% (but it depend of course what is printers max blowing..).

[@talentedmrripley9057]

Are the test models you use available somewhere? I'd like to try printing a few myself in various filaments.

[@MyTechFun]

Here-and-there yes, but I will try to collect them and place to Printables.

[@StoneCut]

Another great video! Can you do a comparison of various Silk filaments and see which one has best layer adhesion (the main weakness of Silk filaments)?

[@Soravia]

Clogging is relative to the amount of heat sent up the extrude tube vs the amount of heat extracted on the cooling side. Reduce the extruder temperature, increase print flow speed, increase cooling side on heat sink, or all three so that filament is not melted before it is ready. To clear the clog, I heat the extruder without heat sink cooling fan on. Then I push down the filament when heat sink gets warm.

[@Recycled]

Heat creep makes clog, heat creep fixes clog. 👍

[@_..-.._..-.._]

You are talking about extruder clogging , there is also nozzle clogging, I never get extruder clogging on my direct drive, only nozzle clogs from temp being too low and speed too fast

[@oneheadlight8000]

Have you tested any HIPS filament as an alternative to ASA or ABS?

[@Technikfreak72]

My experience is different. PCTG has an amazing layer athesion. By far more than PETG, when printed correctly (hot) with a CHT nozzle. And you can print it much faster. I usually print it with an 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.6 line with and 0.3mm layer hight. Incredible functional parts with fiiberlogy PCTG vertigo. I know you did also a test with this filament and it was also not good in your test. Maybe because of the white color pigments.

[@samuelsisk2638]

Their website says the white pigment requires higher temps to print

[@pavelperina7629]

@@samuelsisk2638 That's interesting. I even found Bambulab's white matte PLA harder to print than black or green matte PLAs. It's either slighly underextruded in the center or overextruded where it's printed slower (as head accelerates) or both. Maybe titanium oxide modifies some properties of plastics and it needs to be printed slower/hotter? Black has little tendency to string - more than PETG, but it produces some very fine fluff. Green is flawless.

[@caste1200]

will you ever try greentec pro CF?

[@blackdokimech]

Excellent

[@lukas_berger]

Really looking forward to the review of the FLEX HARD carbon filament, so far there are none! It's a bit too pricy to just buy one and try it :D

[@lukas_berger]

@MyTechFun Any update on the flexible filaments shown in the beginning?

[@yagoa]

Any cooling is detrimental to adhesion, did you have the cooling fan on while printing 4 at once?

[@yagoa]

I only cool for overhangs and very thin geometry

[@KToMmi]

I was looking forward to this test so much. I am so disappointed in the results. 35 €/kg for a PETG that breaks as soon as you look at it and only withstands 60°C? That's such a bad deal. Also the price for the carbon PETG is unreasonable. Some PA-CF cost less.

[@MyTechFun]

Yes. Soon, when I finish all reviews in progress (and not accepting new ones), I want to compare at least 5-10 PETG filaments. Mostly layer adhesion, temperature resistancy.

[@uhu4677]

@@MyTechFun Will you print them all with the same temperature or stay within the manufacturers recommendations? I think 210-230°C is simply wrong for PETG. 250°C will give better overhangs and layer-adhesion. Also I printed a temp tower with the extrudr ASA. On their website they say 215-240°C. However I got the best overhangs with 290°C. It printed very well at that temperature. I sometimes ask myself, how filament manufacturers determine those numbers.

[@matushonko7223]

2 nagging questions: a) you have not mentioned drying: even a sealed bag lets moisture through, so over long enough storage times the filament gets waterlogged: this both wrecks the material vhemically during printing, and creates microbubbles that weaken the structure b) what was the cooling fan set to? in layer adhesion tests, that is among the most relevant points (i tend to print pctg at 20%) lastly, not a question: the laying test samples (the rest as well I assume) were bisibly underextruded, breaking in between lines. I would suggest going as slow as possible, increasing the extrusion multiplier and turning down the cooling fan for maximum strength parts

[@noway8233]

Petg streng change a lot with cooling ,the most strong are without cooling , but yuo get ugly finish , specially for overhangs , full cooling get the best looking , but the parts cuold becam britle or delaminated esaylly , so i recomend just a litlle cooling (like 10-15%) for a good strong/good finish looking

[@dekurvajo]

I'm still not convinced about the real advantage of the carbon fiber filaments.

[@MyTechFun]

For me, the biggest advantage is easier printing, mostly with those filaments that like to warp and shrink (ASA, PC, nylon)

[@garagecedric]

It often add stiffness, which often can be very important, more so than the braking properties. It could clearly be seen here, and often add some temperature resistance aswell, and ease of printing. But depending on the use case it might or might not be the worth the cost. Cf petg seems like a strange combo though, since there are already better base materials to use instead with better properties.

[@JasonCrothers]

Instantly regretting my Kickstart pledge

[@sierraecho884]

Why does nobody talk about safety with this materials ? The CF filled material is really really dangerous for you. The fine particles are released during printing and when those printed objects are in use. I would never print this nasty shit at home without proper ventilation.

[@uhu4677]

Indeed I've read quite some horror-stories about CF filaments here on KZbin. Some people said, they had itchy fingers for days after handling such filament. And particles in the air could be even more dangerous.

[@sierraecho884]

@@uhu4677 Look, I am not an expert on that matter, I am a mechanical design engineer. And all I can tell you is in my opinion this stuff is dangerous for home use. I would never print that shit at home unless I have a professional smoke extractor and know exactly what I do.

[@soacker25]

@@sierraecho884 But how about touching the finished print afterwards. The fiber particles will surely be also on the outside of the printed object where people might constantly touch it.

[@sierraecho884]

@@soacker25 This can be a small issue, because over time those particles will be released into the environment however once bound to the print object it´s fairly safe. What you could do it you can use varnish or spray paint to seal the object afterwards The bigger issue is it releases those particles the most while printing. This particles will be inhaled and they will cause long term damage once inhaled. I know CF is cool and all but is it worth your health ?

[@SeanCMonahan]

​@@sierraecho884I've personally stopped printing with CF filaments until I'm able to build a fully enclosed, filtered, vented enclosure for my printer. I bought a couple spools right away when I first learned about CF PETG. Better dimensional stability. Stiffer. Bonus sexy matte finish. Sign me up! Then I saw some research papers on how much FDM printers release micro particles. Just plain old PLA and PETG. Made me relocate my printer to an otherwise unused/unoccupied basement, with an air filter next to it. Next time I saw my spool of CF PETG, I was like... Oh. Maybe adding some carbon fiber shards to the microparticle cloud isn't super good. I couldn't find any research on CF filaments, so I'm waiting for some hard data on safety before using it again. It's kinda weird how nonchalant manufacturers are. Seems like a large liability risk for them long-term. It shouldn't be on consumers to understand the risks.