PETG In elevated heat application for commercial use



  • Hello everyone, this is my first post here.

    I got into 3D printing through work, I am an Engineer at a company which services just about any machine you would see in a commercial building, HVAC/R, Kitchen equipment, Electrical systems, Cleaning equipment, etc. We take care of it all.

    I originally heard about 3D printing from a coworker who needed a 3D model made of a part for a motor so he could get it printed, so I modelled it for him and he showed me the product and I was hooked at that point.

    Now here's the next application, A commercial dishwasher with over 2000 individual pegs and I want to print the pegs rather than buy them.

    So I specced out a 3D printer, I'm getting the Monoprice Ultimate 2 and I'm buying about 7 KG's of PETG to start out with.

    I printed a test peg out of ABS, PLA and now PETG as the material arrived and my main concern was the temperature, the water temperature in the machine gets upwards of 170-180*F so when I got the first Peg I put it through the machine and it actually survived really well, no flex or softening and no surface deform or layer split, it went through a couple of times and come out just fine.

    The only problem was that the peg snaps onto 2 rails, 1 for each end and it didn't like snapping on and it cracked the pieces so I'll have to redesign it to fix that.

    So I wanted to ask you guys what you would recommend to fix that problem.

    Below is the ABS Peg which is how it will be printed but in PETG.

    0_1570542751354_Picture 001.jpg

    Below here is the original and the ABS one side by side.

    0_1570542791717_Picture 002.jpg

    Hopefully you guys can steer me in the right direction.


  • MatterHackers

    @olivero said in PETG In elevated heat application for commercial use:

    rinted a test peg out of ABS, PLA and now PETG as the material arrived and my main concern was the temperature, the water temperature in the machine gets upwards of 170-180*F so when I got the first Peg I put it through the machine and it actually survived really well, no flex or softening and no surface deform or layer split, it went through a

    Heya!
    Welcome to the world of 3D printing, glad you are here!

    I am glad to hear the PETG worked for you to start out! I know it has a glass transition temperature of 80C ( about 176F) which it will start to get soft. That is kinda surprising but great news!

    It is a bit hard to say how to resolve the cracking you are seeing.
    PETG itself can be slightly flexible in some cases depending on your infil or walls.
    If parts are cracking like that but now always, it might be the luck of the draw there.
    What kind of settings are you using for infill and your walls?
    Given the size of your part, I would say increase the walls vs infill since there wouldnt be much a benefit for strength.



  • Hey Erik,

    Thank you for the advice.

    It was printed with 20% Infill, walls were the default for 0.2 layer size and I didn't change the wall count.

    One thing I was thinking of trying is changing the infill pattern to perhaps the Gyro or SubD Cubic which might give it a more flexible infill or the wavelength shape.

    I've only printed one so far, and I got some more coming which will be slightly different, I added 2MM to the part that's cracking and reinforced the overall bottom.

    I'm using a co-workers printer, mine is coming on Friday, I'm getting the Monoprice Ultimate II and then I'll be able to experiment as much as I want with different settings.

    The part only has to snap onto the rail once, it won't be removed and reinstalled unless it comes off for some reason.

    But I think you are right, I was looking at it again in Cura and I think adding walls would help more than increasing infill due to the space in those cylinder shapes.



  • I think you might run into problems with PETG as the temp is pretty close on the border where it makes sense. To have It snap and not break I would use either HIPS or a Nylon. Probably Bridge or alloy 910 if you need something harder. IDK if your printer can print HIPS and Nylon. But that would be my first choice. HIPS does not go soft up to about 100C and Nylon even higher


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