Recently I bought a spool of black Z-ABS from a local distributor and it arrived in the usual Zortrax box but it wasn't wrapped and sealed in the antistatic bag, only a small silica gel bag was in it. I had a few prints and result aren't amazing. The bonding of layers is worse then other spools I have, that are correctly stored in the antistatic bags, and I had two times a print detachment from the board.
I sent a complain to the distributor and he apologized. He said that he didn't check inside the box but after my mail he checked all the spools he had and found out that all of those received in august aren't wrapped. After he forwarded the complain to Zortrax it seems that the replied that the spools aren't wrapped anymore in factory, is it true?
If so this is a very pòor way to save a few cents against quality and ability to keep the material dry and safe. Print results now are unpredictable, since we can't know how and where and for how long the spools were stored.
I also had a few without the bag but with a bit cheap looking box.. They are all covered in dust on the outside like ABS is static or something. Lucklily dust isn't an issue in the nozzle.. :wacko:
I brought this to the attention of the forum, albeit by the shoutbox, some weeks ago. I didn't think it was a good idea at all. But no one even commented. So I thought it was just me.
I'm not sure how good the filament will stay in more humid climates. Remember these spools can sit on shelves at resellers for weeks and likely some colours for months before being sold.
No other filament manufacturer in the world does this to my knowledge.
In my opinion and for my first tests with this spool, this is a very bad idea. If the spools are stored in a humid place, and I mean before those are sold to the final user, during transport by sea for example or in distributors' stores, results of prints will be unpredictable. I had to leave the one I received two days in a sunny place and now prints are a lot better, so the spool suffered indeed for some bad storage.
Really I don't understand why don't use the sealed bags anymore, how much can Zortrax save in production cost bypassing this step? And Z Materials are already overpriced then other similar products so one would expect excellence in both quality and packaging...
In my opinion and for my first tests with this spool, this is a very bad idea. If the spools are stored in a humid place, and I mean before those are sold to the final user, during transport by sea for example or in distributors' stores, results of prints will be unpredictable. I had to leave the one I received two days in a sunny place and now prints are a lot better, so the spool suffered indeed for some bad storage.
Really I don't understand why don't use the sealed bags anymore, how much can Zortrax save in production cost bypassing this step? And Z Materials are already overpriced then other similar products so one would expect excellence in both quality and packaging...
I love the word "overpriced", how can you estimate that the Z-Materials is overpriced? ;)
I am reminded of the story of a small connector on heatbed, everyone wrote that this is a Zortrax fuckup, and from what I know maybe a few people have problem with this connector ;) But it's worth exaggerate the problem, and create panic ;)
I have collection of spools with remaining material from one year ago sometimes if I printing something small then I use it. One year without any bag and no problem
The problem of humidity is solved by the high printing temperatures. Humid materials are printed without problems on this printer.
275C for ABS is about 25C over other manufacturer specs.
The only small downside is that surface quality suffers a little. If the material is humid you can see vapors coming out of the nozzle while extruding.
I have used extremely dry Z-ABS on other printers at 245-250C and I can say that the material performs beautifully. Anyway, for the Zortrax, printing with very dry Z-ABS produces burn marks and stringing, so having the rolls not sealed is actually an improvement.
Remember to use a cleaning sponge for dust on the filament! It will save you a lot of headaches.