As most of you know, I know, and like, many of the engineers and support people at 3D Systems. So, I'm generally slow to be critical.
But, unfortunately, what I feared most about the withdrawal of the Cube3 from the marketplace, out-dated cartridges, seems to have come true.
We just purchased 10 'new' cartridges for our Cube3 printers. I've opened and tried to use seven (7) so far. And, all seven have had the very same issue. The filament has broken at the entrance to the extrusion housing.
Seven out of ten... so far!
Now, I have been dealing with these cartridges for a number of years now. So, I know HOW to fix a cartridge if I have to. But, having to fix more than a half dozen if no fun at all.
Calling support to alert them to the problem, the response I got wasn't encouraging. The last four digits of the batch numbers were 2916. This meant that the cartridge was built in the 29th week of 2016. That would be the week of July 10-17, 2016. Apparently, 3D Systems assumes that filament, in the protective bag and sealed box, has a shelf life of at least one year. Yet, our filament was opened in March of 2017... less than 9 months later!
My guess is that filament packaged in the winter month might actually be OK for 12 months. But, filament packaged in the humid months of summer may not last quite as long.
This is a serious issue for owners of cube3 printers. Even if one knows how to try to rehabilitate a cartridge, it takes a lot of time and aggravation. Plus, it's difficult to do just using the purge function of the Cube3. The heat cycle does not last long enough and we have no way to control the duration of optimal heat at the tip of the print jet.
While I have resisted publishing 'hacks', I am coming to the conclusion that we have no alternative in order to be able to use our Cube3 printers on demand. While I have some sympathy for 3D System's situation... having to stock multiple colors of filament for a diminishing number of users... if we cannot count on them for good filament when we need it, we are forced to try to come up with alternatives if we can.
Even with the tools that I have purchased and designed to help me restore a broken cartridge, it takes at least an hour to fix one. And, some, will take even more effort. Fortunately, I have some empty cartridges from which I can steal the guide should I not be able to use the original quide in the broken cartridge. I think those old cartridges might come in handy!
If I'm ever able to complete the project for which the filament was purchased, I start searching for 'hacks' that might help us out in the future.