The Secret of Conductive 3D Printing Filaments: A Closer Look
In this article, we will delve into the world of conductive 3D printing filaments, specifically focusing on one of the newer materials that has gained attention - a 1.75mm filament with a promised resistivity of 0.6 ohm/cm. This material is touted as a more exotic alternative to traditional conductive filaments, and we'll explore its properties, ease of use, and limitations.
The Unpacking Experience
Upon unpacking the spool of filaments, I was impressed by its flexibility and durability. The material felt hard to break by hand, which is a notable difference compared to regular PLA filaments. Before proceeding with electrical tests, I decided to replace my current filament spool with this new material to assess its printability. I created a small cylinder using a 12mm 3D design and imported it into Repid Hor software. I then adjusted the slicer settings according to the manufacturer's recommendations and started the printing process. To my surprise, the filament printed pretty well for the first test.
The Printing Challenge
However, when I attempted to print a larger cylinder with an infill ratio of 20%, I encountered difficulties. No matter how many times I tried, the cylinder never seemed to work out due to the limitations of my 3D printer's Bowen extruder system. The system struggles to push semiflexible filaments through with sufficient pressure, resulting in clogged hot ends. Despite the unsuccessful prints, we can still proceed with testing the electrical characteristics of the material.
Testing Electrical Characteristics
To test the filament's electrical properties, I used a multimeter to measure its resistance. However, simply pushing the probes onto the filament would have delivered incorrect results due to the high contact resistance between the probes and the filament. To overcome this, the manufacturer recommends using silver paste or heat. I opted for the latter method, heating the filament up with a 100°C hot air flow until it became soft.
I then pressed the leads of a white LED into one side of the filament and a piece of silvered copper wire onto the other. Unfortunately, this setup did not work, as the contact resistance was still too high. Undeterred, I tried a similar heat method using a 350°C hot soldering iron. This time, the LED lit up, albeit very dimly and randomly, indicating that the contact resistance was still too high.
The Mechanical Solution
As a last resort, I employed a mechanical solution recommended by the manufacturer - screw terminals. I used four M5 bolts with two lock washers, two washers, and a nut to secure 5cm pieces of filament in place. Finally, this setup resulted in a total resistance of 440 ohms for a 10cm long piece.
To obtain more accurate results, I placed a single 10cm piece between two bolts and directly connected it to my lab bench power supply. I then recorded dozens of values, which allowed me to calculate the resistance. The minimum value reached was 13 ohms at 150 milliamps, but the filament began to heat up and break through its hotspots around 1 watt of wasted power.
The Manufacturer's Examples
It's worth noting that even the manufacturer's examples are not perfect. For instance, the Terminator head has a total resistance of around 18 ohms, but it creates hotspots at the contact area due to the high contact resistance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this conductive 3D printing filament is suitable for low-current applications and data transmission through your 3D prints, but not ideal for higher current loads due to its challenging contact resistance. As always, I hope you've found this article informative and entertaining. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more content. Stay creative, and I'll see you in the next video!
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI recently received three rather unique items in the mail the first one was a 3D printer Terminator head with integrated red LEDs for the ice that light up if an appropriate voltage is applied to the build-in wires the second one was a picture frame that would light up as well and thus present the pixel art of a space invader and the third one was an 8x8 LED Matrix which revealed The Secret of those objects instead of using plain out wire to create electrical connections those objects utilize another more exotic material which is conductive 3D printing filament the seller promises a resistivity of 0.6 ohm CM which would equal a resistance of 2.5 ohm for 10 cm long piece of the 1.75 mm filament which is much lower than other conductive filaments but how easy is it to reach this conductivity and how much power can this material handle before it melts let's find out after unpacking the spool of filaments I noticed that the material is quite flexible and Hard to Break by hand if we compare it to regular pla filaments and before doing any electrical tests I I firstly replaced the current filament spool of my Delta 3D printer with this new material in order to find out how easy it is to print with I simply created a small cylinder in one 12 3D design imported it into the repid hor software changed the slicer settings according to the manufacturer's recommendation sliced it and started the printing process and surprisingly it printed pretty well for first test so I created a bigger cylinder with one two 3D design which I wanted to use to find out how the resistance depends on the infill ratio but no matter how often I try to print this time this cylinder never worked out the reason is probably the Bowen extruder system of my 3D printer which cannot push the semif flexible filament with sufficient pressure and thus also clocks the hot ends but even without successful prints we can still test the electrical characteristics of the material now simply pushing the probes of a multimeter onto a piece of the filament will most certainly deliver wrong results because the contact resistance between the probes and filament is higher than the resistance of the filament itself to solve this the manufacturer recommends silver paste which I do not have so we'll use another tactic that the manufacturer also recommends heat for first test I cut two pieces of filament to a length of 5 cm got myself a white LED as a test subject and heated the filament up with a 100° C hot air flow once the filament was soft I pressed in the leads of the LED on one side and a piece of silvered caro wire on the other s but unfortunately this setup did not work for me at all which made