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I had a new Extruder tip on my Ender 3 3D printer. the tip looked like the left tip in the below image. After I have been using it for about 5 months, the tip got dull/flat, like the tip on the right in the below image.

The only filament I have used is a spool of PLA (from hatchbox) and a spool of PETG (from sain-smart)

About the Filament

From the time that I replaced the tip, to now, i have only used my 1 spool of PLA filament.

I don't believe it has any carbon-fiber in it, the only other things I can think of, are that the filament has a tough time sticking to the bed, so I have to print pretty close to the bed.

3D prints using my PLA filament enter image description here

my PLA filament enter image description here

I don't 3D print a terribly large amount, Is it normal to have to be replacing the pen this often?

How do I prevent my extruder tip from getting dull so soon? Is there a way to prevent the pen tip from getting dull at all?

Images: enter image description here

enter image description here

Lightning
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2 Answers2

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Your extruder nozzle will wear from the inside out if you are using abrasive filaments, which include carbon fiber, wood type filaments, glow-in-the-dark and many other types.

Because they are abrasive, removing material from the inside also thins the cone shape of the outside (point) of the nozzle.

The solution is to not use abrasive filaments, or to use a hardened nozzle specifically manufactured for abrasive filaments, or to change the nozzle frequently.

If this is a 3D printing pen as your post suggests, please clarify, as the answer is likely to change but only slightly. If this is a nozzle for a 3D printer, consider to edit your question to reflect thusly.

fred_dot_u
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in a printer

abrasive filament

You probably are using an abrasive filament. The most loss on abrasive filament happens when the nozzle runs over the printed material as it extrudes and less from the bore itself. As a result, the nozzles get ground up from the tip. How carbon-fiber filled PLA grinds away nozzles can be seen on this page of the Olsson Ruby webpage (no affiliation), where they printed circles till the nozzles were ground away half a millimeter: it took just 300 grams for brass, a kilo for stainless steel and 4 kg for hardened steel.

enter image description here

To reduce the wear of the nozzle, one can swap to such from harder material (as seen above), for example, stainless steel or hardened steel, which then needs to get replaced less often. On the flipside, the machining of these materials is harder and thus the nozzle costs more.

The only way to get virtually no nozzle grind-up from printing abrasive material - especially PC filled - would be to go for a ruby nozzle.

mechanical damage

In case you have misleveled your bed and print too close, you might also ram your nozzle into the bed to a point that the mechanical impact dulls your nozzle. Make sure your bed is leveled properly.

in a 3D-pen

3D pens often come with really soft nozzles and mishandling - as in pushing against a surface - can grind their tips faster than a normal printer would. The other things still apply.

Trish
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