calculating the resistance pretty unnecessary so I tried a similar heat methods just a bit more extreme with my 350° CSUS hot soldering iron this time the LED did light up but very dim and randomly which means that the contact resistance was still too high so I went with a mechanical methods that the manufacturer used as well with his 3D printed objects screw terminals for that I used four M5 bolts with two lock washers two washers and a nut each to secure the 5 cm filament pieces in place finally this setup did the trick and resulted in a total resistance of 440 ohms for a 10 cm long piece to get more accurate results I placed a single 10 cm piece between two bolts and directly connected it to my La bench power supply in order to let different constant currents flow through the filament after I recorded dozens of values I started calculating the resistance which reached the minimum of 13 ohms at 150 milliamps right before it increased again and after this point while increasing the current continuously the filament slowly heated up and broke through its hotpots at around 1 wats of wasted power furthermore the scent examples of the manufacturer are also not perfect the Terminator head for example possesses a total resistance of around 18 ohms but it is noticeable that the contact area always creates a hot spots which proves that the contact resistance is most of the time the culprit as a last test I compared the data signal sent from the uino with the same signal after traveling through the filament and the result was actually pretty good no complaints here so all in all this filament is useful for low current applications as well as for sending data through your 3D print but definitely not for bigger current loads due to its hardly conquerable contact resistance I hope you like this video and maybe learn something new as well as always don't forget to like share and subscribe stay creative and I will see you next timeI recently received three rather unique items in the mail the first one was a 3D printer Terminator head with integrated red LEDs for the ice that light up if an appropriate voltage is applied to the build-in wires the second one was a picture frame that would light up as well and thus present the pixel art of a space invader and the third one was an 8x8 LED Matrix which revealed The Secret of those objects instead of using plain out wire to create electrical connections those objects utilize another more exotic material which is conductive 3D printing filament the seller promises a resistivity of 0.6 ohm CM which would equal a resistance of 2.5 ohm for 10 cm long piece of the 1.75 mm filament which is much lower than other conductive filaments but how easy is it to reach this conductivity and how much power can this material handle before it melts let's find out after unpacking the spool of filaments I noticed that the material is quite flexible and Hard to Break by hand if we compare it to regular pla filaments and before doing any electrical tests I I firstly replaced the current filament spool of my Delta 3D printer with this new material in order to find out how easy it is to print with I simply created a small cylinder in one 12 3D design imported it into the repid hor software changed the slicer settings according to the manufacturer's recommendation sliced it and started the printing process and surprisingly it printed pretty well for first test so I created a bigger cylinder with one two 3D design which I wanted to use to find out how the resistance depends on the infill ratio but no matter how often I try to print this time this cylinder never worked out the reason is probably the Bowen extruder system of my 3D printer which cannot push the semif flexible filament with sufficient pressure and thus also clocks the hot ends but even without successful prints we can still test the electrical characteristics of the material now simply pushing the probes of a multimeter onto a piece of the filament will most certainly deliver wrong results because the contact resistance between the probes and filament is higher than the resistance of the filament itself to solve this the manufacturer recommends silver paste which I do not have so we'll use another tactic that the manufacturer also recommends heat for first test I cut two pieces of filament to a length of 5 cm got myself a white LED as a test subject and heated the filament up with a 100° C hot air flow once the filament was soft I pressed in the leads of the LED on one side and a piece of silvered caro wire on the other s but unfortunately this setup did not work for me at all which made calculating the resistance pretty unnecessary so I tried a similar heat methods just a bit more extreme with my 350° CSUS hot soldering iron this time the LED did light up but very dim and randomly which means that the contact resistance was still too high so I went with a mechanical methods that the manufacturer used as well with his 3D printed objects screw terminals for that I used four M5 bolts with two lock washers two washers and a nut each to secure the 5 cm filament pieces in place finally this setup did the trick and resulted in a total resistance of 440 ohms for a 10 cm long piece to get more accurate results I placed a single 10 cm piece between two bolts and directly connected it to my La bench power supply in order to let different constant currents flow through the filament after I recorded dozens of values I started calculating the resistance which reached the minimum of 13 ohms at 150 milliamps right before it increased again and after this point while increasing the current continuously the filament slowly heated up and broke through its hotpots at around 1 wats of wasted power furthermore the scent examples of the manufacturer are also not perfect the Terminator head for example possesses a total resistance of around 18 ohms but it is noticeable that the contact area always creates a hot spots which proves that the contact resistance is most of the time the culprit as a last test I compared the data signal sent from the uino with the same signal after traveling through the filament and the result was actually pretty good no complaints here so all in all this filament is useful for low current applications as well as for sending data through your 3D print but definitely not for bigger current loads due to its hardly conquerable contact resistance I hope you like this video and maybe learn something new as well as always don't forget to like share and subscribe stay creative and I will see you next time